In establishing this new business model and expanding its project portfolio, the Bazhenov Technology Centre has been renamed the Gazpromneft - Technology Partnerships Centre for Industrial Integration. This enterprise will continue to implement the national project on developing technologies for the viable development of the Bazhenov Formation, as operator. Gazpromneft - Technology Partnerships will also become a centre of expertise in managing Gazprom Neft’s strategic reserves categories, incl. “unconventional”, “Paleozoic”, and “Achimovsky formation” reserves, as well as chemical EOR methodologies.
All of the above are currently in development, and - subject to commercially-viable solutions being found - will give the company access to a colossal resource base. The Centre for Industrial Integration will be involved in developing systematic approaches and managerial and technological tools for implementing each of these projects. Once established, and once their effectiveness has been confirmed, new business models will be rolled out to other Gazprom Neft subsidiaries.
Monetising E&P technologies will be a key area of the Centre’s activities, and Gazprom Neft has collated a portfolio of the company’s most promising products for sale on the external market. These include cognitive technologies, geological prospecting technologies, chemical EOR techniques, high-tech fracking, and more.
Pilot projects expected to be launched on the specialist industry market as soon as 2020 include the CyberFracking 2.0 simulator, and micro-seismic monitoring software. The company ultimately plans to monetise a significant proportion of its technology portfolio. Gazpromneft - Technology Partnerships’ activities will be supervised by Alexei Vashkevich, who will continue to head the company’s Science and Technology Centre.
“We are convinced that the future of the oil and gas industry is inextricably linked to developing technology. We have our own proprietary developments, whose effectiveness has been proved under actual field conditions. Assessments by industry specialists both in Russia and abroad also testify to these developments being of interest to the market. In order to develop our own solutions, we will be approaching every technology project with a view to monetising it, so that we ultimately offer products that accommodate user requirements as far as possible”, said Vadim Yakovlev, Deputy CEO for Exploration & Production, Gazprom Neft.
“One should also bear in mind that manufacturability is one of the more important criteria in choosing a partner: first and foremost, you have to take into account those companies whose solutions are already well known on the market, and who can make the greatest contribution - in terms of technology - overall. This is precisely the sort of partner we want to bear us in mind - not just in terms of Russian industry, but internationally. Monetisation, and taking our solutions to market, will also help with this.”, said Alexey Vashkevich, Director for Technological Development, Gazprom Neft.
“The principles we put forward for putting commercial cases together - including, specifically, putting partnerships in place, monetising technologies, and working through technological test sites - helped achieve good intermediate outcomes: the project came close to developing a commercial technology for working with hard-to-recover reserves, with potential profitability of RUB 8,500 per tonne. All of which meant we could look at other complex company projects in terms of being a systemic technological challenge that our experience could prove useful in overcoming”, Kirill Strizhnev, Director Gen. of Gazpromneft - Technology Partnerships noted.
