Subsoil exploration – a job for professionals

New horizons
OAO “Saratovneftegas” is one of the largest producing enterprises of “RussNeft” . It is the main subsoil user of Saratov region, and it has business at the territory of 14 districts. In 2008 oil with gas condensate production level exceeded 1.3 million tons, more than 500 million cbm of associated and natural gas was produced.

This year “Saratovneftegas” is celebrating its 60th  anniversary. During all the of its work in Volga region the team of the enterprise discovered 116 oil- and gas fields, produced more than 85 million tons of oil and more than 100 billion cbm of gas. 6.6 million meters of  mine rock is drilled at Saratov territory.

Geologist is always marching ahead

Geologists are specific people. They are incurable romanticists and pragmatists at the same time, and they will never exchange their hard work for anything.

Chief geologist – Deputy General Director of OOO “Saratovneftegas” Igor Kharitonov is one of them. He has been working in this branch for almost 20 years, he has walked through kilometers and kilometers of taiga and steppes, accumulating priceless experience. He has dreamed  to become a geologist since childhood. Having graduated  from Moscow Oil and gas Institute named after Gubkin he started working at Extreme North. There is a small town of Muravlenko in Tyumen region. It was there that Igor Gennadievich  started his working record starting from the position of a geologist  at the department of wells overhaul. Later he worked as the head of geological section of the department of enhancing oil recovery and overhaul, a field geologist at the production department, the head of geological section at the department of oil and gas production. Since 2002 he has worked in Orenburg and Saratov.
- I’d like to underline that at the geological service of “Saratovneftegas”  there has forme up a professional team where old, experienced experts and young geologists work side by side? – the chief  geologist says. – Intergenerational continuity is secured, and this is a very important factor. It is hardly possible to overestimate the importance of geological service in Saratov region. The region features small, considerably depleted oil-gas fields, that is why you may say that all the oil production depends on geologists.  To maintain the volumes of oil production it is necessary to explore new reserves on a constant basis. But during the hard 90th when there were practically no financing for geological exploration works, one had to work more thoroughly with old reserves. And it is only due to high professionalism of the specialists of “Saratovneftegas” that we can now maintain the high level of production.
  
Last year we conducted intense exploration works. We did seismic at Stepnovsky license area to reveal oil traps and structures. We drilled a new exploration well and thanks to it we discovered a new oilfield. It was decided to give it the name of Luzianinskoye, after Gennadi Sergeevich Lusianin, former general director of “Saratovneftegas” , who had headed the plant from 1976 to 1997. This oilfield is to be out into operation in near future.

New interpretation of the objects

Department of development at OAO “Saratovneftegas” is headed by a very nice-looking geologist – Larisa Marakhtanova. Before coming to Saratov she had worked in Western Siberia. The accumulated experience helped Larisa Viacheslavovna to gain the colleague’s respect in a very short time. That is what she told us:
- Our department is engaged in development of oil and gas fields. It is far from easy to find treasures of the nature. For this purpose we attract up-to-date scientific achievements, perform geophysical and hydrodynamic studies, develop optimal technologies of oil and gas production and extraction. The earth keeps its secrets expertly, and to find them out one must learn to listen to its voice attentively and to see the signs not seen by most people.
-