Lukoil begins commercial production of two Baltic Sea wells

Russian oil and gas company Lukoil has started commercial operation of two horizontal wells at the D41 offshore field in the Baltic Sea.

The company completed construction of the first well on 6 February 2019, followed by the second well in April 2019.

One of the wells is 7,947m long with a horizontal section of 616m, while the other is 7,517m long with a horizontal borehole as long as 439m. The two wells were claimed to be among the longest to be drilled in Baltic Sea.

Lukoil has drilled similar wells at the Yury Korchagin field in the Caspian Sea, with the longest well having a depth of 8.05km.

The D41 field is operated from an onshore site. The offshore field development and onshore design of the cluster pad are devised to minimise environmental impact.

Lukoil started developing offshore Baltic fields in 1995. The first resource, the Kravtsovskoye field (D6), was commissioned in 2004. Subsequently, new resources in the Baltic Sea were discovered, including D41 in 2015.

Russia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment registered the production license for D41 field in 2016. The active phase of the investment cycle commenced in November 2017, with operational drilling activities starting in August 2018.