The Medvezhye Pipeline is a pipeline built on the Medvezhye oil and gas field (Shabad). This naturally occurring gas field is located in Northern Siberia. Officials hoped the institution of the pipeline would provide industrial Russian communities with oil by the late 1970s. Siberia also signed contracts with Italy, France, and West Germany and agreed to provide natural gas in exchange for pipes. The pipeline was built in a sub-Arctic region with harsh weather and frozen ground and many worried that the pipeline would not be constructed according to schedule. The Medvezhye pipeline was constructed on warming, unstable permafrost. The pipeline was commissioned in 1972 and is Russia’s third most highly producing pipeline (Seligman). In 1977, a study was performed to measure pipe deformation due to warming permafrost conditions. No deformation was found due to the pipe’s thickness. As of 2011, the pipeline’s managers, Victoria Oil and Gas PLC, reported that the pipeline had 400 million barrels of oil in place (Victoria Oil and Gas). In continued monitoring and development of the pipeline, Victoria Oil and Gas also performed studies to determine possible new drilling and well sites, production infrastructure, and downstream hydrocarbon emissions effects. Victoria Oil and Gas also studied oil export from the pipeline to Siberia and other parts of Russia. Today, the pipeline is still a major source of oil and gas for Russia. A map of the Medvezhye oil and gas field can be found below. http://images.energy365dino.co.uk/standard/126082_7a87a50d3cd24d7da925.jpg

References: Selgiman, Ben J. "Long-Term Variability of Pipeline±Permafrost Interactions in North-West Siberia." PERMAFROST AND PERIGLACIAL PROCESSES, 22nd ser., 11, no. 5 (2000). Accessed May 05, 2017.

Shabad, Theodore. "Siberia Pipeline Crews Advance." The New York Times. September 21, 1971. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/21/archives/siberia-pipeline-crews-advance-western-europe-to-buy-gas-delays-are.html?_r=0.

"Victoria Oil and Gas." West Medvezhye Operational Update | Victoria Oil and Gas. July 07, 2011. Accessed May 06, 2017. http://www.victoriaoilandgas.com/investors/news/west-medvezhye-operational-update.

West Medvezhye and Surrounding Areas.