Gazprom Ships First Oil from Russian Arctic Shelf

Gazprom has loaded the first cargo of oil produced from the Prirazlomnoye field – the only Russian project for hydrocarbons development in the Arctic shelf.

The command to start oil loading was given by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The first oil cargo of 70 thousand tons will be delivered to consumers in Northwestern Europe by oil vessels Mikhail Ulyanov and Kirill Lavrov purposely built on Gazprom’s request for shipping oil from the Prirazlomnoye field.

All in all, it is planned to ship over 300 thousand tons of oil from the field this year.

It is the first time that ARCO (Arctic Oil), the new type of Arctic oil produced from the Russian shelf entered the global market. The new ARCO oil was traded among oil refining companies of Northwestern Europe in the first quarter of 2014. Once the production volume of the Prirazlomnoye field is increased, a part of feedstock will be sold under long-term contracts.

Prirazlomnaya is an unparalleled platform designed and constructed in Russia on Gazprom’s request. It is intended for operation under extreme environmental and climatic conditions and meets the most stringent safety requirements.

Despite the platform is well protected in case of any emergencies, an elaborate set of protection measures were developed and set up to keep the staff safe as well as the environment and the platform itself.

“Gazprom has opened a new stage in the development of the Russian oil industry. The first oil produced in the Russian Arctic shelf, the first oil from the Prirazlomnoye field was loaded into the oil vessel to be delivered to consumers. This event is highly important for strengthening Russia’s position in the global oil market. We increased the flexibility and reliability of oil supply to almost any part of the world,” said Alexey Miller.

[mappress]
April 21, 2014