Gazprom’s new Arctic oil rig arrived to Murmansk
Yesterday night, Gazprom’s new “Arkticheskaya” jack-up offshore drilling rig moored at Shipyard No. 35 in Murmansk for completion.
The drilling unit has undergone all acceptance trials during the transition from the Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk, and will be handed over to the customer Gazflot in December, Portnews writes.
The rig will be completed at Shipyard No. 35 in Murmansk, which is the same yard that completed the Prirazlomnoye oil platform, which was transported to its designated place in the Pechora Sea in August.
The platform has been under construction at Zvezdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk since the early 1990s. Problems with financing led to a halt in the project, but in 2006 construction was speeded up again. The rig has undergone testing in the White Sea this summer and autumn.
This is the first oil rig to be built at the naval shipyard Zvezdochka.
The rig is designed for operations in Arctic waters and will be used primarily in the Pechora Sea. It has an 88 meter long and 66 meter wide platform and can house 90 workers. Maximum drilling depth is 6.500 meters.
