The oil and gas industry is one of the dirtiest and most environmentally wasteful. Oil and gas pollution has a global scale and is growing rapidly, creating a real threat to people and natural ecosystems.
At the same time, modern oil and gas activity determines the state and development of modern civilization in the energy aspect, which is the most important for all spheres of human activity, and affects the general economic situation and geopolitics in Russia and the world.
The oil and gas industry, largely organized into large national and transnational corporations, has a powerful, extensive infrastructure with a huge number of complex and potentially dangerous facilities, including thousands of kilometers of pipeline systems through which oil and gas are transported.
When developing oil and gas fields, environmental protection, rational use of resources, and respect for the air environment are of great importance. Many years of development and extraction of oil fields have depleted the soil cover and worsened the environmental situation. However, this situation did not arise immediately and environmental issues are equally relevant for other states. Environmental problems did not arise today; they also have their historical roots. One of the main sources of pollution is, of course, oil and petroleum products.
For the first time, oil and petroleum products were transported by sea in the same way as mineral oils, i.e. in barrels. D. Hanway, back in 1754, expressed his indignation regarding the leakage of oil in the Caspian Sea from wooden oil barges. In September 1886, the first international meeting was held in Dresden (Germany) to develop common standards for testing methods for materials. This date became the birthday of international standardization, which is intensively developing in the interests of the entire world community. Then, in 1926, the International Federation of National Organizations for Standardization (ISA), which worked until the outbreak of the Second World War, acted as the coordinator of work on international standardization. In 1946, 25 countries founded the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Problems of improving natural resource management are especially relevant in the process of forming market relations. During the Soviet period, rental income that arose in the environmental exploitation sector was withdrawn by maintaining stable prices, centralized distribution of resources and final products, as well as a foreign trade monopoly.
The history of the oil and gas industry is being actively researched, including the period from its inception. An example is the small historical work “The Beginnings of the Gas Business” (Dzhafarov, 1999). In particular, it contains the main dates and events from the history of the gas industry that characterize the innovations that led to important changes in the environmental regime, for example: “1864. Reinjection of associated gas to enhance oil recovery was patented in the USA.”
Based on an environmental analysis of events related to the development of the industry, it is possible to create its systematic eco-history, which will include a description of the “eco-negative” - pollution and other environmental problems in combination and balance with the “eco-positive” - eco-innovation and the introduction of eco-techniques and eco-technologies.
However, environmental interpretation of the history of the industry and special studies on ecohistory are still missing, with the exception of works on the period of recent history that have appeared in recent years.
Among the works devoted to the latest oil and gas ecology, in the context of EIT, 4 domestic works should be especially highlighted, including three monographs: “Ecology. Oil and Gas" (Gritsenko, Akopova, Maksimov, 1997), "Technogenic pollution of natural waters with hydrocarbons and its environmental consequences" (2001) and "Ecology of processing hydrocarbon systems" (Abrosimov, 2002), as well as one review "Formation of natural-technogenic environments in the subtropics of the Black Sea region under the influence of intense oil and gas pollution" (2002).
For completeness of the presentation, it is necessary to mention 2 more works: the educational and methodological manual “Environmental Protection in the Oil Industry” (1994) and the monograph “Problems of Ecology in Oil and Gas and Mining Regions of the North of Russia” (Davydenko, 1998), however, they contain very little information on the topic under discussion topic.
Similar to the situation in the motor transport industry, the oil and gas industry, aware of environmental problems in the conditions of fierce competition for sales markets, is actively involved in the greening process. An example is new technologies for ensuring environmental safety, studies of environmental balance, environmental and economic calculations for the life cycle of various technical objects (Abrosimov, 2002).
Successful implementation of any compromise solutions can only be achieved through the formation and compliance with restrictive measures that determine:
2) conditions for the reasonable use of natural resources
3) environmental safety of decisions made.
World trends and Russian problems. Awareness of the significance of the possible consequences of uncontrolled environmental management was reflected in the conclusions of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in 1992. in Rio de Janeiro. At this forum, it was noted that the previous model of socio-economic development has exhausted itself and achieving a new, higher standard of living for all peoples is possible only if those negative factors that do not correspond to the model of sustainable development are eliminated.
Indeed, consumption in the developed world is increasing exponentially. For example, the same amount of fuel and energy resources has been used on the planet over the past 25-30 years as in the entire previous history of mankind, with approximately three quarters of them accounting for oil and gas. In these conditions, a balance is simply necessary between increasing the material well-being of people and preserving their favorable living environment.
The international community, seeking to give development a sustainable and long-term character so that it meets the interests of the present generation, without depriving descendants of the opportunity to meet their needs, within the UN framework, adopted a number of important decisions and program documents: Declaration of the UN Conference on Environmental Problems, held in Stockholm in 1972; Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in 1992. in Rio de Janeiro; Program of Action for the 21st Century, adopted by the UN General Assembly at its nineteenth special session in 1997.
