The close Far East
Overview
Photos
September 26, 2011
Moscow – Vladivostok
We arrived early in the morning at the Vnukovo Airport in Moscow. Here, we were met by the chief operator of the Unified Gas Supply System of Russia – Boris Posyagin, Head of the Central Operations and Dispatch Department of Gazprom. Then came Valery Golubev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors. During the next week, he will be the main “guide” for the foreign guests during their tour of Gazprom's construction sites in the Far East. Besides, for the first time a trip has got together such people.
Valery Golubev, Boris Posyagin, Adrians Davis, Chairman of Latvijas Gaze Board
It's quite challenging to get together such a great number of top managers from oil and gas companies that have long been partners of Gazprom in the former Soviet Union countries. Among those who accepted Gazprom's invitation were Adrians Davis from Latvijas Gaze, Tiit Kullerkupp from Eesti Gaas, Peter Frankenberg from Lietuvos Dujos (being at the same time Senior Vice President of E.ON Ruhrgas), Vladimir Mayorov from Beltransgaz, Alexander Gusev from Moldovagaz, Vardan Arutyunyan from ArmRosGazprom, Saidmamat Sharofidinov from Tajiktransgaz, Kabul Tukhtaev from Uzbekneftegaz, Bolot Nazarov from KazRosGaz.
It would be reasonable to expect to see representatives from Naftogaz Ukrainy there, but they turned down. When asked about the reason, Valery Golubev says only that he is surprised, since this operational and cultural trip would be interesting for them. We are going to see Gazprom's strategic and large-scale projects in the Primorie Krai, on the Sakhalin Island and in Kamchatka.
So, here goes taxiing, acceleration and takeoff. Behind the window, gradually disappears the usual Moscow scenery – a grey haze, thousands of vehicles, high-rise buildings of the Moscow City and the Ostankino Tower. For many Gazprom employees, a nearly nine-hour flight to Vladivostok is a usual thing, since in view of all the construction projects that have been launched there, business trips to the corner of the earth are becoming more and more frequent.
Daylight time ends after approximately six or seven hours of flight and you can already see a beautiful star-spangled sky in the aircraft window. The black surface of the earth is sparkling with the lights of its cities that are becoming more and more numerous.
We are landing. Boris Posyagin shares his memories. It turns out to be his first trip to Vladivostok although he has visited all the five continents. Indeed, Indian summer, when the weather is no longer hot but still warm enough, is just the right time to discover the city.
Sunny Vladivostok
The morning in Vladivostok is rather fine. A sunny weather, cloudless sky and a pleasant and refreshing light wind.
We take a long drive through the whole city to the Vladivostok gas distribution station that supplies “blue” fuel to consumers directly from the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline. At the GDS premises we are provided with a “must-have” head cover – a protective helmet.
Jonas Janiulionis, Deputy General Manager – Technical Director of Lietuvos Dujos
At the gas pressure reducing unit (which converts high pressure of the gas main to low pressure of the gas distribution networks), we take a tour around the control room. Everything is brand new here, since this gas distribution station was only commissioned about two weeks ago.
Plenty of sunlight contributes to the working climate. Smiles and comments of guests make it clear that it is not just the working climate there – everyone is in a good mood.
Peter Frankenberg, Senior Vice President of E.ON Ruhrgas – Chairman of the Lietuvos Dujos Board
We get back to our bus and Boris Posyagin, like a thoughtful father, counts people. We continue our drive, listening to a local history lecture. Today's capital of the Primorie Krai owes its birth to two people – explorer Nevelsky and governor Muraviev-Amursky. It was them who 150 years ago convinced the emperor of Russia not to give these lands to China, since at that time people believed that the Amur was a non-navigable and totally useless river without access to the sea and that Sakhalin was a peninsula hindering navigation of ships. Nevelsky discovered a strait between the continent and the Sakhalin Island. Today, the strait hosts two pipes of the submerged crossing of the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline and Muraviev-Amursky founded a military post named Vladivostok or “vladey vostokom” (possess the East). A guard post comprising two dozens of soldiers grew into a city with the population of 615 thousand people.
We arrived at a construction site of the second string of the underground crossing of the inter-village gas pipeline to the Russky Island through Eastern Bosphorus Strait. Here, a directional method was used to drill two holes simultaneously – one from the continent and another one from the island – and meet somewhere deep underground directed by navigation devices. The crossing plan attracts the guests' attention; they ask almost no questions, they only wonder whether the staff has done all by themselves. Gazprom representatives are proud to answer that the bulk of work has been done in-house.
Then, we head for the Russky Island. From the left and to the right we see the scenery of a working seaport – quays, cranes, containers, as well as marvelous green hills and a blue sky, with your eyes glued on them. In the distance, we see combined heat and power plant No.2 emitting a grey cloud of smoke stretching as far as to the island. Here is where Vladimir Putin has recently pointed with his hand to. If we take the proverb “a fly in the ointment”, then we could say that the smoke generated by the largely coal-fired power plant spoils the Vladivostok sky as a horde of flies in the ointment. We take a group photo against that background – very soon we will forget this smoke forever. Natural gas that started to be used to fire the power plant is a much more environmentally-friendly fuel and will soon completely substitute coal.
