Second oil well starts operating at Prirazlomnoye field
© RIA Novosti. Alexei Danichev

Second oil well starts operating at Prirazlomnoye field

The company Gazpromneft has activated the second oil well at the Prirazlomnoye field, with a daily yield of 1,800 metric tons, the corporate website reports. This will make it possible to more than double 2015 oil production as compared to 2014, when 300,000 metric tons of oil were produced here.

A technological system for preventing oil spills and containing production and drilling waste has been set up at the Prirazlomnaya platform. "Gazprom views efforts to guarantee environmental safety and the uninterrupted operation of production units as high-priority corporate tasks in the harsh Arctic conditions," said Andrei Patrushev, Gazpromneft Deputy CEO for Shelf Projects Development. "A 100 percent increase in oil production at the Prirazlomnoye field highlights the efficiency of our equipment and technologies," he added.

The Prirazlomnoye field is located in the Pechora Sea 60 kilometers from the shoreline. Its producible oil reserves exceed 70 million metric tons. This is the first Arctic shelf oil-drilling project. The first oil was produced here in December 2013.

Russia built the ice-resistant stationary Prirazlomnaya platform for developing this oilfield. The platform was designed taking into account the specifics of the Arctic region, and is able to operate in an extreme environment. It meets the toughest safety standards and can withstand maximum possible ice pressure. A pipeline linking the platform with a tanker terminal has a safety valve that can instantly cut off the oil flow.