OREANDA-NEWS. March 26, 2010. TNK-BP is introducing a new field development technology known as commingled oil production. The press service of the company’s TNK-Uvat subsidiary has announced today that the first well of this kind will be drilled at the Ust-Tegusskoe field in the south of Tyumen region as early as the end of March.

According to the company’s general director Andrey Rublev, the new technology will enable simultaneous production of oil from different reservoirs via a single wellbore. The oil will be extracted and its properties monitored separately for each reservoir, reports ITAR-TASS.

“The reservoir conditions in the Ust-Tegusskoe field are suitable for this kind of project. Each formation has a potential flow-rate of around 100 tons of oil per day, which means that one well will produce up to 200 tons, Rublev explained.

TNK-Uvat specialists predict that the project will substantially reduce drilling costs. This project is not only a first for TNK-BP, but for Russia too. Wells of this kind are operated by Schlumberger in Ecuador and by Baker Hughes in Africa. The equipment needed to construct the well at Ust-Tegusskoe will also be manufactured by Schlumberger and Baker Hughes. Commingled production is scheduled to begin in June 2010.