Our country does not remain aloof from general planetary trends. In Russia, in order to implement a consistent transition to sustainable development, by presidential decree in April 1996. The “Concept of the Russian Federation’s transition to sustainable development” was also adopted. It is important that this document reflects one of the main principles of the Rio de Janeiro Declaration: to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection must be an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it
Technological processes existing in the oil and gas industry are accompanied by emissions into the soil, water bodies and atmosphere of a significant amount of production waste that pollutes water and air. The discharge of toxic organic and inorganic substances leads to the destruction of flora and fauna of nature, limiting the possibility of using reservoirs for drinking and industrial water supply, and for agriculture.
Industrial emissions into the atmosphere cause great environmental damage. In many cases, when industrial gases are released into the atmosphere, a significant amount of valuable chemical products are carried away by smoke.
The task of maintaining the purity of the biosphere is a social problem associated with improving the health of people's lives. Nature conservation has become one of the most important areas of human and state activity. This is reflected in the Russian Constitution. Many constitutional provisions are consistently embodied in the basis of legislation regulating land, water, forest and mountain relations.
To prevent pollution, it is necessary to constantly carry out additional environmental protection measures:
Dispose of industrial stormwater from the sites of booster pumping stations, water pumping stations and other facilities into an oil collection collector or into special containers;
Conduct embankment and regularly check their condition around operating and injection wells, oil tanks and other objects;
Discharge household and drinking water into water bodies only after biological treatment;
When developing and overhauling wells, collect the oil emulsion into an oil reservoir or container using inventory pallets;
Elimination of sludge pits should be carried out immediately after the construction of the pad, for which branched drilling wastewater is pumped into the oil collection reservoir, and the pit is filled with the remaining sludge;
On small rivers and streams flowing through oil fields, simple oil traps with a culvert should be built. The captured oil from oil traps must be periodically collected into transport tanks and then pumped into collecting reservoirs.
Most of the chemical reagents used in drilling wells, oil production and preparation, as well as produced hydrocarbons and their impurities are substances harmful to flora and fauna, as well as to humans.
Environmental protection during the injection of working agents using technologies is ensured by measures taken during the development and operation of oil fields:
Equipping injection wells with devices that prevent the outflow of water from the reservoir in the event of a pressure water pipeline spill;
The use of serviceable sealed equipment and fittings in systems for the preparation and injection of working agents, as well as containers with a volume of 20-30 m 3 in case of emergency discharge of liquids;
Ensuring reliable isolation of water-hazardous horizons in wells from productive formations;
Preventing hydraulic fracturing, which leads to communication between productive formations and overlying formations;
Reclamation of land in the area of injection and production wells;
Quality control of groundwater from horizons that are sources of water supply;
Detailed familiarization of work producers with the technology of using chemical products, the properties of these products, rules for working with them at field sites, control of responsible persons over the execution of work.
Oil and gas production is dangerous due to the increased accident rate of the work performed due to the fact that the main production processes occur under high pressure. Field equipment and pipeline systems operate in aggressive environments.
Harmful substances entering the air or water environment from sources of pollution are involved in the general migration (cycle) of substances and, as a rule, spread in the environment over a certain period of time. The speed of their spread and the speed of self-purification of the environment largely depend on natural and climatic conditions and the amount of pollutant. On the other hand, a minimal oil content sometimes serves as a catalyst for plant growth, and with a small concentration of oil, nature can regenerate itself.
In this regard, there are two opposing opinions on environmental issues. One view is that intervention in the environment must be sharply limited, since modern farming methods can lead to catastrophic consequences. Another opinion is that the potential for self-healing of nature is quite large, so large amounts of money should not be spent on its protection and restoration work.
In relation to the oil and gas region, the concentration of the approach to environmental problems should be based on the following factors.
In order to survive, a person must manage the land, must extract oil, gas, and other minerals.
At the present stage of development of science and technology, there are no technologies for oil production, transportation and refining that would be implemented without a negative impact on nature.
It is necessary to optimally combine the first and second factors, i.e., extract oil and develop deposits, minimizing negative consequences, maximizing the restoration of disturbed territories. It is important to prevent emergency, catastrophic oil spills, which lead to irreversible processes and can disrupt the existing natural balance. In such cases, the restoration of natural complexes takes decades and requires significant labor and money.
Complete natural processing of petroleum components in the Far North requires decades. Physicochemical destruction of oil on the soil surface occurs only in the upper layer. After the stage of microbiological destruction (three to four years), oil pollution persists. Moreover, the amount of the most toxic hydrocarbons in the upper layers of the soil is several times higher than background values.