On the Russky Island we visit the Voroshilov gun battery that dates back to the 1930s. It was used to defend Vladivostok from sea. However, no one has ever dared to attack the city and, in fact, the gun battery remained unused until the early 1990s, when it was transformed into a museum. Foreign visitors like taking photos near the 300-millimeter gun tower.
Sitting already in the bus, Adrians Davis from Latvijas Gaze, who seems to be an experienced hunter, tells with delight that if he had had such a gun, he would have shot all ducks in Latvia with the first shot. Maybe, he would have also shot Estonian ducks.
We get back to the quay of the Ayaks Bay. Here, we can still see a semi-globe tent that remained after the celebrations of gas supply launch in the Primorie Krai that took place on September 8 and we also see the pipe bearing the Prime Minister's signature. We check local rumors that the pipe was wrapped with a protective film to prevent local comics from adding any additional inscriptions on the already-historical item. The rumors were not confirmed – the pipe is all right without any film, whatever “carping tongues” could say.
We enter the tent. Inside, there is a map with the future unified gas supply system of Eastern Russia. Here, we can also see a stunning 3D model of the Far East with a projected picture of an operable gas pipeline and “live” burners at the start and the end points of the pipeline route, with both burners producing real fire. The room has many projectors and ten chairs covered with white fabric.
Then, they show us a movie presentation about the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline. The picture covers the whole dome. Now it's clear what impressed so much Andrey Kolesnikov, reporter from Kommersant, a Moscow-based newspaper. You feel the same delight only when you, as a child, go to a planetarium for the first time ever.
Trip participants watching a movie presentation about Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline
Trip participants watching a movie presentation about Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas pipeline
Then,we visited the Primorie oceanarium and buildings of the Far Eastern State University that are under construction now.
By a motor ship we get back to Vladivostok. Adrians Davis tries to fish from the motor ship using his spinning rod: he took his fishing stuff with himself. This time he hasn't managed to catch anything, but that's not important at all when you are surrounded by such a beautiful sea of an excellent turquoise blue color that can be seen only during this time of the year.
With regret we leave the sunny Vladivostok. And with a hope to return here again. Just in an hour and a half the night and almost deserted Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk receives us.
Dull Sakhalin
At night, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk experienced seven power cutoffs, plunging the city into total darkness. It's one more reason to deliberate on the great importance of arranging a really reliable and well-balanced power supply system for this region. It's not only a matter of comfort for people, sometimes it's a matter of someone's life.
The night ends and the upcoming day promises to be full of events and activities – we have to cross the whole island. However, the dull sky of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk does not look optimistic. Nevertheless, we drive to the airport. Since Sakhalin stretches over 900 kilometers, the weather in its different areas can vary considerably.
It takes an hour and a half to fly from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Nogliki, a small town 600 kilometers to the north from the regional center.
The weather in Nogliki is surprisingly warm and sunny, although the sky will soon be covered with clouds again. Then, we fly by helicopters. The flight crew members warn us that we will be flying over the sea, so we all have to put on yellow life vests.
Our three-hour flight is a difficult one, constant vibration and high-frequency noise make you feel sick. But the things we saw are really worth it – first, we fly around a drilling rig at the Kirinskoye field, where Gazprom is to launch production already next year and then we fly around the Lunskoye field platform that was build within the Sakhalin II project and we look at the platform from all sides. Russia has just started to develop its shelf fields and offshore platforms are still very rare and this makes our foreign visitors stick to their windows and take photos actively. The next facility we visited was ashore; that was an onshore processing facility used to transport oil and gas through the trans-Sakhalin pipeline system.
We go back to Nogliki for refueling; we have half an hour of rest and then again embark our helicopters. We fly to the Sakhalin main compressor station, which is the starting point of the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system. This station alone supports gas supply over the entire 1,800-kilometer route to Vladivostok. However, as gas consumption in the region grows, there will be more compressor stations along the pipeline.
The station occupies a rather vast area – together with its shift residential complex and temporary doghouses for builders it resembles a small country town, like Severo-Sakhalinsk underpinned by two gas compressor units.
Sakhalin main compressor station, starting point of Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system
Sakhalin main compressor station, starting point of Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system
We take a walking excursion around a newly-built facility – we see many pipes, valves and cables. Then, we enter the control room – the compressor station's “brain” furnished with the leading-edge equipment. There, we listen to a story flavored with engineering terms that an ordinary person can not understand.
We go back to the helicopters and make a group photo to capture the memories of our trip. Someone decides to go to the firs growing nearby. When asked what animals come to the station, the head of the regional operations department, without turning an eyelash, says that sometimes even bears come to them. One more time we look at those men who are going to the island tundra – we should not forget to count people before we depart.
