Russian Continental Shelf
Resources
The initial aggregate hydrocarbon resources of the Russian continental shelf make up some 100 billion tons of fuel equivalent, of which 80 per cent is gas. The bulk of the hydrocarbon resources (around 70 per cent) is concentrated in the Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas, with gas and condensate prevailing in the Barents and Kara, and oil – in the Pechora Sea.
Promising Areas
The Barents, Kara, Pechora and Caspian Sea shelves, the Ob and Taz Bays offshore areas, the Sea of Okhotsk shelf, including the Sakhalin Island and West Kamchatka are considered by Gazprom as the most promising areas of the Russian shelf.
Work Program
For the purpose of arranging operations at offshore fields, Gazprom elaborated and adopted in September 2005 the Gazprom Work Program aimed at hydrocarbon resources development on the Russian Federation shelf until 2030.
The Program contemplates comprehensive and gradual hydrocarbons development in offshore areas, application of state-of-the-art technical and technological solutions in each and every area of the Company’s activities on the basis of the world’s best practices.
Current Status
Gazprom’s projects on the Russian continental shelf include:
- the Sakhalin II and Sakhalin III in the Sea of Okhotsk.
- the Shtokman field in the Barents Sea.
- the Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea.
- geological exploration of offshore areas in the Ob and Taz Bays.
At present, Russian shipbuilding companies are executing Gazprom’s orders for manufacturing the products required for the shelf development.
In Severodvinsk the Sevmash Production Association is constructing the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant stationary platform, the Zvyozdochka Ship Repairing Center – the Arkticheskaya jack-up floating drilling rig, the Vyborg Shipbuilding Plant – the Severnoye Siyaniye (Northern Lights) and the Polyarnaya Zvezda (Polar Star) semi-submersible drilling rigs.
Gazprom has arranged engineering of the facilities for the Russian shelf development. By Gazprom’s order, the Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute has elaborated a conceptual design of an offshore ice-resistant drilling rig, engineering designs for eleven vessels to ensure offshore fields pre-development. Engineering design preparation for a semi-submersible drilling rig is underway. The Institute is also elaborating the Program on marine equipment creation and utilization for offshore petroleum fields development until 2030.
As projected, before 2020 the Company will need more than 10 drilling and processing platforms, at least 60 vessels and marine equipment of various types, as well as up to 23 LNG carriers to develop the Russian continental shelf.