Russia’s offshore Arctic platform Prirazlomnaya prepares to double production

By Atle Staalesen, The Independent Barents Observer March 19, 2018
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The Prirazlomnaya offshore oil platform in Russia’s Arctic. (Alexander Taran / CC via Wikimedia Commons)

Prirazlomnaya, Russia’s only offshore Arctic oil platform, extracted a total of 2.6 million tons of oil in 2017, according to operator company Gazprom Neft Shelf informs. In 2018, production will increase to 3,6 million tons and in 2020, the Prirazlomnaya will reach its target production of about five million tons.

Operator Gazprom Neft Shelf, a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, drilled another four production wells over the course of 2017, as well as one discharge well.

The field now has a total of eight production wells, four discharge wells and one absorption well in operation, the company says in a press release.

By 2020, the total number of wells will increase to 20.

The Prirazlomnoye field holds a total of 70 million tons of oil. Extracted oil is shipped by ice-class tankers to the Umba, a 300,000 ton tanker located in the Kola Bay, near the city center of Murmansk.

Since the Prirazlomnoye came into production late 2013, a total of 5.9 million tons of oil has been shipped from the production site in the Pechora Sea to Murmansk. It is part of a quickly growing Russian Arctic oil shipping scheme. In addition to the Prirazlomnaya oil, there are increasing volumes of liquid hydrocarbons shipped from Gazprom Neft’s Novy Port field in Yamal and Lukoil’s Varandey terminal on the Nenets coast.