Waste management measures
The Company implements a set of measures aimed at decreasing the generation of production waste, as well as its decontamination and involvement in the economic cycle. At subsoil plots in Western Siberia, the technology of pitless well drilling, certified by the State Environmental Expert Commission, is implemented. Decontaminated drill cuttings are utilized as soil during earth fill construction on well pads due to four-stage cleaning and circulation systems for drilling fluid and use of clay based drilling fluids with the addition of biodegradable polymers. This ensures that the Company maintains a high level of drill cuttings utilization rate of 70% over many years.
Rehabilitation of soil and vegetation cover at drill cuttings disposal areas is a unique method of reclamation of lands previously occupied by sludge pits. The Company carries out forest rehabilitation by planting forest and herbaceous vegetation without soil filling, which promotes the restoration of vegetation cover and prevents water and wind erosion.
As a result of researching and reviewing the best available equipment and technologies for oily waste decontamination, since 1997 the Company has implemented a comprehensive approach to ensure the safe management of oil sludge and oily soils, which enables us not only to decontaminate oil sludge and oily soils (via treatment and thermal decontamination) but also to preliminary recover the oil contained within.
To address the tasks of waste decontamination and process liquid recycling, the corresponding facilities are available:
- oil sludge and oily soils treatment centers, including those in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which enable more efficient phase separation of oily sludge and introduction of separated oil into the production process;
- mobile units for tank cleaning with oil sludge phase separation;
- single and multiple cell sludge storage ponds that collect waste and process liquids in the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia);
- mobile units for thermal waste decontamination, including oil sludge.
If necessary, “Surgutneftegas” PJSC upgrades and reequips existing waste management facilities.
Due to the remoteness of the Company’s industrial sites from settlements and an acute shortage of specialized facilities for decontamination and disposal of waste in the areas of its operation, the Company operates waste disposal landfills for disposal of solid household and industrial waste.
The use of the above-mentioned facilities and equipment makes it possible to prevent the burial of over 101 thousand cubic meters of oil sludge and oily soils annually. To ensure the efficient recycling and decontamination of waste depending on its physical state, environmental conditions, availability of raw material consumers, and logistics, the Company is continuously working on research and implementation of the latest technologies and equipment.
Used oil products, including oils formed as a result of various technological processes, are disposed of using the equipment of the Company’s oil and gas production divisions and by third-party organizations.
The Company’s equipment for the utilization of worn-out car tires, treatment (grinding) of paper and polymer-containing waste products, as well as pressing cardboard, along with the environmental impact of preventing the disposal of 3.6 thousand tonnes of waste in landfills, allows for profit from the sale of products.