TO THE ISSUE OF SELECTION OF THE SCHEME OF TRANSPORTATION OF HYDROCARBONS OBTAINED FROM THE ARCTIC SEAS SHELF

Abstract

At the global level, the resources of oil and gas on the continental shelf have long been the main sources of increasing the level of hydrocarbon production. To date, the share of oil and gas produced on the continental shelf already exceeds 25 % of the global volume. The world's largest continental shelf is in our country: its oil and gas potential exceeds 30 % of all resources in the bowels of the shelf of the World Ocean. Over 85 % of the hydrocarbon resources of the Russian shelf are concentrated in the Arctic seas. This explains the relevance and necessity of scientific and technological progress in the development of the oil and gas industry of our country. The formation of an integrated transportation system for the development of hydrocarbon resources in the Far North is a complex technical task. It requires the development of existing and construction of new transport infrastructure elements: onshore and underwater pipelines of high length, storage and reloading terminals, oil and gas storage facili- ties, transport and auxiliary vessels, etc. Basic methods for transporting hydrocarbons from fields to treatment or storage sites, their advantages and disadvantages are analyzed. The most difficult question of developing offshore hydrocarbon resources in these seas is the choice of transportation schemes for severe climatic conditions, complex ice conditions, high distances from coastal regions and markets. Of particular importance in this situation is a preliminary analysis of available schemes and a choice of schemes for transporting hydrocarbons produced on the shelf, which will be the most economi- cally viable in each specific case.