A delegation from PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) headed by Evgeny Ambrosov, Senior Executive Vice-President and COO of PAO Sovcomflot, took part in the 20th annual Sakhalin Oil and Gas Conference, which was held in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on 28-30 September 2016, SCF says in a press release.
The theme selected by the organisers for this anniversary conference was “Overcoming the ‘perfect storm’: oil & gas project development in Sakhalin and the Russian Far East in the new economic realities.” The event was attended by representatives from major industry companies operating in the region, such as Rosneft, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (Sakhalin Energy), and Exxon Neftegas. All of these companies have been Sovcomflot’s customers and reliable partners for many years.
Key speakers at the conference included representatives of authorities – notably, Vera Shcherbina, Chairperson of the Sakhalin Regional Government, and Ilya Trunin, Deputy Finance Minister of the Russian Federation.
Evgeny Ambrosov moderated the session entitled “Marine Transport, Infrastructure & Operations in the Russian Far East – Plans, Developments & Innovations.” During the session, he also delivered a report focused on the strategic importance of oil and gas projects on the Sakhalin shelf for Sovcomflot. In particular, Mr. Ambrosov noted the increasingly close coordination of actions and aligned interaction between the Company and the consortia set up to develop the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects, as well as other stakeholders involved in the overall production process in the region, namely the regional administration, customers, and other contractors.
SCF Group has been consistently increasing its participation in oil and gas projects on the Sakhalin shelf. It is expected that by 2017, the Company's fleet servicing these projects will grow to 20 vessels, including 10 ice-breaking supply vessels (IBSVs). Currently, the Group continues to build up its fleet of IBSVs involved in the Sakhalin projects. In September 2016 two such vessels, assigned to the Sakhalin-2 project, were acquired by Sovcomflot from Swire Pacific Offshore. Today, the Company operates three supply vessels under this project. Evgeny Ambrosov also reminded the audience that another IBSV, as well as three emergency response and rescue vessels (ERRVs) are under construction, all four ordered by Sovcomflot for operations at the Sakhalin-2 project.
In addition, the Group’s fleet in the Far East includes eight Aframax shuttle tankers (Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2 projects), as well as two LNG carries, operated in partnership with the Japanese NYK Line as part of the Sakhalin-2 project.
The growing importance of the Sakhalin projects to Sovcomflot’s strategic plans is highlighted by the fact that in 2015 the Group opened in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk a separate subdivision of its subsidiary, SCF Management Services (St. Petersburg) Ltd., in order to promptly solve the tasks related to the technical management of SCF vessels, to maintain the required level of navigational safety, and recruit seafarers.
“Energy projects in the Russian Far East involve major companies that have come here to stay. Sovcomflot is one such company. Our strategy is to constantly increase Sovcomflot’s participation in long-term oil and gas projects on the Russian continental shelf, Russian Far East included, and we are persistently implementing this strategy. We offer our customers Sovcomflot’s technical solutions and unique competencies developed over many years of experience in the successful operation of vessels under the difficult navigational conditions in the Barents, Kara, and Okhotsk seas,” Evgeny Ambrosov said.
As in the past, the business part of the Sakhalin Oil and Gas Conference was accompanied by an industry exhibition. Sovcomflot’s exposition was awarded a special diploma by the event organisers.
PAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) is one of the world's leading shipping companies, specialising in the transportation of crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas, as well as servicing offshore upstream oil and gas installations and equipment. The Group’s fleet comprises 152 vessels with a total deadweight of approximately 13 million tonnes. The company is registered in St. Petersburg with offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, and Dubai.
The Group offers a wide range of vessels in the market segments most demanded by major Russian oil and gas companies. With its own technical development and unique approach to advanced technologies, Sovcomflot has the ability to meet the most demanding customer requirements, providing effective transportation for oil & gas companies.