ARKHANGELSK, April 17. /TASS/. The Komi Region plans to re-establish the Alliance of Subsoil Users to make sure the sector has modern geophysical scientific and software materials for geological exploration and development of new deposits, the region's deputy minister of natural resources and environmental protection, Pavel Azarenkov, said at the Arctic - Regions business forum in Arkhangelsk.

"The region considers reviving the Alliance of Subsoil Users. Its aim would be to have the members use modern geophysical materials - scientific materials and software," he said. "The members would be both subsoil users' enterprises and organizations planning to participate in tenders and auctions to obtain licenses."

The region has significant potential for expanding the raw material base of the oil and gas industry, he continued. The Timan-Pechora province is the fourth in Russia in terms of oil reserves, which are likely to be even bigger. The gas reserves make 99.8 billion cubic meters. Most oil and gas reserves have been licensed. The region has 190 valid licenses granted to 59 subsoil companies.

 

Deposits and Indiga port

 

For the purpose of developing mineral deposits and mining projects in the Nenets Autonomous Region and in the Komi Region, the involved parties have entered a concession agreement on the creation of transport, energy and telecommunications infrastructures, as well as of a railway connection with the Northern Sea Route through the Indiga deep-water seaport.

The Indiga Seaport Directorate's top manager Sergey Klyavin told the forum the port's design is currently underway as a part of the Arctic mega project, which unites the Indiga port, the Indiga - Sosnogorsk railway, the development of the Pyzhem deposit of titanium ores and quartz sands - the largest deposit in the world in terms of proven reserves.

The port's traffic at the initial stage will be 8.6 million tons, in the transshipment mode, and after the railway is ready, it will grow to 80 million tons. This port in the Russian Arctic zone will probably be the second ice-free deep-water port after the Murmansk port.

The Indiga - Sosnogorsk railway will be about 559 km long, and its daily capacity will be 122 pairs of trains. Investments will be about 371 billion rubles ($4.5 billion), and the project's payback period will make about 19 years, he added. Notably, without a railway the port may pay off within 15 years in the transshipment mode.

 

Logistics and marine projects

 

Sergey Bessonov, director of the Gazpromneft supply branch, told the audience the limitation of resource extraction during the Arctic development may be explained, among other reasons, by limited space on the platform and ships, and therefore cargo delivery takes longer. Additionally, the Barents Sea is "closed" in summer due to military exercises. The company has developed a new logistics system and a well drilling schedule to meet options for deliveries of necessary equipment, he said.

BT SWAP's Deputy Director Ruslan Zakirov said about designed project to produce and loose piles in the supporting bases of offshore platforms and hydraulic structures by hydraulic compression in Arctic conditions. Hydraulic loosing is a technology based on high internal pressure with the use of hydraulic systems, reaching the pile yield strength, not exceeding the plastic limit.

Such a connection means a high level of strength and reliability under multidirectional cyclic vibration loads, he continued. The forum participants pointed to the restoration and reconstruction of port infrastructures along the entire Northern Sea Route. However, the pace is still insufficient, they added. Lacking railways, highways, unified logistics system hinder this development.

The Arctic - Regions business forum is a platform for operators of oil and mining projects in the Arctic, owners of cargo, fishing and icebreaker fleets, as well as for big industrial, logistics and machine-building companies. The forum's key topic was management and development of the Northern Sea Route and neighboring waters. TASS was the forum's general information partner.