RN-Vankor, an enterprise of Rosneft’s oil production complex, is introducing an innovative approach to field development. It is based on modular, scalable solutions that offer the advantages of mobility, cost-effectiveness and speed of installation of process equipment. One such facility was the additional formation water drainage unit with a capacity of 10 thousand cubic metres per day, which was commissioned at the Vankor cluster.

The new technology not only allows the field’s potential to be fully exploited and new areas to be developed, but also allows water resources to be used rationally. As part of Rosneft’s policy of high environmental responsibility, RN-Vankor implements green technologies of closed cycles and resource recycling. At the Vankor cluster, formation water is treated and reused in the reservoir pressure maintenance system. At the end of 2022, more than 75 million cubic metres of formation water will be reinjected into the reservoir.

The unit was developed and implemented by specialists from Rosneft’s subsidiaries – engineers from RN-BashNIPIneft and oil workers from RN-Vankor. The equipment is installed close to well pads, where the well products are collected and processed for re-injection into the reservoir. The early water discharge unit reduces the load on the field’s oil gathering pipeline system and on the oil treatment unit. It is planned to replicate such an approach in the future at Vostok Oil, the Company’s strategic project.

Compared to more powerful oil treatment units, the new units are small and self-contained. The hydraulic energy transferred from the wellhead is sufficient for its operation. The process of separating «free» water from the gas-liquid mixture does not require the use of complex and expensive equipment. Technical innovations include a water treatment unit with special elements that, thanks to water-repellent materials and variable profiles, effectively collect oil and mechanical impurities without disturbing the main flow. It is planned to build three more units of this type at the Vankor field in the next few years.

The Vankor cluster is now integrated into Vostok Oil, the world’s most powerful upstream project, where high environmental standards and closed-loop technologies are built in from the design stage.

Rosneft
Information Division
July 21, 2023

Keywords: Environmental news 2023