The Prirazlomnaya platform, located Pechora Sea, is the same platform Greenpeace activists tried to scale in September. Image (c) Gazprom By Alexei Anishchuk
NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia, April 18 (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin hailed Russia’s first shipment of Arctic offshore oil on Friday, saying the platform decried by environmentalists will help Moscow expand its global energy markets share.
Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russia’s top gas producer Gazprom, shipped the first 70,000 tonnes of oil by tanker from the Prirazlomnoye platform, the site of a protest by 30 Greenpeace activists who were arrested last year.
The launch of oil production in the Arctic, seen by Russia as one of the key sources in the gradual replacement of output from its depleted West Siberian fields, has long been delayed due to cost overruns and technical difficulties.
“This, in essence, is the beginning of great and large-scale extraction of minerals and oil by our country in the Arctic,” Putin said, speaking from his residence outside Moscow via a video link with workers at the platform, including Gazprom’s head Alexei Miller.
“The whole project will positively influence Russia’s future presence on the global energy markets and will strengthen both the whole economy and the energy sector,” said Putin, who personally oversees all the major energy projects in country.
Russia’s oil output stands at over 10 million barrels per day, the world’s largest, but it needs new sources of crude oil, including hard-to-recover deposits and the Arctic, to sustain this level.
ARCTIC RESOURCES
The start of Arctic oil shipments drew strong criticism from the environmental group Greenpeace, whose protests against Prirazlomnoye last year led to the arrest of 30 activists who were held for two months before a Kremlin amnesty released them.
“If we do not stop this Arctic oil rush, we risk not only the environment but our ability to shake off the power structures of the last century,” Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo said in a statement.
“Greenpeace, alongside millions of our supporters, will continue to stand against any oil company that tries to drill in the melting Arctic ocean.
The arrest of activists from 18 countries, who faced up to 15 years in jail on piracy charges, drew criticism from Western nations and celebrities such as ex-Beatle Paul McCartney.
The recoverable oil reserves of the Prirazlomnoye field, located 60 kilometres (37.5 miles) off Russia’s northernmost shores, are estimated at 72 million tonnes.
Gazprom Neft said on Thursday that the expected level of the output is seen at 6 million tonnes a year (120,000 barrels per day) from after 2020.
Rosneft, Russia’s top oil producer, has agreed to develop Russian Arctic hydrocarbon resources with ExxonMobil , Eni and Statoil.
It puts total offshore hydrocarbon resources at 43 billion tonnes of oil equivalent.
The Arctic is estimated to contain 20 percent of the world’s undiscovered hydrocarbon resources. Rosneft’s projects are not expected to produce their first oil from Arctic waters before the middle of the next decade. (Reporting by Alexei Anishchuk; Writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Shell Plc said it has written off almost $1 billion and withdrawn from a US offshore wind farm as President Donald Trump seeks to stymie the industry’s development with executive orders.
WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) – When Marco Rubio arrives in Latin America this weekend on his first foreign trip as Donald Trump’s secretary of state, he’ll find a region reeling from the new administration’s...
US President Donald Trump has raised the stakes for a meeting of an OPEC+ ministerial panel next month, with his call for the group to lower oil prices.
January 24, 2025
Total Views: 1323
Sign Up Now for gCaptain Daily
We’ve got your daily industry news related to the global maritime and offshore industries.
JOIN OUR CREW
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 108,907 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Your Gateway to the Maritime World!
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.