Two Norwegian companies are preparing for the reloading and storage of oil from a major Russian oil company and will apply for the Norwegian authorities` permission to establish floating facilities in the bay of Korsfjorden, near the Russian border, newspaper Sør-Varanger Avis reports.
A major Russian oil company is reportedly eager to send its oil to the facility.
According to Arne B. Ramstad, a representative of Norterminal, the floating terminal can be operational in the course of 2014 if all permissions are granted by the authorities.
The floating facility is meant only as a temporary solution. Norterminal is continuing its plans for the construction of a major permanent oil terminal outside the town of Kirkenes, Arctic Norway. The new terminal is planned completed in year 2018.
As previously reported, Norterminal’s project includes storage capacity of up to one million cubic meter of crude oil in caverns and tanks. Between 150 and 300 tankers will make port call to the terminal annually, the largest up to 300,000 dwt. Up to 10 million tons of crude oil can be shipped from the Kirkenes terminal annually. Norterminal is owned by Jacob Stolt-Nielsen, one of the most powerful men in Norwegian shipping.
In December 2012, the company signed a contract for long-term lease of a 100 hectare land area near Kirkenes.
It is not clear exactly which Russian oil company will deliver oil to the Norwegian terminal. However several companies are actively developing oil production in the Russian North, and could be interested in using the facility. Gazprom Neft will soon start up production at the Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea and is also developing the Novy Port field in the Yamal Peninsula. Lukoil is highly active in the Timan-Pechora province and is exporting significant volumes of oil from its Varandey terminal. Rosneft, the huge state-owned company, has in the course of the last year acquired a major number of Arctic offshore licenses and will when projects are developed have need for smooth export routes.
