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Gazprom Neft has awarded a tender to OAO Stroytransgaz for the design, supply of equipment and materials, construction and commissioning of an Arctic terminal for year-round transportation of oil from its Novoportovskoye field.

OAO Stroytransgaz was named the winner based on price, delivery time and ongoing support, Gazprom Neft said.

The Novoportovskoye oil and gas condensate field is located in the Yamal region of the Yamal-Nenetsk Autonomous District, far from any transport infrastructure and 30 kilometres (km) from the cost of the Gulf of Ob - an area which is ice-free for only three months of the year, between July and September.

The licence to develop the terminal site is held by OOO Gazprom Neft New Port. The operator is Gazprom Neft.

The first stage of the project will be to acquire the required permits and licences. Following this, Stroytransgaz will commence delivering materials, equipment and machinery to the construction site at Mys Kamenny.

The terminal's capacity will be determined following a feasibility study. Once the study is completed, construction and assembly work will commence.

Crude oil will be pumped from the Novoportovskoye field along a 100km pipeline. The port includes four storage reservoirs with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres (cbm) each. Test operations at the Novoportovskoye field will determine production levels once full-scale development commences.

Last year, Gazprom Neft confirmed that it was possible to transport oil from the Novoportovskoye field through the Gulf of Ob all year round. A trial voyage was carried out by the icebreaker Vaygach from the port of Sabetta, located on the north east of the Yamal Peninsula [pictured], to Kamenny Cape was made in late April 2011, when the ice is at its worst and reaches a thickness of up to two metres.

Image: Yamal Peninsula (in red)