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The terminal was built to facilitate year-round sea transportation of oil, including in extreme weather and geographical conditions.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Gazprom Neft General Director Alexander Dyukov reported that the terminal was ready to start work.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today, we mark the start of a new stage in developing the Yamal Peninsula and a new stage in developing the Novoportovskoye field. This is an important and symbolic event. This project is one of the most capital intensive in Russia’s oil and gas sector. A total of 186 billion was invested in it over these last three years and new technology solutions have been used, high-tech solutions that will make it possible to work in the northernmost part of the Yamal Peninsula’s harsh environment. This is the first time that oil will be shipped from this area not via pipelines, but by sea.

Colleagues, I give you the floor.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller: Mr President, today we are starting operations at the year-round oil-shipping terminal Vorota Arktiki (Arctic Gate).

The terminal is located 700 kilometres from the existing pipeline infrastructure. An oil pipeline more than 100 kilometres in length joins it to the Novoportovskoye field, and the terminal has design capacity of 8.5 million tonnes.

The terminal makes oil transportation possible even in extreme weather and geographical conditions, with temperatures as low as minus 50 Celsius, winds of up to 40 metres a second, and ice as thick as 2.5 metres in the Gulf of Ob.

The terminal is a sea-based facility, joined to the coast by an oil pipeline. It is a tower-type structure, with the crane 61 metres above the water level and the revolving platform 78 metres in length.

The terminal meets the highest industrial safety and environmental protection standards. It uses zero-waste technology, which means that under no circumstances do harmful substances and pollutants end up in the waters of the Gulf of Ob.

The terminal is fully automated and is managed from coastal-based facilities. This is a unique facility of its kind in the world and there are no other industrial facilities of this kind beyond the Polar Circle.

Without question, this new terminal will take Russia a big step forward in developing the Far North’s rich hydrocarbon resources and developing the Northern Sea Route.

I give the floor to General Director of Gazprom Neft Alexander Dyukov to report on the work that has been done at the Novoportovskoye field.

General Director of Gazprom Neft Alexander Dyukov: Mr President,

The Novoportovskoye field was opened more than 50 years ago and was the first oil and gas field opened on the Yamal Peninsula. For a long time, the lack of technology for developing difficult fields like this one and the absence of transport routes for getting the oil out prevented its development from going ahead. Using modern new 21^st-century technology, we have finally been able to start developing this field.

As far as the oil quality goes at this field, it is of the highest sort, light, low sulphur oil, and this gives it competitive advantages on the global oil market. This oil is of a higher quality than Brent oil and can be traded at a premium compared to Brent oil.

We are continuing to build advanced-technology horizontal wells at the field and are expanding and developing the ground-based infrastructure. We are building a powerful new power station. We have already started work at the Vyborg Shipyard on modern and powerful new icebreakers that will be put to work on this project.

Mr President, as you noted, we have already invested 186 billion rubles in this project, but over the project’s operation life, it will bring in more than 1.5 trillion rubles in budget revenue at the various levels.

The terminal’s systems are all ready to work now and so I ask you to launch the loading of the first tanker with oil from the Novoportovskoye field at the Vorota Arktiki (Arctic Gate) terminal.

Vladimir Putin: What is the sulphur content – 0.1 percent?

Alexander Dyukov: It’s low, 0.1 percent, Mr President.

Vladimir Putin: In other words, this field’s oil is in the light oil category.

Alexander Dyukov: That’s right, it’s a light oil, with higher quality than Brent oil, and therefore it can be traded at a premium compared to Brent oil.

Vladimir Putin: I want to congratulate you and thank the heads of Gazprom and Gazprom Neft, and the engineers and workers who took part in carrying out this project. Let me wish you success.

Start the operations.

Operator: All systems are working as normal. The tanker is being loaded with oil at a rate of 1,200 cubic metres an hour.

Alexei Miller: Mr President, the first shipment of oil through the Vorota Arktiki (Arctic Gate) terminal has started successfully.

Vladimir Putin: This is an excellent step forward. Once again, I congratulate you and wish you all success. Thank you very much.