Russia opens oil terminal on Barents Sea coast
The Varandey oil terminal on the coast of the Barents Sea will be opened in June this year, Lukoil confirms. The company has invested 4 billion USD in the project, which will help boost exports through northern waters.
The new terminal will lead to increased shipping of Russian oil in the Barents Sea. Most of the oil will be transported to Murmansk where it will be reloaded for exports.
The opening of the Varandey terminal, located north in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, comes as the Yuzhno-Khilchuyuskoe oil field is getting ready for production, Rosbaltnord.ru reports with reference to Infranews.ru.
During his visit to the region in January this year, Lukoil CEO Vagit Alekperov oversaw status in the project. 5000 men are currently working to complete field installations. The construction area covers an area of 64 hectares and 460,000 tons of metal construction materials have already been used to prepare the field.
With its 70 million tons of reserves, the Yuzhno-Khilchuyuskoe field is one of the biggest in the area. It will produce an annual 7,5 million tons of oil, all of which will be exported through the Varandey terminal.
The development of the field has not proceeded without problems, however. As BarentsObserver reported, an uncontrolled outburst of gas took place from one of the wells in the area in February this year. In addition, the field development has also seen several delays, partly following the unnormal mild winter in the area, which has complicated logistics and construction.
The Varandey terminal is also expected to be used in connection with the Prirazlomnoe field, the first ever Russian offshore project in the Barents Sea. After numerous delays, production at Prirazlomnoe is now believed to start in the course of 2009.
The projects are managed by Naryanmarneftegas, a joint venture of Lukoil (50%) and ConocoPhillips (50%)
