Gazprom Nedra has successfully completed testing a Russian-made downhole tractor designed for geophysical work
Gazprom Nedra LLC’s production branch, Severgazgeofizika, successfully completed the workshop and pilot testing programme for the Burlak downhole tractor hardware and software. The results confirmed the equipment’s performance under industrial operation conditions.
The tractor, developed by a Russian company and designed to deliver downhole geophysical equipment to horizontal and subhorizontal wells during geophysical surveys and operations, was tested at the wells of the Urengoy oil and gas condensate field.
The downhole tractor pilot testing programme was developed by Severgazgeofizika in 2022, in close partnership with the manufacturer and Gazprom Dobycha Urengoy. This further promoted greater opportunities regarding the technological potential of RF instrumentation companies in the oil and gas industry.
In addition, the tractor was used by Severgazgeofizika to conduct horizontal well surveys at the Muravlenkovskoye OGCF in 2024, as part of its contractual obligations to Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk.
According to Gazprom Nedra specialists, the next stage in the development of the Burlak downhole tractor will be to ensure the tractor’s operation via a single-core geophysical cable and to create a ‘wheeled’ version of the propulsion system.
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Gazprom Nedra LLC is a 100% subsidiary company of PJSC Gazprom, a specialised multidisciplinary company that performs the full cycle of geological exploration, geophysical and special services in the Russian Federation. The company provides customers with a wide range of services, spanning mineral resources management, geology, geophysics, as well as the organisation and support of well construction, metrology and instrumentation.
Gazprom Nedra LLC is the Gazprom Group’s most important source of geological and geophysical data, successfully participating in the implementation of all major prospective projects of PJSC Gazprom and making a significant contribution to the formation of Russia’s mineral resource base.
Gazprom Nedra LLC staff totals over 4000. The company’s administrative offices are located in St. Petersburg and Tyumen.
Gazprom Nedra LLC uses a quality management system based on the GOST ISO 9001 standard, a health and safety management system in accordance with ISO 45001 and an environmental management system which meets the requirements of the international standard ISO 14001:2015 (GOST R ISO 14001).