40th tanker leaves ice-resistant offshore rig Prirazlomnaya (photo)
The Prirazlomnaya ice-resistant offshore rig marks a milestone shipment since it was put into operation. The 40th crude carrier has left the Prirazlomnaya in October 2016, says press center of Gazprom Neft.
Production at the Prirazlomnaya has exceeded 2.5 mln t of hydrocarbons transported by Sovcomflot’s two Arc6 ice class shuttle tankers – Kirill Lavrov and Mikhail Ulyanov. The vessels were built at St. Petersburg’s Admiralty Shipyards for round-the-year shipments of oil from the ice-resistant offshore rig.
Prirazlomnoye is the only project on the Russian Arctic Shelf at which commercial oil production is currently ongoing. Active development of the project commenced in mid‑2013 with the drilling of the first well in the summer of that year, and the Prirazlomnaya ice-resistant offshore rig commencing production in December 2013. This new Russian oil has been named “Arctic Oil (ARCO)”, with the first consignments from Prirazlomnoye commencing in April 2014.
Initially discovered in 1989, the Prirazlomnoye oilfield is located in the Pechora Sea, 60 kilometres from the shore. Recoverable reserves are in the order of 70 million tonnes. Its development has required the installation of a the “Prirazlomnaya” offshore rig, designed for use in the most extreme climatic and environmental conditions, fully compliant with the latest safety standards, and able to withstand maximum ice-loads.
The Prirazlomnaya rig is equipped with technology to prevent any ingress of production of drilling waste into the sea. The project is being implemented on the basis of “zero emissions”, with waste either re-injected into the strata or transported onshore for further recycling. All wellheads are located within the platform, the base of which then acts as a buffer between the well and the open sea. In addition to which, all of the wells are specially equipped to prevent the possibility of any uncontrolled emission of oil or gas and can, if necessary, be hermetically sealed within 10 seconds.
