UPDATE: Russia launches oil shipments from northern field via new terminal

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MOSCOW, May 25 (PRIME) -- President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday gave a command to start the first oil tanker shipments from the Novoportovskoye field in northern Russia through a new terminal Vorota Arktiki (the Arctic Gates), located in the Gulf of Ob water zone near the Yamal Peninsula.

“The first shipment of oil through the Vorota Arktiki terminal has started,” gas giant Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said during the official ceremony.

The Novoportovskoye field being developed by Gazprom’s unit Gazprom Neft is one of the largest oil and gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula with recoverable resources exceeding 250 million tonnes of oil and condensate and over 320 billion cubic meters of gas. The deposit is located beyond the Arctic Cycle, far from the transport pipeline infrastructure.

Gazprom Neft plans to produce 6.3 million tonnes of oil at the field in 2018, the company said.

Earlier, Alexei Yankevich, the company’s deputy CEO for economy and finances, projected oil output at the field at 2.5 million tonnes in 2016.

The Vorota Arkitiki terminal with an annual capacity of 8.5 million tonnes of oil has been built to ensure year-round oil transportation by sea to Europe.

Investments in the project totaled 186 billion rubles over the last three years, Putin said.

(67.0493 rubles – U.S. $1)

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