Under the corporate plan, LUKOIL held a command and staff training on oil-and-gas blowout response during the drilling and operation of wells at the fixed offshore ice-resistant platform (FOIRP) at Yuri Korchagin field in Astrakhan.

As part of the training, particular tactics were practiced, namely, evacuation of the platform personnel and maneuvers of the Company’s special firefighting fleet in order to better assemble floating booms, contain oil spills and skim the oil. The exercise also included assembly of new check valves, sealing in of wells and techniques of blowout control.

Another goal was to ensure that the Company and other specialized organizations possess sufficient resources and means to efficiently and promptly respond to emergencies at the FOIRP in the course of drilling and operating the wells. With this goal in mind, the trainees suggested that another exercise, a special tactical one, should be arranged in the first half of 2011 to learn how better respond to flows and open oil-and-gas blowouts at the FOIRP located at Yuri Korchagin field.