Four Million Tons of Oil from Prirazlomnoye

Gazprom Neft has extracted four million tons of ARCO (Arctic Oil) oil from the Prirazlomnaya platform on the Russian Arctic shelf. 

The Sovcomflot shuttle tanker Kirill Lavrov transported the four millionth ton, the 60th shipment since field commencement in 2014.

In 2017, the Prirazlomnoe field is expected to yield about 2.6 million tons of oil. In 2016, 2.15 million tons were produced, more than 2.5 times that produced in 2015.

ARCO oil has high density (about 906 kg per cubic meter), high sulfur content, high bitumen content, low coke balance index and a large number of fractions used for the production of lube products.

Two Panamax shuttle tankers transport oil from the Prirazlomnaya Platform: Mikhail Ulyanov and Kirill Lavrov. They are designed for year-round safe oil shipment in the Arctic. Both vessels were built to the orders of Sovcomflot at the Admiralty Shipyards of St. Petersburg, specifically to support Prirazlomnoe operations. Their deadweight is 70,000 tons, length 257 meters (843 feet) and width 34 meters (112 feet). 

Both vessels have Arc6 ice class and, thanks to their Azipod propulsion systems, they can traverse ice up to 1.2 meters thick when navigating stern-first.

The Prirazlomnoe oil field was discovered in 1989 and is located in the Pechora Sea 60 kilometers (37 miles) off the coast. Recoverable oil reserves are estimated at over 70 million tons.

Earlier this year, Gazprom Neft commissioned two new production wells at the Prirazlomnoye field. More information is available here.