Yuri Ban'ko

In the range of the events, organized within The First Murmansk International Economic Forum, the special place has II International Conference "Shelf development: step-by-step".

The conference has become a very important stage on the way of determining the perspectives in the Development of Shtockman Gas Condensate Field; it allowed to discuss challenges of interaction and cooperation of the entrepreneurs, bankers, industrialists, to "synchronize watches" of the Russians and their foreign partners. In fact Murmansk is becoming the center for cooperation of national and foreign companies.

Opening the conference, the chairman of the Murmansk Regional Duma Evgeny Nikora noted, that legislative power tends to create favorable investment climate on the territory of the Murmansk region for national and foreign companies. Shtockman project plays special role in the strategy of the development of the Murmansk region. Nowadays Arctic, the Kola Peninsula is considered as an extremely interesting region not only in Russia, but also in the whole world! And it is not mere chance! For example, in 2008 the world consumption of condensed natural gas was 172,3 million tons, then in 2015 the demand grew up to 327 million tons a year.

In the nearest years a lot of national and foreign companies come to work in the Murmansk region, and all of them are to observe the Laws of the Russian Federation and the Murmansk region. Nevertheless the laws and legal acts should not limit the business activity, and even more, they are to promote its development. With this aim, the members of the Murmansk Regional Duma develop regional legal framework on the issues of taxation legislation, maintenance of ecological security, stimulation of production, innovation introduction of technologies, training of qualified staff.

Chief executive officer of "Shtockman Development AG" Yuri Komarov, speaking at the conference, surely noted, that Shtockman project technically can be implemented. And it also became even clearer after the speech of the Deputy CEO of "Shtockman Development AG" company Herve Madeo, who focused attention at the difficulties, appearing while implementing the first phase of the project. Within this phase the woks are to be realized under severe arctic conditions at the depth until 350 meters.

The first phase includes development of concept-based technical decisions, concerning 16-20 subsea wells in three different areas, each equipped with the sea floor template, including redirection of the extracted gas from the sea floor template to the mobile offshore extracting unit of the ship type.

During the first phase it is also necessary to elaborate ice-proof construction of mobile offshore extracting unit, which anticipates the opportunity of it's detaching. Equipment for gas conversion process, with the minimal productivity of 70 cubic million gas per day will be the part of the biggest in the world mobile offshore extracting unit. With the help of this equipment will be fulfilled such operations as segregation of gas and liquids, drying, compression as well as balancing of gas and condensate with the aim to prevent sweating in the flow at its two-phase transportation along the pipelines with the diameter 36 inches to the onshore objects of the facilities. On the mobile offshore unit will work about 200-300 people, they will be transported to the place by helicopters.

To have connection with the shore and transfer the data to the onshore objects, located 150 km from the unit, will be used optical fiber. The icebreaker, fire and rescue vessel, supply vessel and the ship for iceberg disposal will be the parts of the marine fleet.

The pipeline onshore landfall will be on the Northern coast of the Kola Peninsula in the Gulf of Opasov. The onshore part of main pipeline, spreading for 10 km from the pipeline onshore landfall to the plug catcher on the factory border, located in the valley of the Zavalishina Gulf, will be laid underground.

Among the on plots of the first phase there will be receiving section and, on the first place, plug catcher of the pipe type for segregation of gas and liquid condensate. Two units of LNG processing will be connected to the main pipeline Murmansk-Volhov, it will allow transporting about a half of the production capacity, including Balance-Of-Plant needs.

In the compressors of the end gas, before transportation to storage and shipping, will be fulfilled condensate stabilization; it will help to avoid flaring, on normal working conditions. Among the production line of liquid natural gas will be the equipment of acid gas removal, drying, dehydration and liquidation. The liquidation process, where will be used electrically powered cooling compressor, is based on well-recommended technology with the cycle of propane and mixed refrigerant, offered by the company Air products and chemicals Inc. The productivity of the liquefaction train is 7,5 million tons of LNG a year, and it will turn out to be one of the highest indexes in the world.

Thermal power plant will produce 600 mW of energy, which is necessary for functioning of the objects of the first phase. This capacity can be compared with the demands in electricity of the whole city with 1 million dwellers. All other energy vectors will also be produced at the site, locally.

The storage area and the shipment zone will include two double-walled reservoirs for storage of LNG, with the volume of 160 thousand m 3 each. The return system and the system of steam compression, condensate storage reservoir, LNG loading berth and condensate loading berth, supplementary reservoir, transshipping complexes as well as the third berth are stipulated for the second and third phases of development of Shtockman gas condensate field.

To provide security of conducting offshore works in severe conditions, as well as high level of production availability of port facilities, the berths of transshipping complexes will be protected by broad wave breaking jetty.

