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Results of the Year

Aryskum: a Field with a Rich History and a Promising Future

Aryskum, a field with a rich history, is PetroKazakhstan's second largest oil producing hub after Kumkol.

More than 260 oil workers work here (rotating in shifts) and full-scale infrastructure facilities have been built there, which, among other things, are used for the needs of the nearby fields Kyzylkiya, North-West Kyzylkiya, Karabulak and South-West Karabulak.

Back in 1985, the Aryskum field was discovered by the pioneer 1-P prospecting well, when a reservoir-testing well produced a flow of viscous oil from the Neocomian horizon, confined to the Mesozoic sediments of the South Turgai Basin. In March 2002 Aryskum was put into commercial development. Water injection into the reservoir began in November 2004, and injection of associated gas into the gas cap started in September 2004.

In general, the specific feature of the field development is that there is an extensive gas cap, which conditions presence of a relatively narrow oil rim. Development of such reservoirs has certain technological challenges. However, competent work of engineers on deployment of combined waterflooding and drilling of horizontal wells resulted in high oil recovery. As a result, more than 9.6 million tons of oil were produced here in the period from 2002 to 2022. As of April 2022, there were 181 oil production wells, including 71 production wells. Production is provided by eight "Sputniks" of the collector system and one Dehydration Plant, to which production wells located in the southern part of the field are connected.

Sagyndyk Zhurtubayev, a leading geologist, remembers the gaslift test production project. This project began back in 2014 with the preparation of the well and construction of surface equipment for oil production using the gaslift method. "Everything was so exciting," Sagyndyk notes, "starting from the well workover and conversion of the well from mechanized production to gas lift, to construction of the surface part and the launch of well #141 in April 2015 . The construction took place during my shift. Implementation of this project solved a number of problems, including reducing paraffin deposits, saving power and reducing the time between well workovers.".

The reservoir pressure maintenance (RPM) facilities, formation water injection wells and gas injection wells are connected to the formation water and gas injection system. Separated formation water and gas are injected into the reservoir after settling to maintain reservoir pressure. The RPM system also includes four reservoirs for storage of produced hydrocarbons.

A full-scale infrastructure is of course impossible without the heart of oil production - the Central Processing Facility (CPF), which is also operating at Aryskum. At the СPF there is an oil acceptance station (OAS) and a tank farm for oil storage consisting of six reservoirs. An average of 1,200 tons of oil from the Kyzylkiya, Aryskum, North-West Kyzylkiya, Karabulak and South-West Karabulak fields are delivered to the CPF on a daily basis. The incoming oil is treated and then pumped to the Kumkol CPF. "During my work at Aryskum, we have implemented many interesting and important projects for the field," recalls Nurmanbek Zhumatasov, foreman of the CPF. - For example, commissioning of new equipment - 200 m3 settler, C-200 m3 three-phase separator, as well as oil heating furnaces - allowed to improve the quality of oil treatment. The tank farm was also considerably expanded: two vertical stock tanks-2000 and two vertical stock tanks-5000 for commercial oil storage were installed. A "Zulzer" trunk pump was put into operation, which increased oil pumping through the pipeline. The automatic firefighting system was thoroughly upgraded, which is very important for safe operation of the CPF".

History

 

1985 - the Aryskum field was discovered by drilling an exploration well 1-P.

 

2001 - "AES" JSC carried out 3D seismic surveys with a volume of 211.6 km2 for additional study of the geological structure. As a result of processing and quantitative interpretation of seismic and well drilling data, structural surfaces were obtained along reflecting horizons IIar, III and Pz.

 

2002 - the field is put into commercial development, according to the "Technological scheme for the development of Aryskum oil and gas condensate field", approved by the Central Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The oil and gas condensate deposit of the Aryskum Lower Cretaceous horizon M-II singled out for industrial development .

 

2006 - a report was compiled based on 15 wells on the operational calculation of oil and gas reserves in the Upper Jurassic horizons of the Aryskum field as of 01.01.2006, in which the reserves were first calculated for the newly discovered productive horizons Yu-0 of the Akshabulak suite.

 

2008, 2018 – on the basis of new prospecting, exploration and production wells, reports were made on the recalculation of oil, gas, condensate reserves and associated components contained in them.

 

2013 – The BGP Geophysical Research Institute completed a report on the processing of 3D seismic data in the Aryskum licensed area. The area of the 3D seismic exploration area was 255 km2. The purpose of the reprocessing was to obtain a high quality time field for further interpretation of the structure and lithology.

 

Aryskum also has a Gas Recovery Plant (GRP) and a gas engine power plant (GEPP). Note that PetroKazakhstan was one of the first oil companies in Kazakhstan to launch and subsequently achieve full gas utilization at its fields. The GRP is designed for re-injection of associated gas into the reservoir and preparation of fuel gas for the field's own needs, as well as for power generation at the GEPP for domestic consumers. According to information as of March 2022, the daily volume of gas injected into the reservoir and for power generation amounted to 110,000 m³ . The total capacity of the gas engine power plant units is 12 MW, and the GEPP is used as a backup power plant.

The shift camp of the Aryskum field occupies 120 hectares. The total area of residential buildings reaches almost 9 thousand square meters, it is designed to accommodate 210 people. Kaynar Kulzhanov, a fifth-grade Oil & Gas Production operator, describes the living and working conditions at the field: "Before PKKR I worked in another company as a driver. And, of course, my previous place of work cannot even be compared to PKKR. The company has created all conditions for safe work, which is very important for us, oil workers, and we are provided with personal protective equipment in due time. We live in cozy premises, we get our wages in time. Good and tasty meals are provided to us and there is a place to spend our leisure time".

Infrastructure of the camp is impressive. The territory of the camp includes: a head office - a brick two-storey building for 18 offices, 10 residential buildings for 25 employees each, a hotel building, a canteen for 75 people and a bath and laundry facility. In addition to technical facilities for essential needs, the camp has a communication center, offices of Maintenance department, GRP, oil and gas production departments, a transport group, and a medical clinic. Not far from the territory of the camp there is a fire station, barracks, Capital Projects department office, instrumentation and control laboratory, a parking lot and a bus stop. For leisure activities of the oil workers a sports complex with a 25 x 18 m futsal court and gyms, an outdoor soccer field with artificial turf were built, which become venues for regular competitions.