Russia aims to up energy production

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MOSCOW, July 30 (UPI) -- Russian energy company Gazprom said it aims to increase production at one of the largest natural gas fields in the country with the installation of new wells.

Gazprom announced it completed construction and installation of 42 additional wells at the Cenomanian deposit of the Zapolyarnoye field in the northern Yamal-Nenets autonomous area.

By the end of the year, the nominal production capacity at the field should increase about 4 trillion cubic feet per year because of new developments there, the company said.

Gazprom didn't disclose the finances involved in the planned expansion. The Zapolyarnoye field is one of the largest in the country with an estimated 100 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves.

Further south, energy company TNK-BP said it aims to invest more than $4.9 million this year in raising production at the Krasnoyarskoe, Tarkhanskoe, Karpovskoe and Ibryaevskoe fields, the largest fields in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan.

The company said the aim was to realize 95 percent utilization of associated reserves held by the company by 2015.

Russia ranks second in terms of total natural gas production.