Posted by David Sear
I have had some interesting communiqués from Russia this week.
Amongst other topics, several contacts made oblique references to the Shtokman Project.
This mega project was put on hold by the three joint venture parties – Gazprom, Statoil and Total – earlier this year. At the time, the postponement was put down to major changes in the global gas markets.
Now my friends seem to indicate that the project may – and I stress the may – be starting to rumble along once more.
For providence, they point to the official website which does indeed confirm that a meeting was held as recently as August to discuss some of the environmental angles of the project.
World scale
If and when construction at Shtokman does get underway, this world-scale endeavour will certainly attract the interest of equipment suppliers.
The Shtokman field is located
in the hazardous Barents Sea
in the hazardous Barents Sea
After all, the field has, it is said, more than enough gas to supply the whole world for a year.
And exploiting reserves of that scope will – as again indicated by the official website – require quite an extensive infrastructure.
The cherry is undoubtedly a juicy one, but it will take quite some picking.
The challenges are many and varied, including technical, planning, costs, organizational and human hurdles.
Just consider the geographical location for a moment. The Shtokman field is located under the Barents Sea, about 600 km northeast of Murmansk, at local sea depths over 300 metres. The region’s hostile conditions include icebergs, stormy seas, freezing winds and months of darkness every year.
There are already reports of how this project could revive the fortunes of the local ice-breaking fleet.
Still, it is probably not worth trying to pre-guess what will happen next. A quick glance at past news items reveals changes have been made to the project’s scope since it was first launched.
But you can reply on this website to bring you further details once they firm up.
Are you taking part in the Shtokman project? Have you worked in similar hostile conditions? Or have you been involved in such a world-scale project before? Then I’d be delighted to hear your thoughts and experiences. Please contact me on: david.a.sear@kci-world.com.
MORE…
More details about the project can be found on the Shtokman official website.
