Crude exports through Varandey terminal down 2.5 times
Shipments of crude oil from Varandey Oil Terminal in January-April plummeted by 2.5 times from last year’s figure, to 695,700 tons, the Arkhangelsk Port Authority said.
In April, Russia exported through the offshore facility 139,300 tons of crude oil versus 208,400 tons in March.
Varandey Oil Export Terminal was constructed for exports of oil extracted by LUKOIL in Timan-Pechora oil and gas province. In 2008, crude shipments through the terminal totaled 1.7 mln tons, in 2009 - 7.5 mln tons, in 2010 - 7.44 mln tons. Last year, LUKOIL exported through the facility 3.91 million tons of crude oil.
The fixed offshore ice resistant oil export terminal (FOIROT) comprises the following facilities: onshore tank farm with the total rated capacity of 325,000 cubic meters; fixed offshore ice resistant oil terminal located 22 km offshore; two underwater pipelines, 820 mm in diameter, connecting the onshore tank battery and the FOIROT, other production facilities.
The oil cargo is transported by 20,000dwt shuttle tankers to the Murmansk-based FSO Belokamenka for further transshipment onto large-tonnage tankers.
The Varandey project was implemented by LUKOIL jointly with ConocoPhillips. The commodity is exported mainly to the U.S. and Canada market.