Tomsk company will invest $456 million in the development of an oil and gas area in the republic

Tomsk LLC "Progres-S" announced plans for the industrial development of the Novo-Mikhailovsky oil and gas area in Khakassia. By the end of this year, the company intends to complete geological exploration and begin production. According to the calculations of the republican government, the investor will have to invest $456 million in the project. The company expects not only to completely cover the republic’s gas needs, but also to create new energy capacities. Experts doubt that gas generation will be able to compete with the cheap energy of Khakassian hydroelectric power plants.

A trial launch of a drilling rig at the Novo-Mikhailovskaya oil and gas bearing area in Khakassia took place at the end of last week. The project investor is Progress-S LLC (Tomsk), which won the auction for the right to develop the Novo-Mikhailovsky site in 2007. The company paid 200 million rubles for the license. According to the calculations of the republican government, to implement the project the investor will have to invest $456 million.

The Novo-Mikhailovsky oil and gas bearing area is located on the territory of the South Minusinsk Depression, within its boundaries there are the southern regions of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Khakassia. The study of the subsoil at the site has been carried out since 1949, but the field was not prepared for industrial exploitation due to its complex geological structure. According to Progress-S, its forecast reserves in the C3 category are 38.2 billion cubic meters. m of gas. The license validity period is 25 years.

As Progress-S told Kommersant, geological exploration work at the site, allowing for a full assessment of gas reserves, is planned to be completed by the end of this year. “Depending on the results obtained, a decision will be made on the prospects for developing the resources available here. Several options for using gas produced at the field are being explored. Among them are supplies for the needs of the population and industrial facilities of the republic. In addition, the issue of constructing an energy complex with a capacity of 250 MW based on gas turbine power plants is being considered,” said Oleg Annenkov, deputy general director of the company. According to his information, Progress-S allocated 0.5 billion rubles for exploration work. have already been fully mastered.

The Ministry of Regional Development of Khakassia yesterday did not rule out the possibility of providing the gas project with tax and other preferences. “The republic is interested in the development of the oil and gas sector and is ready to provide maximum support to projects in this area,” notes ministry press secretary Tatyana Zyryanova. According to calculations by regional authorities, total revenues to the republican and local budgets during the development of the site could amount to more than $300 million.

Experts note significant risks of the project. “Today, hydrogeneration, which forms the basis of the energy supply to consumers in Khakassia, produces the cheapest electrical energy. I’m not sure that the gas generating station will be able to supply electricity of comparable price, which means that problems may arise with the payback of the project,” says Valentin Bogomolov, General Director of the Russian Investors - Siberia Investment Company. According to the expert, if the company manages to solve the problem of gas sales and meet the deadlines for the project, then the investment in it can pay off in 10-15 years.

Dmitry Malkov, Krasnoyarsk

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