The Russkoe oil and gas field was discovered in 1968. It is one of the biggest and complex fields in Russia. It has yet to be put to production, however the development is already concerned by a number of geological and operational issues, such as high crude viscosity; remote location (beyond the Polar Circle); considerable heterogeneity; compartmentalization of poorly cemented sandstones; as well as the presence of extensive gas cap, bottom water, and thick permafrost zone.

OJSC "Tyumenneftegaz", a subsidiary of Rosneft, has been responsible for the pilot works to seek operational solutions for full-field development. Intensive pilot wells drilling and testing have been performed since 2007 in different zones of the field. In 2009–2012, 23 wells, including 16 horizontal ones, were drilled in these pilot areas. Additionally cold and hot water injection tests have been conducted in one of the pilot areas. The main goal of these studies was to learn and reduce geological risks and to find an effective system for full-field development.

The article presents the data and results of pilot operations as well as the methods and equipment for monitoring of the pilot works, including multiphase measurements of flow rates of producers using Vx technology, measurements of flow rates of injectors, tests of injectivity/inflow profiles in horizontal sections using DTS and PLT systems, measurements of bottomhole pressure dynamics and parameters of PCPs and ESPs using high-precision metering systems.

Effectiveness of different control and monitoring methods and of different production technologies has been analyzed. As a result applicability of these methods for the development of viscous oil fields under difficult weather conditions has given using the example of the Russkoe field.