On tap: a Lukoil storage facility in Siberia
Lukoil readies Varandei terminal
Russia's top oil company Lukoil plans to start crude oil exports from its venture with US ConocoPhillips via its Arctic Varandei terminal in September-October, industry source said today.
The venture, Naryanmarneftegas, plans to produce 240,000 barrels per day in Russia's north by the end of this decade and to export the bulk to the US.
While the venture has not reached its capacity, Lukoil ships small volumes of crude oil via a terminal owned by Murmansk Shipping Company. In 2006, it exported 3740 barrels of oil from the venture, compared with 4488 in 2005.
"By autumn, Lukoil will have completed its own terminal at Varandei. The first tanker may be (loaded) in autumn, possibly in September or October", the source told Reuters.
The new terminal will be able to handle tankers with a deadweight of up to 150,000 tonnes and will this year start loading oil onto 20,000-tonne tankers.
"The commissioning works will take around six months. The tankers' deadweight will gradually increase. The first 150,000-tonne tanker may be loaded in 2008," the source said.
"The terminal capacity means tankers with a deadweight of 150,000 tonnes can be loaded. But the actual export volumes will depend on Varandei's production."
He expected Lukoil would export around 1.0 million tonnes of crude oil from the terminal in 2008. The firm plans to finish expanding the Varandei terminal by 2008, when it will reach its target capacity of 240,000 bpd.
But Lukoil says it needs one more outlet to reload Varandei oil in winter when the Barents Sea is covered with ice.
"In winter Varandei is only available for ice-class tankers, and their deadweight is limited to 70,000 tonnes. It means that Lukoil needs to build an outlet to reload crude oil to tankers with a deadweight of 150,000 tonnes for exports to North America," the source said.
The company is also considering loading crude oil from the Barents region in very large crude carriers, with a deadweight of up to 300,000 tonnes.
A Lukoil official had earlier said the company might build new terminals on Russia's or Norway's Barents Sea coast to ease exports from Naryanmarneftegas.
"A decision where to build the terminal has not yet been made. Lukoil is still considering Norway," the source said.
In 2006, the venture planned to install a floating storage tank or build a terminal in the Murmansk region, but it was turned down by local officials for environmental reasons.
Murmansk, which has no oil pipeline link with central Russia, has become an important export outlet for Russian crude oil and oil products in recent years after state-controlled oil company Rosneft installed a floating storage tank facility, known as Belokamenka, near the port. Rosneft and Lukoil export 80,000 bpd of oil via Belokamenka.
Lukoil delivers oil to Belokamenka from the ports of Arkhangelsk, Varandei and the Gulf of Ob in small tankers.
"Lukoil will export crude via Belokamenka for a couple more years, until it builds its own terminal," the source said.