Samotlorneftegaz, an enterprise of Rosneft’s oil production complex, together with the Institute for Biology of the Tomsk State University, has successfully launched the Air Probe (Aeroshchup) technology for cleaning hydrocarbons off the bottom of reservoirs through flotation and airlifting. The operating principle of the innovative complex is to lift hydrocarbon residues from bottom sediments using compressed air. This technique allows for rapid on-site diagnostics of the object with automated mapping of contaminated areas.

The new area of environmental remediation scheme is implemented as an extension of activities under the Rosneft 2022 Strategy for environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.

In 2020, Samotlorneftegaz has used the new technology to clean up a water body in the southern part of the Samotlor license that spans an area of over 1.3 hectares. As a result, the concentration of oil products at the bottom decreased by more than 40% and reached the standard values. These actions have had a positive impact on the biodiversity of the reservoir, resulting in mass reproduction of aquatic invertebrates as indicators of clean water.

The treatment of water bodies is one of the priorities of the Company’s programme to restore land and water bodies of historical heritage. During the period of intensive development of the Samotlor field from 1970 to 1982, the region’s environment was largely affected.

At present, the project of the Institute for Biology of the Tomsk State University and Samotlorneftegaz to clean reservoirs of oil products has passed the state environmental assessment and received the Quality mark of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources. Furthermore, the project became a winner of the international Environmental Culture. Peace and Harmony contest, organized by the Vernadsky Non-Governmental Ecological Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, the Russian Reliable partner - Ecology environmental practices competition and finalist of the Russian Geographical Society award.

The technology can be adapted for use on ice-covered waters, which is extremely important for Samotlorneftegaz, for it has been restoring previously disturbed areas on a year-round basis since 2013. Today, approximately 70% of the previous years’ damage repair is carried out in winter.

This year more than 100 lakes in need of comprehensive rehabilitation at Samotlorneftegaz license areas have been inspected. The results formed the basis for the development of the clean up and rehabilitation project. An inventory of all water bodies requiring rehabilitation will be carried out using the multispectral space imagery method in 2021.

In addition, Samotlorneftegaz has initiated work to create its own highly efficient technology designed to restore water bodies.

Rosneft
Information Division
November 2, 2020

Keywords: Environmental News 2020