Land reclamation and forest protection
An ecosystem approach allows the Company to consistently achieve high results during reclamation of used lands. The equipment and materials used by the Company help us minimize damage and the temporary load on the soil during land reclamation.
After reclamation is completed, our specialists continue monitoring young plants, if necessary they set out new ones.
A comprehensive approach to restoration of disturbed lands and strong discipline in the workplace allow “Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz for many years to be in good standing for the purpose of returning a large number of the land plots to the Forest Fund of the Russian Federation without delay. In 2021, the Company returned 6,313 hectares of land to the Forest Fund of the Russian Federation.
When choosing the reclamation technology, presented in the project documentation, the specialists are primarily guided by specific natural conditions at the location of the disturbed site. On the territory of Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Okrug — Yugra represented by a flat terrain with a large number of rivers, lakes and marshes, technology and equipment for reclamation are unique and selected individually for each type of landscape.
As part of measures taken by the Company to protect forests from fire, all stationary and mobile points of production sites are equipped with fire-fighting equipment, the machinery in use must be fitted with spark arresters. Mineralized fire barrier strips stretching in total for 230 km are created or being cut through along the borders of the forests, 1,076 fire safety banner stands are erected and updated, 33 stations with fire-fighting equipment are set up and operated.
Every year, Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz restores forests; in 2021, 5,222 thousand common pine saplings were planted over the area of 2,467 hectares.
Land area in use by Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz, ha
— Return of lands to the Forest Fund of the Russian Federation
Pollution prevention and elimination
In compliance with the legislation of the Russian Federation in the sphere of environmental safety and prevention of emergency situations the Company developed, approved and implemented the Plan on prevention and elimination of oil and oil products spills at the facilities of Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz at the federal level.
Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz possesses necessary materials and equipment, special oil-gathering equipment, means of communication, motor vehicles and qualified personnel and is ready to immediately eliminate oil and oil products spills of any level (from the local to federal) under any circumstances in any type of area and to ensure a high-quality reclamation of contaminated land.
Oil spills are eliminated by out-of-staff accident rescue units (ARU (O), formed on the basis of oil and gas production divisions and lubricants and chemical additives facility of Vitim of the technical maintenance and equipment completing base in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).
The Company conducts regular comprehensive exercises at its license blocks in Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia in order to develop practical skills for prevention and elimination of emergency situations caused by oil spills, for the effective interaction of personnel and maintaining a high level of readiness. To involve the concerned public in the process of conducting and analyzing the exercises, the events are announced in the mass media.
The Company regularly carries out trainings aimed at localization of a simulated oil containing fluid spill at production operations facilities of Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz. No accident-rescue works have been performed since the last certification period.
The out-of-staff accident rescue units of Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz showed a high level of readiness to carry out all the necessary actions provided for in the plan for prevention and elimination of oil and oil products spills at production facilities, including situations when spills enter rivers.
More than eight years ago, the Company got rid of the so-called negative legacy: oil contaminated and not reclaimed areas. In 2021, there were two oil spills at the Company’s fields, the first one was due to an obscure manufacturing defect in the body of the shutoff valve, and the second was due to leakage of joint during pump off. Total land area polluted in the result of oil spills equaled 0.0677 hectares. The consequences of the spills were fully eliminated, all oil was gathered. All lands polluted in 2021 were reclaimed.
In 2021, the Department of Subsoil Use and Natural Resources of KhMAO-Yugra inspected one reclaimed land plot which was previously polluted (in 2020) with the area of 0.082 hectares. The inspected land plot was also excluded from the Register of territories and water bodies of Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Okrug — Yugra contaminated by oil, oil products and produced water.