Gazprom Neft makes first winter shipment of oil from Yamal
Gazprom Neft has made its first ever winter shipment of oil from the Novy Port (Novoportovskoye) field on the Yamal Peninsula, the Company's press release says. 16 thousand tonnes of crude oil was shipped to European consumers by oil tanker, escorted by an atomic icebreaker.
The Novy Port oil will be delivered to Europe at the beginning of March. Over 50 thousand tonnes of oil is to be shipped during the winter delivery period which will finish in May this year. Atomflot is providing the icebreaker support for Gazprom Neft's tankers along the North Sea route. The trial winter oil shipment by sea tankers was approved at public hearings in December 2014 following an environmental review. The pumping equipment used is certified and has a permit from the Russian Technical Oversight Authority (Rostekhnadzor). Before shipments commenced, the team were put through a number of special training exercises to prepare them to respond to any accident or emergency situation.
Novy Port is one of the largest oil and gas condensate fields being developed on the Yamal Peninsula. It is located above the Arctic Circle, some distance away from the oil pipeline transport infrastructure. Shipping by sea through Cape Kamenny is considered the optimal solution for transportation of the crude oil. Gazprom Neft first confirmed the feasibility of winter oil shipment by sea in 2011, following the atomic icebreaker’s trial voyage from the port of Sabetta (north-east of the Yamal Peninsula) to Cape Kamenny.
Oil is currently being shipped to the coast via a pressurised oil pipeline 100 km long, with an annual capacity of 600,000 tonnes. Infrastructure developed at the field and on the shore of the Gulf of Ob has enabled this first sea shipment of Novy Port oil to take place in summer 2014. The second stage of the oil pipeline construction began in January, and this will eventually support the transportation of no less than 5.5 million tonnes of oil a year. Once the pipeline’s capacity has been increased and construction of the oil loading terminal completed, Novy Port oil will be transported by sea all year round.
Novy Port, the new grade of oil, has the same properties as the light oils, and lower sulphur content (around 0.1%) than both the Russian Urals blend and Brent.
Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of Gazprom Neft Management Board, said: "Novy Port Arctic oil will be transported along a new sea route, enabling us to maintain its high quality characteristics during transit. Creating a large production centre in the north of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District remains a strategic goal for Gazprom Neft. Novy Port is one of the projects of the new cluster, along with the Messoyakh Group fields and the Arktikgaz assets. We have worked extensively and invested significant funds into making industrial-scale development of these Arctic reserves possible. We are continuing to actively develop these projects, and in just a few years they will account for a significant part of Gazprom Neft’s production.”
The recoverable reserves of the Novy Port (Novoportovskoye) field come to more than 250 million tonnes of oil and condensate in categories C1 and C2, as well as more than 320 billion cubic metres of gas (including the Palaeozoic deposits). Last year, Gazprom Neft Novy Port (the operator of the project, which is a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft) carried out a pilot field operation commercial drilling programme, having started production drilling. The first summer season of oil transportation from Novy Port by sea was completed in October 2014.
Related link:
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