Russian offshore platform "Berkut" starts operation in the Sea of Okhotsk
The offshore drilling platform "Berkut" installed on the GBS over the Arkutun Dagi field in the Okhotsk Sea has been put into operation in the framework of the joint Rosneft and ExxonMobil oil and gas project "Sakhalin-1", the Kremlin press office said on Friday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a signal to launch the platform in a video-conference session. Then Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin reported to the president that the platform had been launched.
Offshore oil and gas drilling platform "Berkut" was tailored for operation in harsh sub-arctic conditions and to withstand waves up to 18 m (59 ft) high, ice floe pressure up to 2 m (6.6 ft) thick, and temperatures down to -44°C (-47°F).
The weight of the platform (upper and lower parts) is in excess of 200,000 tonnes. There are 45 wells at the platform. The Arkutun-Dagi platform is installed at 25-km off shore, with sea depth of 35 meters. The drilling will be performed by means of a marine drilling rig, optimized for year-round drilling of wells in a radius of up to 7 km from the platform.
Production from the Arkutun-Dagi field is expected to start in December, 2014.
