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Gazprom Neft plans to send first tanker with oil from Prirazlomnoye in Q1

MOSCOW, February 05, /ITAR-TASS/. Gazprom Neft plans to send the first tanker with oil from the Prirazlomnoye field to international markets in the first quarter of this year.

The company’s Deputy CEO Vadim Yakovlev said at a news briefing on Wednesday, February 5, that 300,000 tonnes would be shipped to Rotterdam from Prirazlomnoye in 2014 - one tanker every quarter.

The oil will be traded at a discount to the Urals blend. Initially it will be sold to refineries in the Netherlands, Norway and Great Britain at spot prices. In the future, Gazprom Neft plans to use accumulation facilities for optimising oil exports.

Gazprom will assign its stake in Prirazlomnoye to Gazprom Neft under an instalment payment plan, which includes the cost of the platform and payments from operating income. Past costs are estimated at 90 billion roubles.

The Prirazlomnoye field was discovered in 1989. It is located on the Pechora Sea shelf 60 kilometres off the shore (Varandei settlement) at the water depth of 19 to 20 metres.

The Prirazlomnoye field is an essential element of Gazprom Group's oil business development strategy.

The Gazprom Operating Concept for Russian Shelf stipulates a comprehensive approach to pre-development of fields in the Barents, Kara and Pechora Seas and the Sea of Okhotsk. The comprehensive approach hinges on the development of closely located groups of fields enabling to optimize costs and creating conditions for simultaneous development of large and relatively small offshore fields. For instance, the Prirazlomnoye and Dolginskoye oil fields in the Pechora Sea are scheduled for in-sync development.

The Prirazlomnoye field contains 72 million tonnes of oil reserves enabling to achieve the annual production level of 6.6 million tonnes.

Production operations in the Prirazlomnoye field are scheduled to start in 2012.

The license to explore and produce hydrocarbons in the Prirazlomnoye field is owned by Gazprom neft shelf (former Sevmorneftegaz), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gazprom.

Built by Sevmash Production Association, the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant oil-producing platform is a key pre-development facility. The platform will ensure well drilling, oil production, storage and offloading. The main features are its resistance to strong ice loads, long self-sustainability and year-round operability. Forty slanted wells will be drilled from it.

The Prirazlomnaya platform is designed to receive oil from other fields as well. A single platform will enable to involve adjacent fields into efficient development and to reduce infrastructure-associated costs.