The Prirazlomnaya offshore rig, Gazprom Neft’s oil production outpost on the Russian Arctic Shelf, was host to the recent unveiling of the new 2016–17 season FC Zenit kit. Making workers on the Prirazlomnaya platform the first of Zenit’s 15 million fans to see it, the new kits were revealed during a special visit to the rig by Zenit players Yuri Lodygin, Artem Dzyuba, Nicolas Lombaerts, Aleksander Kokorin, Yuri Zhirkov and Sergei Semak.
The location for the launch was chosen, in large part, because of the uniqueness of the Prirazlomnoye project — the Prirazlomnaya platform being the first (and, so far, the only) oil-producing rig on the Russian Arctic Shelf. It is the only project in the world on which Arctic production is being conducted from a stationary platform able to withstand the challenges of drifting ice floes.
The home and away shirts for Zenit’s 2016–17 season are embossed with diagonal stripes — a nod to the famous stripe featured in the military uniform of Peter the Great. The away kit is made in ice-like colours, reflecting the freezing climate of the Russian north, while the home kit is made in the traditional blue. All kits are made from recycled polyester — an average 16 plastic bottles being used for every kit.
The Prirazlomnaya platform, too, meets the highest environmental standards, with oil production being conducted under full adherence to the principle of “zero emissions”, and drilling fluid, bit cuttings (“drilling sludge”) and other production waste all being pumped into a special re-injection well or transported onshore for recycling.
Gennady Lubin, Executive Director, Gazpromneft Shelf, commented: “The principle of working ‘in harmony with nature’ has been a priority in developing the Prirazlomnoye project. Operation of the platform is predicated on the use of the latest technologies in industrial and environmental safety, including ‘zero emissions’ and ‘wet sump’ oil storage. In addition to which, emergency icebreaking vessels are on permanent emergency standby around the platform, equipped with the latest-generation oil-spill recovery equipment, operating even under winter conditions”.
