NSR logistics highly cost-effective during summer navigation, Gazprom Neft will continue transporting hydrocarbons along this route in 2025 - Dyukov

MURMANSK. March 27 (Interfax) - Gazprom Neft is carrying out several major projects in Russia's Arctic zone, the oil company's CEO, Alexander Dyukov, said.

He said hydrocarbons produced in the Arctic already accounted for about 50% of Gazprom Neft's total output.

Production from the Prirazlomnaya platform, the only operating Russian project on the Arctic shelf, has exceeded 30 million tonnes of oil, he said.

Both existing and new Gazprom Neft onshore projects are developing, including a large-scale project to develop the Bovanenkovo field's Neocomian-Jurassic deposits, Dyukov said.

He said the company was using the Northern Sea Route to transport hydrocarbons to Asian markets heavily and was one of the largest shippers on this route. "NSR logistics during the summer navigation period are highly cost-effective, and we will continue to transport hydrocarbons along this route in 2025," he said.

Gazprom Neft uses its own digital Arctic logistics management system, "Kapitan," which makes seaborne transportation much more effective. Dyukov said one key task when working in the Arctic was to preserve its unique ecosystem. "Environmental issues are always among the top priorities for us. We take them into account, including when designing industrial facilities. For example, our Prirazlomnaya platform operates by the zero discharge principle," Dyukov said.

Also, Gazprom Neft recently created a skills center for projects in the permafrost zone, which will, among other things, address studying and preserving the cryolithic zone. "We consider this research to be very important, given that over 65% of Russia's area from the Kola Peninsula to the Far East is covered by permafrost soils," he said.