Oil shipments start from Yamal Peninsula

The first shipment of oil from the Arctic Gate terminal, offshore the Yamal Peninsula in the Russian Arctic, has taken place, Russian oil and gas company Gazprom said May 25. The oil was delivered to the terminal through a 100-kilometer pipeline from Novoportovskoye oil and condensate field in the southeast of the peninsula. Gazprom said that President Vladimir Putin gave the formal command via a video call to start loading the first tanker.

The terminal is placed 3.5 kilometers offshore because at the shore the sea is too shallow to accommodate tanker traffic. Gazprom says that the terminal will enable the delivery of oil to European customers year-round via the Northern Sea Route, a route around Russia’s Arctic coast kept open, as necessary, by icebreakers.

Gazprom says that the equipment at the terminal is fully automated and is protected from hydraulic shocks. Zero discharge technology will prevent pollution of the surrounding bay, the company says. A concrete shell protects the subsea pipeline connecting the terminal to a tank farm on the coast.

“Gazprom is systematically exploring the Russian Arctic. We are successfully extracting oil from the Prirazlomnoye field, Russia's only hydrocarbon production project on the Arctic shelf. A one-of-a-kind gas production center in the Yamal Peninsula is in full swing. Today, we are creating a new oil province on top of the gas center,” said Alexey Miller, chairman of the Gazprom management committee, when announcing the Arctic Gate terminal startup.

- ALAN BAILEY