The 8^th international conference, Arctic Shelf Development: Step by Step, has opened as part of the 4^th Murmansk International Business Week, the Murmansk Region Governor's press service said in a statement. The main topic of this year's conference will be opportunities and prospects for Arctic shelf development.

"Logistics supply bases created by Gazprom and Rosneft are already operating in the Murmansk Region. They are used to support sea projects, such as oil extraction in the Prirazlomnoye field, the discovery of a new oil deposit in the Kara Sea and the drilling of an exploratory well at the Dolginskoye deposit," Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region Grigory Stratiy said.

He went on to say that Novatek is currently creating a manufacturing center to build super large offshore structures in Belokamenka. The company is carrying out exploratory studies and is working on technical issues.

In addition, the project to develop Murmansk as a transport hub was launched last year. This effort is expected to result in the construction and launch of a new 46-kilometer railway between Vykhodnoy and Lavna, connecting the eastern and western sides of Kola Bay, in 2017.

The 8^th international conference Arctic Shelf Development: Step by Step brought together over 140 participants from Russia, Norway, Finland, Israel, Canada, the US, Korea, and Kazakhstan.