To minimize the influence of severe climate conditions on the construction of objects, it was decided broadly to use modules. The technical support zone will be located beside factory facilities. It will include office premises, repair shops, storehouses, laboratory, fire station and other buildings, needed for exploitation of the complex.

Among harbor vessels there will be tugs, fire vessels; rescue and transport vessels, necessary for exploitation of port facilities.

During projecting and constructing, the special attention will be paid to security maintenance and environmental protection, as well as to the implementation of program of life - support development, which will be developed with account of the results, after assessment of impact on the environment, social sphere and correspondent further recommendations, it will help to make the integration of Shtockman Development AG activities to the local environment easier.

The first phase of development of Shtockman field will provide direct or indirect employment for thousands of workers, having different qualifications.

To train potential staff company Shtockman Development AG in 2011 starts implementation of the training program, it will allow to provide high professional level of exploitation of onshore and offshore object, complying with the strictest security demands. Exactly the leadership in the sector of gas supplies, together with high reputation, what gives reliability guarantee in the supply activities, is the main objective of Shtockman Development AG Company.

Nowadays Shtockman Development AG becomes one of the most significant actors on the World market of Gas and LNG production. 

Company "Technip" is one of the foreign companies, wishing to participate in Shtockman project. This company specializes in the sphere of constructing LNG factories, doing subsea works and production of flexible drill stems, and dealing with projecting of technological and drilling platforms.

Particularly this company built 45 years ago the first in the world LNG factory in Nigeria. So, among the company's bookings there is construction of the first in the world floating LNG factory. One of the most significant projects for "Technip" is construction of LNG factory in Qatar, with the capacity of 7,8 million tons of LNG a year.

According to the president of the company Marc Duval, "Technip" hopes, together with the Russian and Japanese partners to become the prime contractor while constructing LNG factory, production of sea floor frame. 

With special attention the audience listened to the representatives of Associations of Suppliers for oil and gas industry. Knut Henningsen, presenting Norwegian Association "Petro Arctic", shared the experience, how its members, and there are more than 380 companies, cooperated in the process of development of "Snohvit" field. The experience of functioning of this organization was used at foundation of analogous "Murmanshelf" Association in Murmansk. Only in 2008 the members of the Association supplied the general amount of goods and services for 4 bln of NOK to oil and gas companies, 30% out of this amount - abroad.

Having done Atlantic transoceanic flight, CEO of the Association of oil and gas companies of Newfoundland and Labrador Mr. Robert Cadigan visited the conference, to share the working experience. Developing offshore fields in Canada, oil and gas companies face the same challenges, which will appear at shelf development in the Russian sector of the Arctic, that is why the NOIA experience on the use of subsea extracting complexes, detach platforms, aids of iceberg drifting from the drilling sites and extracting platforms, can be applied in Russia as well. The following fact seems also to be quite interesting: before implementation phase of the oil and gas project, the Government of Canada discusses benefits in favor of the region, where hydrocarbon materials are going to be extracted.

During the conference several cooperation agreements were signed - between Association of Suppliers for Oil and Gas industry NOIA and "Murmanshelf", between "Murmanshelf" and English Association «SubseaUK». Great Britain accumulated huge experience of activities on the shelf of the Northern Sea, experience of constructing modern equipment. 56% of extracted by the Great Britain gas is done by subsea extracting complexes.

The British companies hopefully observe the works, going on at the shelf of the Barents Sea, wishing to render their services and equipment.

In the same situation are also the members of French Association of producers of oil and gas equipment GEP. More than 400 companies in France, which does not have its own oil and gas resources, work for international oil and gas industry. Annually they earn about 30 bln dollars, 10 bln out of them - in the shelf projects. 2/3 of the turnover is made by exploration and extraction, 1/3 - oil refining and realization of oil products. Its extensive capacities for Research and advanced development Association GEP considers as its main achievement, it includes two scientific and research institutes.

Since 2007 Association allots for Research and advanced development about 10 million euros a year.

Director General of the Association of Suppliers for Oil and Gas Industry "Murmanshelf" Grigory Stratiy emphasized that the experience of Petro Arctic, NOIA, SubseaUK, GEP is of great importance for the members of Murmansk Association. The Murmansk region will develop along the way of founding inter-branch cluster. In the nearest future there will be created the Regional Development Fund and the Program of Industrial Potential Development.  
Within the frameworks of the conference took place the panel discussion "Supplies: Russian and foreign content". It is clear, that there will be serious and consistent struggle for the contracts for Shtockman project. The Russian Government defined the main condition of getting the contract by the foreign company - it is to attract Russian partners as subcontractors and transfer to them modern technologies. National enterprises are to be ready to work under new conditions. Russian industry is to adopt high technologies step by step, so that in future, instead of subcontracts, to get general contracts, moreover, that the second and third phases of Shtockman Field Russia is going to develop all by itself.

Unpublished articles