Gazprom Neft reports 5 millionth tonne of oil produced at Novoportovskoye field

MOSCOW -- Total cumulative oil production at the Novoportovskoye field has now reached 5 million tonnes, the landmark tonne of crude being shipped by Gazprom Neft subsidiary Gazpromneft-Yamal on the Shturman Albanov tanker. Year-round oil transportation from Novoportovskoye field is made possible via the Arctic Gates transhipment terminal, the only such terminal in the world located in the freshwaters beyond the Arctic Circle.

About 196 tankers have been despatched since oil transportation from Novoportovskoye field first started via the Northern Sea Route, with oil deliveries via the Arctic Gates terminal since May 2016 now standing at 4 million tonnes. Oil transportation is undertaken by multi-functional ice-breaking vessels, as well as Arc7 ice-class tankers, designed and built specifically for operations in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Ob.

The possibility of despatching oil from Novoportovskoye field via the Northern Sea Route was confirmed by Gazprom Neft in spring 2011, following a pilot voyage by Vaigach nuclear ice-breaker from the port of Sabetta (in the north—east of the Yamal peninsula) to Cape Kamenny. The first summer shipment of oil from Novoportovskoye field by tanker took place in August 2014, with the first winter shipment by sea taking place in February 2015. The Arctic Gates oil transhipment terminal was commissioned on May 25, 2016, able to ship up to 8.5 million tonnes of crude per year.

The Novoportovskoye oil and gas-condensate field is one of the most significant in the Yamal Peninsula. Eighty five wells are currently in operation at the field, producing between 50 and 1,100 tonnes of oil per day — construction of 19 wells, moreover, with total daily production of 5,163 tonnes/day, having been constructed in 2017.