HIGHLIGHTS

III International Conference  “Russian Offshore Oil and Gas Development: Arctic and Far East” (ROOGD-2010)

Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC hosted III International Scientific-Practical Conference “Russian Offshore Oil and Gas Development: Arctic and Far East” on 14-15 October, 2010.

The Conference convened 250 experts from 11 countries: Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Ukraine and the USA. The delegates represented 100 companies and organizations involved in offshore oil and gas field development.

A.G. Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee and Chairman of ROOGD-2010 Conference Organizing Committee, and A.V. Khoroshavin, Governor of the Sakhalin region, sent their official welcoming addresses to the Conference participants.

The Conference saw eighty nine presentations made by specialists from academic, federal and educational institutes, Gazprom’s subsidiary companies, expert organizations and foreign companies. Delivered high level presentations covered the main trends of offshore oil and gas resources development.

The Conference Program included a Plenary Session and five Technical Sessions:

Presentations covered the following topics:

• Geology and development of offshore fields of the Barents and the Kara Sea, Ob and Taz Bays, Far East;
• Process and engineering solutions for development of Arctic and Far East offshore resources;
• Natural and climatic conditions in Arctic and Far East offshore;
• Specific structural features of subsea production units and applicability of underwater technologies on the Arctic shelf;
• Labor protection, industrial and environmental safety;
• Improvement of subsurface use and natural management, including legislative and standardization regulation of offshore oil and gas field development.

Taking into account Conference results it is suggested to:

• Support the main provisions of Gazprom’s Program on Offshore Hydrocarbon Resources Development till 2030 and the draft version of the State Program on Research and Development of the Russian Continental Shelf.
• More extensively use advanced offshore exploration and production technologies, including remote-sensing monitoring of field development (4D seismic, intelligent wells, automated subsea production technologies, etc.), other types of investigations (for example, geochemical), experience of offshore field development on the Sakhalin Island.
• After ratification of the agreement between Russia and Norway on boundary delimitation of the bottom of the disputable area of the Barents Sea deem expedient to develop and agree the program of joint geologic exploration works in this prospective region.
• In the light of recent events in the Gulf of Mexico draw special attention to environmental safety during field development planning and take it into account in drawing up new regulatory documents on this topic.
• Work on harmonization of the Russian regulatory and legal base on shelf development with international standards.
• Go into the issue of foundation of the  technological platform “Development of Hydrocarbon Resources of the Coastal-Maritime Zone in Arctic and Far East” in order to make a single informational and innovative space for oil and gas industry companies and organizations, research and educational institutions and state bodies.
• Initiate establishment of the working group, which will deal with improvement of the quality of cross-disciplinary training of specialists in development of offshore oil and gas resources in the Arctic and Far East by involving national, federal and profession-oriented universities of Russia and oil & gas producing EU companies, and with professional training for the whole operation cycle: field prospecting, exploration and development.
• Taking into account high scientific and practical relevance of the Conference confirm its permanent status and organize the next International Conference “Russian Offshore Oil and Gas Development: Arctic and Far East” in September 2012.