According to available data, soil pollution with oil has a depressing effect mainly on coniferous plants. Shrubs are poorly resistant to oil pollution. Of the herbaceous plants, the most resistant are grasses and sedges. In swamp landscapes, the greatest amount of hydrocarbons is accumulated by the roots and leaves of wild rosemary, and the least by the stems of lingonberry.
The development and operation of oil and gas fields is accompanied by an inevitable technogenic impact on the environment. Rational environmental management in modern conditions necessitates taking into account strict environmental restrictions and developing measures aimed at protecting and restoring the environment.
During the development and operation of deposits, various wastes are inevitably generated, which can be divided into three groups:
Waste generated during the construction of field structures;
Waste generated during operation;
Waste generated during accidents.
During operation the following are formed:
Pipeline and equipment cleaning products;
Polluted water;
Waste oils;
Various containers.
When an accident occurs, the resulting waste (oil and gas) becomes more toxic.
The main sources of atmospheric pollution in oil fields are wells, oil treatment plants and oil gas flares.
The largest amount of pollutant emissions comes from flares, especially in emergency situations. An analysis of the calculation results showed that, on average, 75% of the total gross emissions are carbon monoxide. When petroleum gas is incompletely burned, it enters the upper layers of the atmosphere, where it is oxidized to carbon dioxide, which contributes to the creation of the “greenhouse effect” on a global scale.
There is no doubt that the activities of OJSC Sibneft-Noyabrskneftegaz have a negative impact on the environment. To stabilize and improve the environmental situation on the territory of the deposits, it is necessary to carry out a set of technological measures, providing for:
Stopping the flaring of petroleum gas and its 100% recycling;
Transition to pit-free drilling;
Replacement of old equipment with new, more reliable;
Elimination of emergency spills of oil, formation water and other toxic liquids;
Timely land reclamation;
Construction of solid waste landfills.
Despite all the measures taken to prevent environmental pollution, violations of ecological systems are possible. The level of these violations will depend entirely on the implementation of the entire range of measures, strict compliance with technical and technological standards, as well as on the environmental culture of workers. In relation to the oil industry, the problem of subsoil protection should be highlighted:
Studying the structure of the subsoil, obtaining data on oil, gas and water reserves;
Maximum reduction of fluid losses during exploration and operation of the field;
The use of progressive discovery systems, development methods and methods for enhancing oil recovery, production technologies that ensure optimal completeness of oil and gas extraction from the subsoil;
Progressive organization of land reclamation work;
Preventing open fountains;
Elimination of flooding of the field;
Keeping aquifers clean and preventing their depletion;
Use of associated gas;
Minimizing losses of extracted oil and gas during operation and pumping;
Extraction of fluids from the subsurface at minimal cost;
Prevention of pollution, contamination, dangerous deformation and seismic impact on the subsoil during drilling, operation and treatment of wells;
Preventing losses of oil and gas, their contamination of soil, atmosphere, surface and groundwater.
During the production, transportation and processing of petroleum products, continuous pollution caused by leaks of hydrocarbons through leaks and in flange connections, oil seals, valves, pipeline ruptures, etc. In emergency situations, the separator may overflow, which leads to the possibility of oil entering the gas and flare lines with subsequent entry of oil products into the territory of the booster station and into wastewater.
Oil leaks from tanks are typical due to corrosion of their bottoms under the influence of heavy waters. Constant automatic monitoring of the contents in the tank allows even small oil leaks to be detected and eliminated in a timely manner.
Pipelines pose a great danger to the environment. Leaks of oil, gas, condensate, and waste water are often detected twelve or more hours after their occurrence.
Oil spills as a result of accidents at oil-gathering reservoirs remain typical; the elimination of accidents and liquidation of consequences are often delayed.
When oil enters the soil, it falls vertically down under the influence of gravitational forces; the speed of oil movement and the depth of its penetration depend on the properties of the oil and the soil on which it fell.
In case of oil spills due to emergency situations, the accident must be eliminated as soon as possible.
When eliminating accidents, the following requirements must be met:
Elimination of accidents at oil and gas production facilities involves
with complex and dangerous operations, therefore, before starting work, it is necessary to check the serviceability of the equipment used to eliminate the accident;
The emergency area must be isolated from the entry of the working environment into it by closing the valves and installing plugs on the pipelines;
The danger zone must be fenced off with safety signs;
Immediately take measures to eliminate the oil and gas spill;
Do not allow engines and electrical installations to operate on the premises;
Stop the supply of current to the power and lighting lines leading to the area that may be flooded with oil;
You can enter the danger zone only in appropriate protective clothing and personal protective equipment;
After the accident has been eliminated, oil contamination removal should begin.
