Lukoil, Bashneft plan quality bank at Varandei
NARYAN-MAR. Oct 22 (Interfax) - Lukoil and Bashneft are discussing the possibility of introducing an oil quality bank for transshipments through the Varandei marine terminal, Bashneft senior vice president for exploration and production, Mikhail Stavsky told reporters.
He said Lukoil approached Bashneft with this proposal. The companies have sent samples of oil from the Trebs field to an institute in Kazan for evaluation and the results are expected in October.
Stavsky said he was confident that adding oil from Trebs to the Lukoil blend shipped to Varandei from the South Khylchui and Kharyaga fields will not ruin its quality. "Our oil will not make Lukoil's blend worse," he said.
He said the quality bank will in future take into account possible changes in the composition of the blend following the launch of the Titov field, and subsequently other fields.
With the start of production at Trebs, the new blend has begun arriving at European refineries, where its quality will be assessed to determine the process parameters for refining, Stavsky said. This process could take up to six months.
Stavsky also said that the project's production plateau of 4.8 million tonnes per year could be maintained for two to three years.
