Shtokman field, natural gas field under Barents Sea
Shtokman field is a natural gas and gas condensate deposit in the Barents Sea located roughly 370 kilometers north of the Kola Peninsula. The reserve holds approximately 3.8 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and about 37 million tonnes of gas condensate beneath sea depths ranging from 320 to 340 meters.
The field was discovered in 1988 and named after Soviet geophysicist Vladimir Shtokman, whose research ship detected initial signs of a large gas system in the region in 1981. Since discovery, multiple development plans have been proposed but repeatedly delayed or postponed indefinitely, most recently in 2019, due to high costs, extreme weather conditions, and fluctuating energy markets.
The field sits in one of Earth's remotest and harshest environments where icebergs and severe weather are constant challenges. Development requires specialized floating platforms and pipeline infrastructure designed to withstand ice hazards and turbulent sea conditions.
The Soviet research vessel 'Professor Shtokman', which the field is named after, explored this region in 1981 and made the groundbreaking discovery of a major gas system. This finding led six years later to the formal discovery of the reserve, making it a milestone in Arctic resource exploration.
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