KOSMOS-NEFT-GAS Drives Russian Oil & Gas Innovation

Supplier number one

As it works with customers that are world-famous in their own right, it is only natural that KOSMOS-NEFT-GAS (KNG) offers an extremely comprehensive and high quality range of services – from project development to the manufacture and delivery of equipment for the oil and gas, chemical and nuclear power industries.

Since it was established in 1994 to meet the requirements of fuel and energy enterprises using modern, domestic equipment, KNG has also been working with GAZPROM in the sphere of manufacturing high performance solutions for exploration, production and transportation purposes.

One of the core foundations of its operations is the company’s production complex, which consists of a wide range of manufacturing facilities. These include a tool-and-die shop, welding, fabrication, machining and assembly shops, cooling chambers, furnaces for heat treatments and painting equipment. Furthermore, there is a test system that includes a laboratory and equipment to determine mechanical properties of a product and assess its quality.

In November 2012 the company opened a new production site at its facility in Voronezh, which has been especially developed to manufacture large-scale separation columns and vessels for oil and gas, petrochemical and power industries. This project was developed by KNG as part of a production development programme designed to expand its manufacturing range and to increase competitive strength. At the opening event the president of KOSMOS-NEFT-GAS, Ivan Lachugin, announced the new site capabilities, and staff demonstrated the first preassembled prototype of a gas separator skid with two plate type heat exchangers. This equipment is a proprietary design of KNG and the skid is planned to operate at the central processing facilities of Bovanenkovo, Yamburg, Nadym and other fields. The new design is expected to not only optimise the expenses associated with the equipment price, but also with preparation, construction and assembling operations and commissioning.

Having been an active participant in the oil and gas market for over 15 years, KNG naturally strives for the highest reliability, quality and efficiency parameters of its products, and at the same time meets the topmost standards and requirements of the modern market. Today there is almost no hydrocarbon fields left that can be considered easy to develop and operate – most of them are practically depleted. Moreover, the fields that are attractive in terms of geology, viscosity of the medium and other factors are either located onshore at undeveloped and climatically harsh areas or lie offshore.

Based on recent years’ experience, the optimum way to develop such fields and to upgrade the existing ones is to use ready-to-operate automated process skids. These provide higher quality, reliability, environmental and industrial safety when being manufactured and shop tested and make it possible to minimise the human factor if equipped with automatic control panels. Furthermore, the modular design can significantly reduce expenses and the time taken for onsite installation and commissioning. The cost reduction rate can be as high as 15-20 per cent.

One of the priority research and manufacturing activities of KNG (Voronezh, Russia) is the development of modular skid packages for the Far North, Arctic offshore and marine fields. Such packages are usually a complete ready-to-operate product to be transported to an installation site by rail or on a truck. All the components are factory assembled, cable connected, adjusted and tested.

So far, KNG has developed and introduced a gas heater for depleted gas well stimulation; automated well completion skids MOC-2 for the Bovanenkovo field; unstable gas condensate pumping skid; fuel gas treatment skid ordered by the Achimgaz company; separator skid equipped with plate type heat exchangers for gas treatment at the Bovanenkovo field; flare skid for the Prirazlomnaya platform and accomplished the integration of FMC wellheads with control panel at the Korchagin offshore platform.

Based on the proven designs the company is continuously developing similar skids for other fields and platforms. Most of the demonstrated engineering solutions are the first issue and RF utility patent protected and all certificates and permits for use are available.

In December 2012 the company announced that it now offers gas distribution membrane units to remove water, steam and carbonic acid, as well as gas separation membrane units producing from 90 to 99.9 per cent concentration of nitrogen.

The capacity of the supplied membrane units can differ in accordance with the gas commercial requirements. The advantages of this membrane technology include multi-functionality, ease of control, mobility and environmental safety.

Alongside GAZPROM and its other valued clients, KNG places a lot of importance on forming long-term and mutually beneficial co-operations with partners. By offering clients some training services for their engineering staff regarding specific features of product operation, as well as by proposing post-warranty maintenance, KNG can support its clients in solving production issues.

The establishment of partnerships with well-known foreign companies, such as FMC (loading terminals), Weatherford (well control panels), Cegelec (automation facilities and systems), Schneider Electric (power units), Caloperm (plate heat exchangers), Aker Solutions (subsea equipment for offshore production), and Newpoint Gas (equipment for gas treatment, purification and dehydration), has made it possible for KNG to manufacture products of the level comparable to the world’s leading manufacturers of equipment to be used at on- and offshore fields.

KNG is one of only 11 Russian companies to be prequalified for the UK and Norwegian sectors of the North Sea through the Achilles and JQS qualification schemes. It is one of 26 preferred and prequalified Russian suppliers for Shtokman, and of Gazprom’s numerous prequalified vendors, KNG is supplier number one.

When it was last featured in European Oil and Gas in 2012, general director and owner, Alexander Shevtsov was looking ahead to the future with great excitement. Considering the company’s willingness and ability to promote original equipment and technologies to the rapidly developing Russian market, it looks certain to fulfill its ambition to continually expand the range of services and equipment that it offers.

KOSMOS-NEFT-GAS
Services: Full cycle of services for oil and gas, chemical and nuclear sectors