RF President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Rosneft CEO and Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin to discuss the implementation of the oil and gas corporation’s large projects, the Kremlin press office reports. The main issues discussed were the Vostok Oil project and the Zvezda Shipyard development.
In the framework of the Vostok Oil project, Rosneft has finished the survey and design stage of the project to build a pipeline, which will be 770 kilometres long, and a port in Sever Bay, Sechin told the President. ‘We are conducting exploration work in accordance with the schedule to prepare and develop the resource portfolio. We have identified the priority sites for multiple well pads; there will be up to 150 of them at the initial stage. We are also preparing a site for oil recovery and treatment units,’ he said.
According to Sechin, these projects will ensure the production, transportation and transhipment of up to 50 mn tons of oil a year at the initial stage, and up to 100 mn tons when we complete the second stage.
‘The project’s infrastructure also includes the construction of 2,500 GW energy facilities and over 3,500 kilometres of power lines for the project. We have already signed a turnkey contract with Inter RAO for the construction of both power generation and grid facilities’.
‘The project will generate extensive synergy in Russian industrial production. We have already placed an order for 10 Arc7 ice-class tankers to ship oil produced by this project. In total, there will be 50 vessels of different types servicing the project, including harbour craft, logistics vessels, large tankers and even LNG carriers,’ the Kremlin press office quotes Sechin as saying.
‘In the interests of Vostok Oil, a long-term contract was signed on delivering up to 100 drilling units produced in Russia. These machines are equipped with modern geolocation and geosteering systems that can be bound to a specific drilling point. They stand on a hydraulic platform, which ensures more precise drilling, greater drilling speed, higher efficiency and less risk of accidents’.
‘The drilling unit has a modular structure. Thanks to its compact size, it is almost half the size of a regular drilling rig; therefore, the investment cost of a well cluster will be 30 percent lower. It is a two-level Arctic-type drilling unit with wind protection. We have already tested it by drilling the 31st well in the West Irkinskoye area’, Sechin said.
‘To implement the project on schedule in terms of cargo shipment objectives set for the Northern Sea Route, we have pledged to deliver up to 30 million tonnes to the Northern Sea Route via Sever Bay by 2024,’ he added.
As for the Zvezda Shipyard project, the construction of the dry dock has been completed, now it is at the pre-commissioning stage. ‘It is a unique structure, 485 metres by 114 metres and 14 metres deep,’ Sechin noted. The ice breaker Leader was laid down there.
‘Currently, we have completed casting concrete for the dock’s walls and bottom and are completing the service gallery. We have assembled a unique Goliath crane at the dry dock; it is the second one, with a capacity of 1,200 tons. Tower cranes have been manufactured and delivered to the shipyard, and a caisson for floating out finished vessels has been installed. The construction of the new shipyard is continuing alongside production activities. Right now, 53 orders are in progress at the shipyard,’ Sechin reported.
According to Rosneft CEO, an entire cluster of high-tech production facilities, manufacturing the most advanced equipment, has been established around the shipyard, with screw-propeller and rudder columns, a dynamic positioning system, and other equipment made.
To provide the Zvezda complex with sheet steel, a new steel mill with a capacity of 1.5 million tons will be built in the nearby Sukhodol Harbour, with the shipyard using about 330-350 tons, and new regional companies will also be able to use these facilities, which will manufacture sheet metal and pipes, Sechin told. The developer estimates this project’s preliminary cost at about $2.2 billion, he added.
Photo: Kremlin press office