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Rosneft looks at Murmansk gas field

The Belokamenka terminal tanker is today one of Rosneft's key assets in Murmansk. In some years, the Russian Arctic city could turn into an Arctic hub for the company.

The state oil company is considering to develop the Murmanskoye, a gas field located in waters near the Kola Peninsula.

Location

In an interview to TV station TV21, Murmansk Governor Marina Kovtun confirms that Rosneft now is the licenseholder to the Murmanskoye field, a hydrocarbon structure located about 200 km north of Murmansk. The development of the field is part of the comprehensive cooperation agreement between the company and the regional government, and a development process is in the pipeline, Kovtun indicates.

Murmansk has long worked for the development of the huge gas resources located in the Barents Sea. The region is today one of the least gasificated Russian regions and a major gas-based transformation of the regional heating system has long been planned. After the indefinite postponement of the Shtokman field, the region now appears to be putting its stakes on the Murmanskoye field.

The field was discovered by the AMNGR company in 1983 and holds an estimated 120 billion cubic meters of gas. A total of nine wells have been drilled in the structure. The daily gas flow from the field could reach as much as 1,4 million cubic meters of gas, of which Murmansk and Severomorsk combined would require about 500 million cubic meters per year, Bellona reports. Reportedly, the Federal Agency for Subsoil Usage (Rosnedra) has still not made public information about Rosneft’s takeover of the license.

As previously reported, Murmansk has over the last couple of years significantly strengthened its relations with Rosneft. The oil company has taken on a leading role in the development of the Murmansk Transport Hub, and also plans the development of a major new shipbuilding facility based on the Northern Fleet shipyard No 82 in Roslyakovo.