The second day of our stay on the Sakhalin Island already was not a “helicopter” day and, in general, little resembled the previous day. On the day of our departure the Sakhalin Island – as if mocking at us – shows itself from a totally different side and gives a spell of sunny and cloudless weather. Such weather is favorable for us, because visiting Russia's first LNG plant in the rain would not give so much pleasure.
Over the entrance to the plant, it is written “Safety is top priority” in Russian and in English. This becomes the main rule during our visit – any movement by bus only with safety belts fastened. Taking photos or recording videos are prohibited.
At first, a small presentation was delivered to us. The Sakhalin plant is unique, because all technologies used there were developed specially for this project. Generally speaking, only two LNG plants in the world operate in rather severe climatic conditions – ours and the Norwegian Snohvit (“snow white”) LNG plant.
There were plenty of questions during the presentation: from well depth to the pricing formula applied to sell gas. Sakhalin Energy, the project operator, left this most interesting question unanswered referring to a trade secret, but they pointed out that they had an individual approach to every customer.
Having left the plant, we go directly to the airport. There, from our conversation with employees from Gazprom's representative office in the Sakhalin Oblast, we find out that the typhoon that was approaching the island passed by and that the next typhoon is likely to reach it. We are happy to be so lucky.
Such a diverse Kamchatka
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky welcomes us with heavy clouds and a drizzling rain making the city look dull and unfriendly. However, already in the morning Kamchatka shows us its beautiful face – plenty of greenery with yellow autumn inclusions, hills and their tops covered with snow that reflects sunlight and blinds you. Fresh air gives you a pleasant feeling of dizziness.
We head for the Avachinsky Airport – it's a nice day to visit one of the Russian marvels – the Valley of Geysers. It takes about an hour and a half to get there by helicopter. During the flight our pilots make circles around an active volcano, getting so closely that it seems that you can touch the volcano with your hand. Its slopes are covered with black ash and its throat emits a dense smoke, thus warning that you should be cautious, since the volcano is not sleeping.
When you look at the Valley of Geysers from a helicopter, it resembles an artist's palette, where all colors are mixed. You can see all possible shades of colors on the ground, because the boiling waters of springs and geysers bring a good deal of chemical elements from Mendeleev's periodic table to the surface. Checking water temperature with bare parts of your body is not recommended, since it reaches 98 degrees Celsius.
Our movements on the route are controlled by a local keeper with a gun in his hands that can be very useful, if a bear decides to join our group of tourists. Nevertheless, we are warned that even if a bear appears, no one will shoot immediately. You should just wait until the animal goes away.
Everything around you is boiling. Blasts of steam come out here and there, gases coming out from the bowels of the earth heave hot clay. Water that penetrates deep inside the earth boils for some time, generates excessive pressure and blows out as a fountain several meters high.
However, those who have never been here, know the Valley of Geysers from the movie “The Sannikov Land”. Although the Valley demonstrated in the movie no longer exists – in 2007 mud flows descended here and the natural reserve changed. First, there was a fear that the virgin beauty would disappear, but water always finds new ways to get to the surface.
We move to the caldera of the Uzon Volcano that after an eruption, which occurred many thousands of years ago, came down and turned into a valley filled with a smell of hydrogen sulfide. The caldera is speckled with many water bodies containing waters that can be both curative and poisonous. Bears come here to cure their wounded feet and ducks have two breeds during one season.
Having come to Kamchatka, we take a pleasure of going to the Pacific Ocean shore. It is covered with black sand of volcanic origin, the particles of which are attracted by a magnet.
In the evening we have an opportunity to go fishing to the Zhupanova River. Adrians Davis turned out to be the greatest fisher – for more than half an hour he stood knee-deep in ice-cold water and his persistence was rewarded with a rather good catch – a char.
Returning to the city, we have one more opportunity to enjoy the bird's-eye view of the almost untouched beauty of this land. It is only in this way that one can understand how difficult it was for the builders of the Sobolevo – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky gas pipeline to go 400 kilometers from the western "Okhotsk" shore to the eastern "Pacific" shore. Incredible efforts were made to harmoniously fit the pipe, supplying so-much-needed natural gas to Kamchatka, in the diverse and varied relief of the Peninsula, without causing any damage to it. So, even in case of an earthquake, which is a frequent phenomenon here, the gas pipeline remains a reliable supplier of energy for the regional center.
Thousands of kilometers are left behind, large-scale projects and unique solutions aimed at changing the Russian East. The nature of this land, bordered side-by-side with the young gas industry, leaves an indelible impression.
Tiit Kullerkupp, who has been working in the gas industry for about 30 years and who speaks good Russian, said that his impressions of this trip could not be expressed with words and that "everyone should see it with their own eyes". And he is a bit disappointed, "If I say that I have seen a bear from the distance of fifty meters, who will believe me?"
The Far East lives and develops, gradually transforming into one more large economic, business, cultural and educational center of Russia. Efforts by many people, including Gazprom's experts, accelerate its development.
About five or six years ago the Far East was not the same as we see it today. I think that if this international team of gas men comes back here several years later, they will see a totally different Far East that has become really close to them during this trip.
