Builders of Murmansk Contribute to Developing Hydrocarbon Deposits of Arctic Shelf

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Builders of Murmansk Contribute to Developing Hydrocarbon Deposits of Arctic Shelf

Grigory Stratiy

The Shtokman natural gas field is a resource base for exporting Russian gas to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline, which is currently under construction. It will one day also produce gas for conversion to LNG.  In accordance with the plans of Gazprom, the field shall produce the first gas as early as in 2013 and the first liquefied gas in 2014.

As the experts unanimously agree, comprehensive development of the Shtokman gas condensate field and construction of LNG facilities within the territory of Murmansk region is unprecedentedly complicated. It is the tight schedule for completing and commissioning of the deposit that caused the necessity for all the project participant to develop consistent strategy of interaction and to consider all critical factors.
In February, 2008 Apatitstroi (which is a consortium member of Murmanshelf Stroitelstvo and represents the interests of 35 producers) was nominated to take part in a tender offer to perform the leveling operation for an LNG plant in Teriberka.
It is not by chance that this company has been chosen to participate in the tender offer. Apatitstroi built the cities of Apatity and Kirovsk, developed mines and constructed plants in Apatit. These plants include the largest ore-dressing and processing enterprises in the country. The builders of Apatitstroi took part in constructing facilities in Kandalakshah, Monchegorsk and Umba. Indeed, they have worked at virtually at every construction site in Murmansk region.
Strategic aspirations of Apatitstroi are directed at maintaining and further developing its competitiveness in the construction market of the Northwest region of Russia. This will be achieved through continuous improvement of quality management systems, as well as through growing profits. In the course of the company's activity, the top priority is to ensure safe operation of the facilities after its construction has been completed.
The quality policy, executed by top management, is based on the principles of management quality of the international standards ISO 9000:2000, implemented on the enterprise.
Accumulated experience and availability of highly-qualified specialists allow the company to comprehensively perform major projects to the best advantage, that include engineering, procurement, construction and management of projects. High engineering and technical potential, alongside with the ability to perform projects of any degree of complexity on ЕРС conditions (engineering, procurement, construction).
Of crucial importance is the fact that Apatitstroi is considerably experienced in constructing facilities for nuclear-power engineering, which establishes one of the most rigid requirements to the quality of the facilities erected and operational safety. So, the company performed a number of operations, which enabled service life of the first power generating unit of Kolskaya nuclear power station to be extended in 2003, and of the second unit of the same power station in 2004. In 2006 Apatitstroi succeeded in commissioning a unique installation for reprocessing liquid nuclear waste. The company is currently working on construction of storage for solidified radioactive waste.
It can be predicted with a high degree of certainty that Apatitstroi will win the tender offer to level the site for construction of the Teriberka LNG plant. 
Participation of regional enterprises in this and future construction will considerably influence the social and economic situation in Murmansk region. To perform construction in Teriberka, the complete research and industrial potential of the area will be required, including scores of industries of the area closely related to oil-and-gas complex.

Murmanshelf to consolidate efforts to develop Shtokman

It has been two years since the Association of Murmanshelf began to actively work to manage and minimize potential industrial risks, as well as to consolidate the performance capabilities of Association participants to develop the Shtokman gas field. One of the most important outcomes of the Murmanshelf Association’s work was to establish the Murmanshelf Stroitelstvo Consortium in January, 2008.
The consortium has been created with the aim of uniting industrial, financial and intellectual resources of construction enterprises to jointly participate in major projects performed within Murmansk region. These objectives are conditioned by the large scale of the future operations, as well as by the necessity to consolidate and represent the interests of regional suppliers of construction services during tender procedures held by general contractors.
The consortium includes the following leading enterprises of the Murmansk area, the field of activity which embraces the complete scope of construction operations: Apatitstroi, Murmanskpromstroi, lead branch of Tsentr Sudoremonta Zvezdochka (Zvezdochka ship repair center), the shipyard of Nerpa, Stroitelnaya Kompaniya ASM (Agrostroimontazh), Trest Murmansmorstroi, Energomontazh, Metallurgprokatmontazh, Gidrotekhnik and Murmansk TISIz.
The principal task of the consortium is to participate in building port transportation and processing facilities to produce and ship liquified natural gas, social support facilities in the rural settlement of Teriberka and the onshore gas pipeline of Teriberka – Volkhov with all of the appropriate infrastructure.
Petr Nikolayevitch Shkraba (who is also a board member of Murmanshelf Association) has been elected as the Chairman of the Board of the Murmanshelf Stroitelstvo Consortium.
The consortium members have great expertise in constructing industrial and transportation facilities, and in building accommodation and social support infrastructure under Extreme North conditions. They also employ state-of-the-art construction technologies and highly-qualified personnel.
What is important is that the activity of Murmanshelf Stroitelstvo Consortium enjoys every possible level of support from the authorities of Murmansk region. In September 2007, a cooperation agreement was signed between the authorities of Murmansk region and Sevmorneftegaz, in which the parties expressed their mutual interest in using industrial facilities of the enterprises of Murmansk area.
Since its very establishment, Murmanshelf Association has consistently worked on using industrial facilities of the regional enterprises and their maximum involvement into projects for Arctic shelf development.
Back in December 2007 the association (supported by the  Industry and Transportation Department) initiated a letter signed by Yuri Yevdokimov, the Governor for Murmansk area, to Alexei Miller, the Chairman of the Board of Gazprom. That letter contained a request to reserve a certain volume of work to be done as per the Shtokman project for regional suppliers complying with the formal procedures for selecting enterprises possessing appropriate potential.
At present, interaction and coordination of work between the authorities of Murmansk region and Gazprom is efficient and fruitful. Workgroup meetings are held on a regular basis. In the course of these meetings, issues connected with the development of the Shtokman deposit are being discussed (including the issues of selecting and reserving for regional enterprises a certain amount of work to be done for developing the Shtokman gas condensate field, as well as for completing offshore supply bases. According to Gazprom, all else being equal, Murmansk area suppliers will be given the edge during tenders.

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