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Medvedev in Astrakhan to chair conference on Caspian oil Wed

Medvedev will make a working tour of Astrakhan on Wednesday to chair a conference on the use of subsoil resources and transportation of hydrocarbon fuel

MOSCOW, October 2 (Itar-Tass) - Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will make a working tour of Astrakhan on Wednesday to chair a conference on the use of subsoil resources and transportation of hydrocarbon fuel.

The RF government press service reported that the Head of the Cabinet would also visit an offshore ice-resistant stationary oil platform belonging to the LUKOIL Company. The platform was named after Yuri Korchagin, former secretary of the LUKOIL Board of Directors. Over there, Medvedev will familiarize himself with the residential and production premises, drilling equipment and platform control systems.

Vice-Premier Arkady Dvorkovich, Vladimir Ustinov, plenipotentiary presidential representative in the Southern FederalD istrict, the Ministers of Natural Resources and Energy, Sergei Donskoi and Alexander Novak, and Astrakhan Region Governor Alexander Zhilkin will participate in the conference due to be held under Premier's direction.

Seven deposits of oil and gas have been discovered in the Caspian Sea. Their reserves according to the "proven", "probable", and "possible" categories are estimated at one billion tonnes of reference fuel.

In particular, development work has been in progress since 2009 at the Yuri Korchagin offshore field which the Head of Government will visit. A "zero discharge" technology is emloyed in the production process: effluents are not discharged into the sea but are collected in shut containers and are brought ashore for neutralization an disposal. Drilling is carried out from the offshore ice-resistant Yuri Korchagin stationary platform, which is fitted out with facilities for boring wells of up to 7.4 km deep.

"Unique-to-Russia design and technological solution is employed in the drilling of wells: horizontal wells of extended lenght of over 5 km. An even radial siting of wells makes it possible to achieve a simultaneous opening-up of all productive seams," reference materials say.

The platform's living module is intended for 105 people for an autonomous stay for 15 days. Oil from the platform is transported via an underwater pipeline, 58 km long, or by shuttle-service tankers.

The press service materials point out that the government is working to ensusre industrial and environmental safety in the development of tanker and pipeline transportation of hydrocarbon fuel.

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