Based on the generalized archived sources and expedition data of 2001 and 2003, estimates of the ice regime components and ice and iceberg spreading in the Barents Sea necessary for the purpose of ice resistant platform design in the vicinity of the Shtokman GCF are given. As a result of the expedition activities in 2003, presence of second-year ice close to SGCF and a large number of icebergs in the field area was recorded for the first time. Detection of a large number of icebergs in the SGCF area in 2003 is an anomalous event changing significantly our knowledge of their possible number in the study area at the prescribed time interval. On the basis of the expedition data obtained, new probabilistic estimates of the iceberg/platform collision were made.
The Shtokman gas-condensate field (SGCF) located in the Barents Sea is the largest in the region. Its total reserves are assessed as almost 3.3 trillion m3 (Levinzon, Brekhuntsov, 2003). The uniqueness of the field is not only in its colossal reserves but also in the conditions for its development and further operation. The main natural factors complicating production of hydrocarbons here (sea depth, complicated seabed relief, remoteness from the shore, air temperature, wave and wind) also include the presence of ice cover and icebergs in the field area. By a combination of these factors, the project of the SGCF development and operation can be considered the most complicated on the arctic shelf to-date. The aim of the proposed study is to estimate in the probabilistic form based on the available data the spreading of ice and icebergs in the Barents Sea and the SGCF area and their main characteristics required for choosing the production complex structure and for the objectives of offshore structure design.
