Total cumulative exports of ARCO and Novy Port oil, produced by Gazprom Neft at its Prirazlomonoye and Novoportovskoye fields, have now reached 30 million tonnes. The landmark consignment, shipped in mid-June from the road-to-sea transhipment complex at the Port of Murmansk, was delivered to customers in north—west Europe. The company’s total cumulative volume of Arctic-blend oil exports is now comparable to the capacity of 750,000 oil tankers stretching from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok.
The ARCO and Novy Port oil blends are in consistent demand on the European market. Organising deliveries has involved Gazprom Neft in developing a unique logistics strategy to ensure the year-round transportation of hydrocarbons, the key elements of which are the Prirazlomnaya offshore production platform, the Arctic Gates terminal, the company’s reinforced ice-class tanker fleet, directly owned and third-party icebreakers, and the road-to-sea transhipment complex.
Operational safety and efficiency are ensured by the world’s first digital Arctic logistics management system, named “Capitan” and developed by Gazprom Neft specialists. Supported by this the company is able to ensure year-round shipments of all oil produced, at minimal cost.
Anatoly Cherner, Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, Gazprom Neft, commented: “Gazprom Neft’s successful experience in managing year-round oil shipments produced by our company in the Russian Arctic is allowing us to increase export volumes as well as improving business efficiency. The list of customers buying ARCO and Novy Port oil blends has increased in 2019, as ever increasing numbers of major European refineries are keen to buy this much-in-demand Arctic oil, the guaranteed continuous delivery of which is ensured through a unique logistics strategy and the use of cutting-edge digital technologies.”
Planned export volumes of Arctic oil blends are expected to reach 5.5 million tonnes in 1H2019 — a 10-percent increase year-on-year. The sale and promotion of Arctic oil blends on international markets is handled by Gazprom Neft subsidiary Gazprom Neft Trading GmbH.
The Novoportovskoye field is one of the most important oil and gas fields currently under development on the Yamal Peninsula. It is located within the Arctic Circle, some distance from pipeline transportation infrastructure. Year-round shipments of hydrocarbons from the Novoportovskoye field are undertaken through the Arctic Gates transhipment terminal in the Gulf of Ob. Recoverable C1+C2 reserves at the Novoportovskoye field stand at more than 250 million tonnes of oil and condensate, and more than 320 cubic metres of gas. Novy Port-blend crude is categorised as “light”, with low sulphur content (of about 0.1 percent).
Prirazlomnoye 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. The “Prirazlomnaya” ice-resistant offshore platform was designed specifically for development of this field, and is designed for use in the most extreme environmental and climatic conditions, as well as meeting the most stringent safety requirements and withstanding maximum ice loads.
The Prirazlomnoye field is the only oil-production project on the Russian Arctic Shelf, field development having started in December 2013. The first consignments of the new Russian “Arctic Oil (ARCO)” were despatched from the platform in April 2014.
