Gazprom Neft and State Marine Technical University of St Petersburg set to develop domestic technologies for Russian Continental Shelf (photo)
Gazprom Neft says it has signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the State Marine Technical University of St Petersburg. The document, to support their joint development of domestic technologies to develop the Russian Continental Shelf, was signed during the St Petersburg International Economic Forum by Gazprom Neft Deputy CEO for Offshore Development Andrey Patrushev and the university’s Acting Rector Gleb Turichin.
Gazprom Neft is currently involved in the exploration and development of various licence blocks on the Russian Continental Shelf, including in the Barents Sea, the Chuchi Sea, the Eastern-Siberian Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk. The State Marine Technical University of St Petersburg, for its part, is involved in research and development activities and pilot design and construction works in various areas including project management; the building, maintenance and repair of vessels and platforms (rigs); the study and development of the world’s oceans; the improvement and fine-tuning of energy-saving technologies; and navigational data acquisition and measurement tools.
Collaboration between the two parties is expected to include the sharing of information and research data; joint discussions, seminars and conferences involving technical experts and specialists; and the technical, production and market research essential in developing new offshore technologies. The partnership also envisages the development of pilot-planning and other design documentation, as well as prototype development and the pilot testing of these.
In addition to this, both parties plan to develop proposals for developing the production of specialist equipment within the Russian Federation, and for developing a regulatory framework for industrial development using mechanisms provided for under Special Investment Contracts as decreed under the Federal Law “On Industrial Policy in the Russian Federation”.
Andrey Patrushev, Deputy CEO for Offshore Development, Gazprom Neft, commented: “Developing the resources of the Russian Arctic Shelf demands coordinating the strengths of both the business and scientific communities in order to develop new technological solutions that can begin to be applied in developing these reserves. Developing Arctic fields, moreover, including offshore projects, demands the application of the safest and most effective and technologies. The technical capabilities of the State Marine Technical University of St Petersburg, combined with the productive capabilities of Gazprom Neft, will allow us to find new technological solutions and approaches for intensifying work on the Russian Arctic Shelf.”
The Marine Technical University of St Petersburg (until 1990 the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute (Order of Lenin)) was founded in 1930. It is the only technical university in Russia training world-class marine engineers — across three faculties — in the design, construction and technical operation of sea-going vessels, combat surface ships and submarines, and in the technical resources for undertaking exploration and production of oil, gas and other undersea resources.
