Key areas of environmental activity
The Company’s environmental activity is in line with nature protection plans developed under the comprehensive Ecology Program with a view of systematic planned mitigation of industrial impact on the environment.
Principal areas of the Ecology Program are as follows:
- construction of nature protection facilities;
- land conservation, management and rehabilitation;
- air protection;
- water resources protection;
- natural environment and production facilities monitoring;
- pipeline accident prevention and clean-up;
- industrial waste neutralization and utilization;
- environmental training;
- R&D activity.
The Company’s annual allocations for the program financing totally exceed RUR 21 bn (RUR 21.082 bn in 2008 and RUR 21.129 bn in 2009). Surgutneftegas maintains steadily high environmental investment level ensuring high level of environmental safety in operations, including new areas of its activity.
Surgutneftegas boasts unparalleled technology for recycling industrial waste and reclaiming oil sludge pits, as well as unique machinery and equipment fleet to carry out environment-related activities.
The Company’s integrated approach to pipeline reliability enhancement involves improved corrosion resistant pipes, pipeline corrosion monitoring, inhibitor protection, initial water separation units, and ensures practically accident-free operation of gathering pipelines.
Surgutneftegas has the best rate of associated petroleum gas utilization in Russia - over 96%. The Company was the first in the country to introduce
the most efficient gas utilization techniques, i.e. construction of stand-alone gas turbine and gas piston power plants. As many as seventeen gas turbine power plants and seven gas piston plants are currently in operation at the Company’s remote fields.
In 2000, the Company ceased dumping waste water in lakes and rivers. All waste water is treated and injected into the reservoir pressure maintenance system, which saves over 1.5 mn cub meters of fresh water every year.
The Company operates six centres for oil sludge and oily soil decontamination, three units for oily fluid recovery, four mobile units for tank cleaning and initial sludge treatment, five incineration units Szhigatel and one unit Desorber for thermal sludge decontamination, as well as seven units Forsazh and Vulkan for thermal solid oily waste decontamination. Surgutneftegas exploits one landfill for oil sludge utilization and four landfills for solid consumption and production waste disposal, as well as end-of-life tires recycling shop.
In order to reduce and treat production waste, the Company uses 71 sets of four-stage drilling mud and oil sludge cleaning systems (pitless drilling system) in production drilling and 17 sets in exploratory drilling, which help reduce drilling waste volume by half, decontaminate drilling returns, and use them for construction of well pads.
Today, Surgutneftegas recycles 100% of oil sludge and 91% of drilling returns.
Surgutneftegas purchases the most advanced systems for spill prevention and response, and the best machinery and equipment. The oil spill prevention and response system of the Company is unique for Russia and meets international environmental safety standards for the petroleum industry.
In order to reduce the negative impact and restore human environment, the Company is running a special land improvement program for sites adjacent to production facilities near populated areas.
Based on the analysis of the Company’s environmental activity since 2000 and government statistics for natural resources utilization, water and air pollution, wastes and the area of disturbed lands, the Independent Ecological Rating Agency established by the International Socio-Ecological Union included Surgutneftegas in the top rating of socially and environmentally responsible companies in 2009 (the 5th prize). In 2008, Surgutneftegas was awarded the annual prize promoted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation as “The Best Environmental Project of the Year”.
