| Prirazlomnoye field | |
|---|---|
| Country | Russia |
| Region | Pechora Sea |
| Offshore/onshore | offshore |
| Operator(s) | Sevmorneftegaz |
| Partners | Gazprom |
| Field history | |
| Discovery | 1989 |
| Start of production | 2011 |
| Production | |
| Estimated oil in place | 610 million barrels (~8.3×107 t) |
Prirazlomnoye field is an Arctic offshore oilfield located in the Pechora Sea, south of Novaya Zemlya, Russia. The field development is based on the single stationary Prirazlomnaya platform, which is the first Arctic-class ice-resistant oil platform in the world. The commercial drilling is expected to start in the early 2012.[1] This will be the first commercial offshore oil development in the Arctic.
Contents |
The field was discovered in 1989. In 1993, the development license was issued to Rosshelf, a subsidiary of Gazprom, and the field was to be operational by 2001.[2] In June 2000, Gazprom and German energy company Wintershall signed a memorandum on cooperation in developing the Prirazlomnoye field.[3] Also Rosneft wanted to join the project.[4] In 2002, the license was transferred to Sevmorneftegaz, a joint venture of Gazprom and Rosneft.[5] Later Sevmorneftegaz became a wholly owned subsidiary of Gazprom. There is a plan to pass the Prirazlomnoye development to Gazprom Neft, an oil arm of Gazprom.[6]
Prirazlomnoye field has reserves of 610 million barrels (97 million cubic metres).[7]
The field development concept is based on the single stationary Prirazlomnaya platform.[7] The oil platform, constructed by Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk, is expected to be completed by 2011 and after that the drilling will start.[6][8] The Prirazlomnaya platform would equipped with the topsides of the former Conoco's Hutton field TLP platform, which was the first production Tension Leg Platform ever built.[9][10] Produced oil will be transported by ice breaking shuttle oil tankers Mikhail Ulyanov and Kirill Lavrov, built in Admiralty Shipyard and operated by Sovcomflot, to Floating Storage and Offloading vessel Belokamenka, located in Kola Bay near Murmansk.[7][11] Gazprom considers to build an oil refinery in Teriberka at the location of the LNG plant of the Shtokman's development for processing oil from Prirazlomnoye and Dolginskoye fields.[12]
The concept of the development was designed by Vniigaz Institute, a subsidiary of Gazprom.[7] The estimated maximum annual oil production volume for is expected to be 6.6 million tonnes. The total investment is expected to be about US$1.03 billion.[2]