9th International Conference and Exhibition for Oil and Gas Resources Development of the Russian Arctic and CIS Continental Shelf RAO/CIS Offshore 2009 closed in St. Petersburg

International Conference and Exhibition RAO/CIS Offshore dedicated to the development of the Russian Arctic and CIS Continental Shelf have been held since 1993 on the initiative of the Government of Russia; it occupies sound position in the world calendar of offshore oil and gas conferences and exhibitions.

Press conference "Development of Large-Scale Oil and Gas Projects as the Feasible Way out of National Economy Crisis" signaled the opening of RAO/CIS Offshore 2009 on September 15 at Mikhajlovsky Manege. Alexei Kontorovich, Academician, Research Council of Russian Academy of Sciences for Geology, Oil and Gas Resources Development, Chairman; Victor Orlov, Council of Federation Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Protection; Chairman; Bengt Lie Hansen, StatoilHydro Russia, President and Pierre Nergararian, Total Exploration and Production Russie, Director General took part in the press conference.

During the press conference, Alexei Kontorovich said: "The International Conference and Exhibition for Oil and Gas Resources Development of the Russian Arctic and Continental Shelf which is held each two years has become a traditional event. At these conferences, we summarise undertaken works, assess perspectives, and discuss new technologies to be developed for successful shelf development. This is the way our conference program is set up. The best representatives of domestic and foreign companies will speak at the conference. I think, while participating in the conference the public will gain a better understanding of the current state of affairs, and us, specialists, will have an opportunity to find new roads to follow."

The Official Opening Ceremony of International Conference and Exhibition RAO/CIS Offshore 2009 took place right after the press conference. Sergey Donskoy, Deputy Minister of Natural Resouces and Ecology of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Oseevsky, Vice Governor of St. Petersburg; Viktor Orlov, Chairman of Council of Federation Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Bengt Lie Hansen, President of StatoilHydro Russia, Pierre Nerguararian, General Director of TOTAL E&P Russia, Alexei Kontorovich, Academician, Chairman of RAO/CIS Offshore 2009 Program Committee, and Sergey Trofimov, President of RESTEC Exhibition Company took part in the Ceremony.

The four days of the Conference comprised two Plenary Sessions, nine round tables and 13 poster presentations.

The First Plenary Session took place at the Congress Hall of Smolny Cathedral. Representatives of Russian and world oil and gas companies, members of state administration, well-known scientists and researchers presented their reports at the Plenary Session. The list of participants included Sergey Donskoy, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, Viktor Orlov, Chairman of Council of Federation Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, Valery Golubev, Gazprom, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Bengt Lie Hansen, President of StatoilHydro Russia, Pierre Nerguararian, General Director of TOTAL E&P Russia, Alexei Kontorovich and Anatoly Dmitrievsky, Academicians.

The Second Plenary Session took place at Grand Hotel Europe on September 16. Reports presented at the Session concerned the ways Russian and foreign companies prepare to the development of Shtokman gas condensate field, high technologies of operations in severe climatic conditions, international cooperation to provide safety for oil and gas projects at the Barents Sea. Dmitry Dmitrienko, Governor of the Murmansk region, Daria Vasilevskaya, Deputy Director of State Policy in the Geology and Subsoil Use Department of Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, Yury KOMAROV, Shtokman Development AG, Chief Executive Officer, and other representatives of world oil and gas companies took part in the Session.

Round tables with over 200 reports also started their work that day. Participants of the forum discussed the problems of development and exploitation of shelves of North, South and Far Eastern Seas, perspectives of the Shtokman gas condensate field development, issues of technological and environmental safety, and the possibilities of interregional and international collaboration. The conference once again reaffirmed its status as the most important industry forum which provides grounds for discussions between world's leading scientists and representatives of Russian and foreign oil and gas companies. Participants of the conference focused mainly on problems which are yet to be solved in order to develop offshore deposits successfully.

Norwegian FMC Kongsberg Subsea AS held official opening ceremony of engineering center for subsea technologies for oil and gas projects on September 17 within the framework of RAO/CIS Offshore 2009. Robin Martin Kaas, Deputy Energy & Petroleum Minister, Alexander Mandel, Gazprom Dobycha Shelf LLC, Director General, Arild Selvig, FMC Eurasia, Chairman of the Board, Alexander Meshkov, FMC Technologies, Head of Agency, and Mikhail Radkevich, Dean of St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University took part in the official ceremony.

Round table dedicated to promising works by young specialists and students deserves a special notice. This section was held thanks to collaboration of University of Stavanger, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, and St. Petersburg State Polytechnical University. Best student reports received awards on September 18 within the framework of the students' section. Dilizhan Mirzoev, Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC, Director of Offshore Centre, RAO/CIS Offshore, Chairman of Executive committee, Uwe Tobias Gudmestad, University of Stavenger, Professor, and Anatoly Zolotukhin, Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, Vice-chancellor, took part in the award ceremony.

However, an intense business program became not the only reason for the specialists to get together. Conference business program was supported by exhibition at Mikhajlovsky Manege. It displayed investment offshore field development projects: drilling equipment, floating and subsea engineering facilities, designs for construction of marine oil and gas production facilities, anti-ice equipment, ice-technologies, shipbuilding and environmental safety facilities. 2000 specialists from different regions of Russia as well as from other countries had visited the exhibition within four days.

Companies specializing in offshore oil and gas production from Russia, Finland, Norway, Great Britain, France, Germany, Vietnam, Japan, and other countries took part in RAO/CIS Offshore 2009 Conference. The number of participants totaled 218 of 17 countries.

Participants of Exhibition and Conference included producing and servicing companies, scientific centers and design departments, manufacturers of equipment and ships for offshore development: StatoilHydro ASA, ExxonMobil, FMC Technologies, Total SA, Shell, Itochu, Shtokman Development, Gazprom JSC, NK Rosneft JSC, Caspian Energy Group and United stand of Norway.

RAO/CIS Offshore 2009 Conference and Exhibition is traditionally supported by Committee of the Federal Council for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, St. Petersburg Government, and Global Energy Fund. Organizers of the event include Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, Federal Subsoil resources Management Agency, Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil, Gazprom Neft Shelf, Gazprom Dobycha Shelf, Gazprom VNIIGAZ, RESTEC Exhibition Company.