Page 319 - Introduction to Petroleum Engineering

308 MIDSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM OPERATIONS

PA-A PA-B

Lun-A

FIguRE 15.10 PA‐A (Molikpaq) platform, PA‐B platform, and Lun‐A platform. (Source:
Courtesy of Sakhalin Energy (2016), personal communication.)

The Molikpaq was purchased by Sakhalin Energy and towed to Korea from the
Beaufort Sea in 1998. The platform was refurbished in South Korea and then towed
to the Amur Shipyard in Russia where it was placed atop a steel base known as a
spacer. The Molikpaq was installed as an artificial island in the relatively shallow
water off the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island. The steel spacer was set on the
seabed, anchored in place, and filled with sand. Oil production from the P‐A field to
the Molikpaq platform in 1999 was the first offshore oil production in Russia.
Sakhalin Energy moved its corporate headquarters to Yuzhno‐Sakhalinsk in
2000. By the end of 2000, Marathon had sold its share of Sakhalin Energy and
the remaining shareholders were Royal Dutch Shell (55%), Mitsui (25%), and
Mitsubishi (20%).
Full development of the P‐A and Lunskoye fields began in 2003. The Lunskoye
field provided a gas stream that needed to be liquefied and transported by LNG
tanker to market. LNG sales contracts were signed with Japanese and Korean firms
in 2003 and 2004. The sale of Russian gas to North American markets was made
possible by the sale of Sakhalin Energy gas to Shell Eastern Trading Ltd. in 2004.