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Prirazlomnoye drilling in September

Prirazlomnaya plattform in the Kola bay soon ready for departure to the eastern Barents Sea.

Gazprom is ready to start tugging its “Prirazlomnaya” platform from Murmansk to the Pechora Sea. Drilling at Russia’s first Arctic offshore oil field might start already in September.

Location

Deputy leader of Gazprom Dobycha Shelf, a subsidiary of Gazprom, confirms that the platform in the course of this month will be ready for transportation to the Pechora Sea. The company plans to start the transport operation on 20 July, Oleg Sokolov told RIA Novosti.

Drilling at the first well is due to start in September, while the first oil can be produced before the end of 2011, Oilru.com reports.

The Prirazlomnoye field, which has about 72 million ton of oil resources, is located at 20 m depths about 60 km north of Varandey, the port terminal in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The project will be the first ever offshore field in the Russian Arctic put in production.

Read also: Prirazlomnaya platform to be registered in Nenets

The platform, which has been built by Sevmash in Severodvinsk, has since November 2010 been docked at Shipyard No 35 in Murmansk. About 4000 people has since worked round the clock to complete the installation.

According to the Murmansk State Television Channel, all works with concreting, as well as with the helipad, are now completed.

As recently reported by BarentsObserver, the Gazprom Dobycha Shelf now invites people in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug to apply for jobs at the Prirazlomnaya platform.