Company
ZAO Achimgaz is a joint venture of BASF subsidiary Wintershall and Gazprom subsidiary OOO Gazprom dobycha Urengoy. It produces natural gas and condensate from the deeper Achimov Formation of the Urengoy Field in western Siberia. The Achimov Formation also gave the joint venture its name - Achimgaz.
The Gazprom subsidiary OOO Gazprom dobycha Urengoyand Wintershall are equal partners in Achimgaz. The total required investment will be more than 1,000 million US dollars, which is one of the largest investments ever made by a German company in the Russian Federation. In the spring of 2006 the first production wells were drilled and the production facilities constructed. The six production wells planned for the first project phase have been drilled in 2007 and the production tests were successful. Test production has been started in July 2008.
The project is regarded as a model for successful cooperation with foreign partners in the Russian upstream sector. BASF subsidiary Wintershall is the first German producer that became actively involved in the production of natural gas in Russia.
