Exxon Neftegas Ltd. and partners in the Sakhalin I group, established to develop oil and gas fields off Russia's Sakhalin Island, have let contract for a giant platform to Kvaerner AS, Oslo.
The platform is expected to be built in Russia for a total cost of $1 billion. Kvaerner will be responsible for project management, engineering, procurement, and construction management of the topsides and jacket.
The Sakhalin I project license area has estimated reserves totaling more than 2 billion bbl of oil and 240 million bbl of condensate and almost 15 tcf of gas (OGJ, Oct. 30, 1995, p. 12).
The platform will be installed in Arkutun Dagi field, which lies in 40-45 m of water about 20 km off the northeastern corner of Sakhalin Island off mainland Russia's eastern seaboard.
Unprecedented structure?
Borger Mobraten, Kvaerner's project director, told OGJ the operator is considering building a steel gravity structure because of earthquakes and hostile sea conditions in the Sakhalin area: "Nothing like it has been built before."
The steel base is expected to support a 20,000-30,000 metric ton topsides, housing drilling and processing facilities and living quarters. Production capacity will be 115,000 b/d of oil and 360 MMcfd of gas.
Development of Arkutun Dagi is expected to be the first step in a multi-platform complex, with overall development costs of Sakhalin I area fields predicted to reach $12.7 billion.
Mobraten said the group has started talks about export routes for produced oil and is looking at several pipeline and tanker options. Gas will be reinjected during early oil production.
Sakhalin I partners are operator Exxon 30%, Rosneft-Sakhalin 17%, Sakhalinmorneftegas-Shelf 23%, and Japan's Sakhalin Oil & Gas Development Co. Ltd. 30%.
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