Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Rosneft is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the discovery of the Samotlor field, one of the largest in the world. Its history began on May 29, 1965, when the exploration well R-1 produced its first oil at a flow rate of 300 cubic meters per day. Four years later, the field was put into commercial operation, and in 1981, the billionth ton of oil was produced at Samotlor. Thanks to Samotlor oil, our country has taken one of the leading positions in the world oil market.
A new stage in the development of Samotlor began after the inclusion of Samotlorneftegaz in Rosneft. The company began to implement a set of advanced solutions and new technologies to stabilize hydrocarbon production at the field. Today, Samotlor’s cumulative production exceeds 2.8 billion tons of oil and more than 410 billion cubic meters of gas. Samotlorneftegaz, which develops it, consistently ensures a level of associated petroleum gas utilization of 98%, which is one of the highest rates in the industry.
Samotlorneftegaz implements large-scale projects in the main areas of its activity in close cooperation with Rosneft, the largest oil and gas scientific and technical unit in Eurasia.
Samotlorneftegaz has become one of the pioneers of the Russian oil and gas production industry in the field of digitalization of production. The “Intelligent Field” system, which involves remote production management, was implemented at the enterprise in 2013. As part of the development of the “Intelligent Field”, an integrated mathematical model was introduced that covers all key stages of oil production at the enterprise. On its basis, a neural network was created to optimize the operation of production wells. The accuracy of forecasts reached 96%. The implementation of another digital project – “3D Sphere” opens up new technological opportunities that contribute to increasing the efficiency and safety of oil and gas production.
Samotlorneftegaz specialists use corporate software to manage the operation of mobile compressor units. As a result of using the new software module, it was possible to increase the average daily oil production per well by eight tons. The economic effect since the introduction of the technology has exceeded 1.9 billion rubles.
At Samotlor, continuous work is underway to improve drilling equipment and technological processes. The use of a domestically produced rotary-controlled system has reduced the construction time of each well by 40 hours. This system allows drilling complex profiles with a large departure from the vertical and increasing the length of the horizontal section of the well. At the same time, high accuracy of drilling through the productive formation is achieved, which has a positive effect on the flow rate of new wells.
High efficiency in drilling horizontal wells is demonstrated by the use of a modernized bicentric bit of unique design. The drill of the new design forms a trunk of a larger diameter. This makes it possible to drill wells with a complex profile at a high rate and put them into operation faster.
The Samotlor field has undergone 40-stage hydraulic fracturing for the first time. The operation took a record-breaking 24.5 hours. The well’s starting flow rate was 250 cubic meters per day, which is more than six times higher than the average rates of neighboring wells. The unique operation was carried out jointly with the corporate service company RN-GRP, which carries out all hydraulic fracturing work at the Samotlor field.
Samotlorneftegaz is actively implementing large-scale environmental projects. In 2024, the company allocated more than 11.2 billion rubles for environmental protection and environmental restoration activities. Large-scale work has been completed at Samotlor to restore the “historical heritage” lands disturbed during the Soviet years of field development. The biological productivity of soils has been restored on sites with a total area of more than 2.2 thousand hectares. During the program’s implementation, new technologies were developed and unique experience was gained that is in demand by other enterprises.
Samotlorneftegaz is one of the largest taxpayers and key social partners of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug of Yugra. In addition, over the past 5 years, more than 200 social projects have been implemented within the framework of the Cooperation Agreement between Rosneft Oil Company and the regional government, which has significantly improved the quality of life of the population of all of Yugra.
With the participation of Samotlorneftegaz, a universal sports complex was built in Khanty-Mansiysk, the Simulation and Accreditation Center of the Khanty-Mansiysk State Medical Academy was modernized, and two training laboratories were equipped at the Multidisciplinary College of the Yugra State University. Thanks to the support of the enterprise, a large-scale reconstruction of the city’s “calling card” – the Ob River embankment, the Heroes of Samotlor Square was carried out in Nizhnevartovsk. A kindergarten, teenage clubs, a rollerdrome for active sports and an open-air rope park were built for the younger generation. In the Nizhnevartovsk District, with the support of the enterprise, kindergartens were reconstructed, the Okunevka River embankment was reconstructed, and the quality and safety of roads were significantly improved due to large-scale repairs.
Rosneft pays great attention to preserving and strengthening the historical memory of the Samotlor field and the pioneering oil workers of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. With the Company’s support, a large-scale renovation of the memorial “First exploratory well R-1 of the Samotlor field” was carried out, the monument “To the Conquerors of Samotlor” was reconstructed, the Heroes of Samotlor square was created, and a corporate museum was opened.
Rosneft ensures the further development of the Samotlor field and involvement in the development of its resource potential, which contributes to the economy of the region and the entire country.
Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft May 29, 2025
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