LUKOIL has begun transportation of two supporting blocks to be assembled for the ice-resistant stationary platform (IRP-1) at Vladimir Filanovsky field in the Caspian Sea.

The total weight of the two supporting blocks is around 5,000 tons. Each supporting block is 28.3 meters long, 23.7 meters wide and 16.4 meters high. The supporting blocks will be fixed to the seabed by means of 20 piles, each more than 2 meters in diameter, their total weight exceeding 4,000 tons. The piles will be driven in the bottom to a depth of 60 meters, which ensures secure mounting of the platform in order to withstand possible extreme ice action and wave slamming. The supporting blocks will be fixed at a depth of 7 meters.

During the summer season, LUKOIL also plans to assemble the supporting blocks for the platform of the living quarters module, for the central processing platform and for the riser block. In 2014, topside sections of the platforms will be assembled on the supporting blocks.