Oil is to be transported by conventional tankers with the assistance of icebreakers
Rosatom and oil companies, Lukoil and Gazprom Neft, are exploring the possibility of oil transportation by the Northern Sea Route during the summer navigation season, Sergey Chemko, project manager, Project Office for the Arctic Development, Rosatom, said at the roundtable meeting “Transport Potential of the Northern Sea Route” held in the Federation Council.
The speaker referred to the Varandey field (Lukoil) and the Prirazlomnoye field (Gazprom Neft) with a potential cargo base of 5.9 million tonnes and 3.6 million tonnes, respectively.
“Previously, the supplies were directed to the west but now we have held preliminary talks on directing part of cargo flows to the east. Why do I say “part”? That’s because we keep in mind the period of navigation and the deployment of tankers. Unfortunately, we do not have many ice-class tankers yet. Therefore, we suggest that companies use conventional tankers of a guaranteed safety with the support of our icebreakers in the summer-autumn navigation season," said Sergey Chemko.
Besides, transportation of iron-ore concentrate from the port of Murmansk is under consideration as an additinac cargo base for the Northern Sea Route. This type of cargo bound for the countries of the South-East Asia was transported by the Northern Sea Route in 2021.