Oil Leak at Prirazlomnoye

The Independent Barents Observer reports that an oil leak occurred at the Russian oil field Prirazlomnoye during a ship-to-ship transfer operation.

The leak was reported on January 22 and happened when oil from the tanker Mikhail Ulyanov was being transferred to the STI Finchley. A micro-rupture in the tube connecting the two vessels resulted in an unstated volume of oil being spilled into an Arctic fjord. 

The Mikhail Ulyanov is an icebreaking shuttle tanker that was ordered by Russian shipping company Sovkomflot to transport oil from Prirazlomnoye. It was built at the Russian Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg. 

In March last year, Greenpeace activists in rubber boats and the sailboat Beluga-2 approached the tanker during a protest in the port of Hamburg and put banners on it. In May 2014, around 80 activists attempted to stop the tanker when it arrived in the port of Rotterdam to deliver its first batch of Arctic oil.

The Prirazlomnoye oilfield is located in the Pechora Sea, 60 kilometers from the shore. Recoverable reserves are in the order of 70 million tons. In December, the millionth ton of oil was produced at the field. 

Prirazlomnoye is the only project on the Russian Arctic Shelf at which commercial oil production is currently ongoing. Active development of the project commenced in 2013 with the drilling of the first well in the summer of that year, and the Prirazlomnaya ice-resistant offshore rig commencing production in December.
 
An ice-resistant offshore rig, Prirazlomnaya, was designed and constructed in Russia, specifically for development of this field, capable of handling all technological operations — drilling, production, storage, and the preparation and offloading of the finished product. It is designed for use in the most extreme environmental and climatic conditions, meets the most stringent safety requirements, and can withstand maximum ice loads.

All well heads to be drilled at Prirazlomnoye will be located within the platform, the base of which then acts as a buffer between the well and the open sea. In addition to which, all of the wells are specially equipped to prevent the possibility of any uncontrolled emission of oil or gas. 

The offloading line for the pumping of oil to tankers is equipped with an emergency shut-down system, which is activated instantaneously.