Gazprom Neft’s deployment of its “Kapitan” Arctic digital logistics control system delivered a RUB900,000 economic benefit in 2019–2020 – unit costs per tonne of Arctic oil exported showing a 12% reduction against pre-deployment costs. This benefit was achieved by optimising tanker-operation costs (by selecting the most viable routes), better fuel economy, lower expenditure on icebreaker support, together with less downtime, and by optimising oil exports.
The Kapitan system, developed by Gazprom Neft specialists to ensure uninterrupted year-round exports of Arctic oil blends, is the world’s first digital logistics control system deployed under the harsh conditions of the Arctic. The system consolidates data from all facilities throughout the Arctic logistics chain, including tankers, icebreakers, oil loading terminals and floating oil-storage units. The system analyses approximately 15,000 incoming data metrics, online, including data from support vessels and the tanker fleet, terminal floating storage units’ cargo tanks, information on weather conditions, forecast and actual ice conditions, and vessel movements. The system recalculates tanker-traffic scheduling and ex-terminal oil shipments every 15 minutes, selecting the optimum solution from more than 66.5 million options.
“The Kapitan system has proved itself not just as a unique digital solution, operating on cutting-edge machine-learning technologies, artificial intelligence and neural-network algorithms, but as a key element in the complex logistics system of the Arctic. It has, clearly, proved its cost-effectiveness, and the solutions it offers can be used not just by Gazprom Neft but also other market participants operating along the Northern Sea Route.” — said Vadim Simdyakin, Head of Logistics and Oil Operations Directorate at Gazprom Neft.
