The Gazprom Neft operated Novoportovskoye oil, gas and condensate field is located in the southeastern part of the Yamal Peninsula, 250 km north of Nadym and 30 km away from the Ob Bay coast.
It holds over 250 mill tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons in recoverable C1+C2 reserves but is located 700 km away from the existing pipeline infrastructure, so it was decided to ship Yamal oil by sea.
A 100 km pipeline transports oil from the Novoportovskoye field to the Ob Bay coast. The 8.5 mill tonnes per year capacity oil loading terminal was installed some 3.5 km offshore, due to the shallow approaches. It offers year-round loading of tankers for further shipments via the Northern Sea Route.
“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 centre in the Yamal Peninsula is in full swing. Today, we are creating a new oil province on top of the gas centre. We have opened the Arctic Gate to deliver Yamal oil to European consumers via the Northern Sea Route all year round,” Alexey Miller, Gazprom Management Committee chairman reportedly said.
Earlier this month, Gazprom Neft launched the second of six 38,000 dwt Arc7 class tankers - Shturman Malygin — built to load oil from the field. She has been designed for Arctic operations and in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Ob. The maximum draught of the new tanker series in freshwater is 9.5 m.