Gazprom delegation visits shipbuilding companies in Severodvinsk
RELEASE
Release
Today in Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk Oblast) the Gazprom delegation led by Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee has visited the shipbuilding companies with which Gazprom’s orders were placed.
The delegation got acquainted with the construction of the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant stationary platform at the Sevmash Production Association and the Arkticheskaya jack-up floating drilling rig at the Zvezdochka Shiprepairing Center. Both facilities will be used for the Arctic shelf development.
Gazprom delegation at the Sevmash Production Association. Alexander Ananenkov (second from right).
At Sevmash, Alexander Ananenkov held a meeting on constructing offshore equipment to develop the Russian shelf.
The meeting was attended by heads and experts from Gazprom’s specialized subdivisions, Gazprom dobycha shelf, Gazprom neft shelf, Gazflot, Gazprom gazobezopasnost, as well as representatives from the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry, shipbuilding companies, the Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute, the Rubin Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering, the Corall Central Design Bureau.
Gazprom delegation at the Zvezdochka Shiprepairing Center. Alexander Ananenkov (center).
It was pointed out that the potential of the domestic shipbuilding companies would be fully exploited in creating the offshore equipment and fleet required by Gazprom. In order to develop the continental shelf, the Company will need more than ten drilling and production platforms, over 60 vessels and various floating equipment items, as well as several dozens of LNG carriers until 2030.
The meeting paid particular attention to the current issues of the Prirazlomnaya platform and the Arkticheskaya rig construction. The management of the shipbuilding plants provided the data on the progress with the construction and installation operations. It was highlighted that the said facilities were at the final construction stage.
An emphasis was placed on moving the Prirazlomnaya platform to and placing it in the projected location.
Based on the meeting results, Gazprom’s specialized subdivisions and subsidiaries, the Sevmash Production Association and the Zvezdochka Shiprepairing Center were tasked to complete the platform and the rig in 2010.
Background
The initial aggregate hydrocarbon resources of Russia’s continental shelf average 100 billion tons of fuel equivalent, of which 80 per cent is gas. The bulk of the hydrocarbon resources (around 70 per cent) are concentrated in the Barents, Pechora and Kara Seas, with gas and condensate prevailing in the Barents and Kara, and oil – in the Pechora Sea.
Gazprom considers 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 offshore to be most promising.
The Program for Gazprom’s activities aimed at hydrocarbon resources development on the Russian Federation shelf until 2030 was elaborated and adopted in September 2005 in the aim of arranging operations in offshore fields.
The Program covers comprehensive and staged development of offshore hydrocarbon resources, application of modern highly efficient technical and technological solutions across the entire process chain with due regard to the advanced global expertise.
At present, Russia’s shipbuilders are fulfilling Gazprom’s orders to manufacture facilities for the Arctic shelf development.
In Severodvinsk the Sevmash Production Association is constructing the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant stationary platform and the Zvezdochka Shiprepairing Center – the Arkticheskaya jack-up floating drilling rig, while Vyborg Shipyard is working on the Severnoye Siyaniye (Polar Lights) and Polyarnaya Zvezda (Polar Star) semi-submersible drilling rigs.
The Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant stationary platform will be the main facility for the Prirazlomnoye oil field development in the Pechora Sea offshore. It will perform well drilling, oil production, storage and offloading. The platform features the capability to resist the increased ice load, to work autonomously over an extended period of time, as well as to operate on a year-round basis.
The Arkticheskaya jack-up floating drilling rig is intended for exploratory and production drilling of oil and gas wells with the depth reaching 6,500 meters in some 100-meter-deep seawater. The rig is projected to be operated, inter alia, offshore the Yamal Peninsula, in the Ob and Taz Bays and the Sea of Okhotsk.
The Polyarnaya Zvezda and the Severnoye Siyaniye semi-submersible drilling rigs are designed for operation under severe natural and climatic conditions of the Extreme North, can stand waves of up to 32 meters in height and perform exploratory and production drilling of oil and gas wells up to 7,500 meters deep in seawater depth of 70–500 meters.
Gazprom has arranged engineering of technical facilities for the Russian shelf development by the domestic design companies. For instance, pursuant to Gazprom’s order, the Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute has elaborated the conceptual design of an offshore ice-resistant drilling rig and the engineering design for eleven vessels to ensure offshore fields development.