ExxonMobil defies US sanctions against Russia. Picture story.
It will be interesting for ExxonMobil shareholders to know how the company produces oil in Russia. The company defies the sanctions; it is indifferent to the tense political relations between the USA and Russia, and even unphased by litigation. ExxonMobil filed a claim against Russia at the Stockholm arbitration court for the amount of USD 500 mln. The company claims they are entitled to reimbursement for overpaying the profit tax for the last six years of oil production at the Sakhalin-1 deposit. I would like to create a photo reportage about operations at this deposit to draw your attention to this area.
I will admit I have not personally travelled there, but a popular Russian blogger, Alexander Popov, visited Sakhalin-1 in my place.
So, we are travelling to the remote Sea of Okhotsk to mine for oil.
ExxonMobil, in partnership with Rosneft, has successfully completed drilling for the longest borehole in the world in the Chayvo deposit.
The О-14 commercial oil well is drilled in the southeast end of the deposit with the Orlan drilling platform. The borehole has the biggest drilled depth in the world, equal to 13,500 meters deep with a horizontal length of 12,033 meters. It took 156 days to complete drilling.
- The О-14 commercial oil well is drilled in the southeast end of the deposit with the Orlan drilling platform. The borehole has the biggest drilled depth in the world, equal to 13,500 meters deep with a horizontal length of 12,033 meters. It took 156 days to complete drilling.
2. Sakhalin-1 has up to 307 mln. tons (2.3 bln. barrels) of potentially recoverable oil, and 485 bln. m3 (17.1 tln. ft3) of natural gas.
3. All these reserves are located under the sea floor of the Sea of Okhotsk in three deposits: Chayvo , Odoptu, and Arkutun-Dagi.
4. As we approached the platform, the Kigoriak supply vessel was coming our way — a constant site near the drilling platform pursuant to safety rules.
5. We landed on the platform, and as our luggage was being unloaded, everyone deboarded the helicopter. Only the photographers and camera crew remained in their seats. Now we were ready to take pictures of the beautiful views and panoramic.
6. The Orlan drilling platform, Kigoriak supply vessel, and the Vitus Bering cargo ship. The concrete steel foundation of Orlan easily resists the ice pressure and huge ice reefs that can reach as high as a six-story building.
7. The Orlan platform was initially called Glomar Beaufor Sea I, and was built in 1983–1984 in Japan. The platform was shipped off and installed in the Beaufort Sea (Alaska, USA) in 1984, and operated as an experimental drilling installation. The extreme climate the platform successfully withstood proved that the platform’s construction was suitable for year-round use under cruel Arctic conditions. The platform drilled six trial wells from 1984 to 1997, and was later acquired for the Sakhalin-1 project and reequipped from an experimental to a production platform.
8. When global modernization hit, the platform was furnished with all new equipment (in fact, only the foundation remained from the old platform), and Orlan was shipped off to a place of fixed operation. Its pontoons were filled, and the platform was permanently submerged onto the target area of the sea floor of the Sea of Okhotsk. The sea has a depth of 15 m where the Orlan platform sits with its drilling and quarters modules. All of this happened in 2004.
9. A modern icebreaker vessel (which made its debut in 2013) called the Vitus Bering is used for cargo delivery, temporary storage, or staff accommodations (in case there is a lack of living quarters on the platform). When we were shooting, drill pipes were being reloaded on the vessel after the drilling completion of well O-14.
10. Our acquaintance with the platform starts from the pick-up point for the No. 4 life boat. Our entire team was assigned to ride in it. In case of any potential danger or alarms, workers are instructed to gather at this point, to turn over the card, and wait for further instructions.
11. Immersion suits for the first three marine life boats are stored near the pick-up point in the canteen. This location also serves as a protected bunker/shelter in case of an emergency. Our immersion suits are stored near the life boat itself.
12. The canteens here are a real site for sore eyes. It is obvious that you will not find anything pretentious here, but everything is delicious and there are a variety of dishes. Along with first and second courses, you can find salad, greens, vegetables, fruit, deserts, baked food, ice cream (!), juices, and water. Everything is free and unlimited. :)
13. A brief run-through of what a drilling well is: the main idea is that it is like a multistory building, but in reverse. Before anything else, a large diameter is drilled on the surface, and then it is gradually extended downwards.
14. Real drilling technicians. Shifts lasts for 28 days; work for 12 hours, then off for 12 hours. 100 people total are working at any time on the platform.
15. Note the grey point on the left. This is a part of the drilling complex. Take a look at the flexible communication lines on the bottom. The platform is fixed, but it has to drill a couple dozen wells, so it moves around on a grid. It can reach nearly 10 meters in any direction.
16. Everything is automated to the fullest extent possible.
17. The captain of the drilling platform.
18. The achieved drill depth of 13,500 m is close to the limit of modern technological capabilities for currently existing drilling installations. During shooting, drillstrings were being extracted. As you can see in the photo, the drill is sitting at a depth of 8,887 meters.
19. There is very little manufacturing capacity on the platform because all raw products are transferred to the Chayvo Onshore Processing Facility.
20. The record-setting well was drilled according to a single-hole plan. But there are already multihole wells on the platform, i.e. when several holes are drilled from a single well-head.
21. After they use all 8.8 km of pipes, they will place in a pipe for oil extraction, and new well is working.
22. The platform control cabin. All the information here is available online to everyone (who has Internet access, of course).
23. The preventer (from Latin “Praevenio” — I’m warning) is an operating component of blowout equipment sets installed on wellheads. The main function of a preventer is the hermetic sealing of wellheads in case of emergency during construction or maintenance operations on the well. Hermetically sealing a well prevents oil blowouts, and as a result stops fires or potential environmental hazards.
24. Wellheads. О-14 is the twenty-first well. One more well is planned to be drilled, for a total of 22. There are no pumps in the wells. Oil is lifted to the reservoir using only pressure. Associated gas is obviously pumped back. Yes, there are 11 wells in this photo. The remainder of the wells are located under the floor on the first floor of the premises.
25. Thanks a lot to all the drilling technicians and workers for the hospitality and safe visit!
I make the decision whether to purchase shares or not each time I visit a public company anywhere in the world. One of these visits is now finished. And it does not even matter that I was never there in person!
The verdict: at the moment, I do not see buying stock in ExxonMobil as worthwhile, since my views on the oil market are pessimistic and the market cap of the company does not meet the safety margin principle. But at the same time, it is a massive company that consistently enables reasonable investors to make money off its shares in the long-term. In the meantime, I will explore another American oil company — the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company.
