© РИА Томск. Карина Сапунова
TOMSK, Feb 11 – RIA Tomsk. The volume of oil production in the Tomsk region in 2019 fell to 9 million tons, gas production remained unchanged - at 6.5 billion cubic meters, while the volume of exploration increased to 11 million tons, the deputy governor for industrial policy Igor Shaturny told reporters on Tuesday.
Earlier it was reported that the volume of oil production in the Tomsk region declined for several years. If in 2014 10.8 million tons of oil were produced in the region, in 2017 and 2018 - 9.8 million tons each. The share of the oil and gas industry in gross regional product (GRP) in 2018 amounted to 27%.
"Unfortunately, we are falling in oil production. In 2019, we produced a little more than 9 million tons. We are steadily (producing) 6.5 billion cubic meters in gas. The industry’s share in GRP fell to 20%", - Shaturny said.
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According to him, the decline in oil production is associated with a decrease in the volume of proven reserves, although the situation is improving. "Last year, oil companies increased increased their resources for exploration - they spent 4 billion 300 million on it, and so we put on the balance more than 11 million tons of explored oil, in 2018 it was only 1.2 million", - the deputy governor explained.
It was previously reported that in 2025, oil production in the region may be reduced to 5 million tons per year. To avoid this, in March 2018, the leaders of Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and Gazpromneft-Vostok (subsidiary of JSC Gazprom Neft) signed an agreement on research work for the "Paleozoic" project on the development of hard-to-recover oil reserves in the Tomsk region.
Currently, the company’s specialists have drilled 4 exploratory deep wells within the framework of the "Paleozoic" project. In 2020 it is planned to drill two more wells, including to the depth of 1400 meters.