In oil production areas, the atmosphere is polluted with sulfur compounds as a result of the combustion of mineral fuels in stationary installations. Burning fuel oil pollutes the atmosphere with dust, soot, carbon oxides, sulfur, arsenic compounds and other harmful substances. The sources of such impurities are various internal combustion engines, small boiler houses and other fuel installations.
To protect land, oil producing enterprises carry out the following measures:
Preventing the penetration of various chemical reagents used in technological processes into the soil and soils;
Elimination of oil storage facilities near wells, collection points, head structures and oil treatment facilities;
Reducing the size of land plots for oil and gas construction
field facilities through the use of progressive methods for constructing field facilities, complex block installations, cluster drilling;
Reducing accidents in oil production and drilling through strict implementation of scheduled preventive maintenance of equipment and the use of corrosion prevention tools and methods.
Upon completion of the well repair, the areas around the well contaminated with oil and chemicals are cleaned, and the sludge pits are filled up. The sludge is removed by special transport with a metal container or container. During the well repair process and after its completion, household and industrial waste is collected and transported to landfill sites approved by land use. Some of the waste is burned or buried in sludge pits before being disposed of.
Substances extracted during cleaning of tanks, apparatus and communications are buried in places specified by local fire and sanitary inspection authorities.
Conclusion
Of all the existing methods for treating low-permeability formations, the greatest effect is achieved using hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing increases well productivity and at the same time accelerates oil recovery and increases oil recovery from the reservoir.
Well production after hydraulic fracturing increases tens of times, which indicates a significant reduction in hydraulic resistance in the bottomhole zone of the formation and intensification of fluid inflow from highly productive zones remote from the wellbore.
Hydraulic fracturing is most effective in the conditions of the Krainye field. As a result of the implementation of measures to intensify oil production, oil recovery from oil wells has increased, the cost of one ton of oil has decreased, and additional profits and annual economic benefits have been obtained.
In the course of the calculations of hydraulic fracturing, it can be said that with the correct choice of components: the composition of the fracturing fluid (the concentration of the sand carrier fluid, formation fluid, their viscosity, the granulometric composition of the sand), high-quality equipment: sand mixing units, piping and wellhead equipment, the choice of packers for their correct use It can be noted, based on calculations, that with hydrodynamic fracturing, the productivity of the well, the permeability of the formation increases, the drainage zone expands, which makes it possible to increase the flow rates of wells, after hydraulic fracturing, almost twice under the same other conditions.
1. Technique and technology of hydraulic fracturing [electronic resource]
2. Akulshin A.I. Technology and equipment of oil and gas production, storage and transportation. M: Nedra. 2005. - 311 p.
3. Akulshin A.I. Operation of oil and gas wells. M: Nedra. 2005. - 240 p.
4. Blazhevich V.A. Handbook of a master on major repairs of wells. M: Nedra. 2006. - 207 p.
5. Bukhalenko E.I. Directory of oilfield equipment. M: Nedra. 2004. - 345 p.
6. Verkhovtsev A.V. Occupational Safety and Health. M: NFRA,. 2003. - 212 p.
7. Kutsin P.V. Occupational safety and health in the oil and gas industry. M: Nedra. 2005. - 253 p.
8. Maksimov V.N. Prospects for the development of the Russian oil industry until 2020. Oil Industry No. 12, 2003. - 265 p.
9. Muravyov V.M. Oilman's satellite. M.: Nedra. 2004. - 235 p.
10. Panov G.E. Occupational safety during the development of oil and gas fields. M: Nedra. 2005. - 325 p.
11. Panov G.E. Environmental protection at oil and gas industry enterprises. M: Nedra. 2005. - 312 p.
12. Sereda N.G., Sakharov V.A. Oil and gas worker's companion. M: Nedra. 2006. - 420 p.
13. Shchurov V.I. Technology and technology of oil production. M: Nedra. 2004. - 198 p.
14. Yurchuk A.M., Istomin A.Z. Calculations in oil production. M: Nedra. 2005. - 423 p.
The state of the natural environment is one of the most pressing socio-economic problems, directly or indirectly affecting the interests of every person.
By creating products necessary for its existence that are not found in nature, humanity uses various open-ended technological processes for the transformation of natural substances. The end products and waste of these processes are in most cases not raw materials for another technological cycle and are lost, polluting the environment. Humanity is transforming living and inanimate nature much faster than their evolutionary restoration. Consumption oil And gas is not comparable, for example, with the rate of their formation.
Currently, humanity is in a period beyond intense use of environmental resources – resource consumption exceeds their growth, which inevitably leads to exhaustion resources.
The current ecological state of the territory of Russia can be defined as critical. Intensive pollution of the natural environment continues. The decline in production was not accompanied by a decrease in pollution, because in market conditions, they began to save even more on environmental costs. Against the backdrop of deteriorating socio-economic living conditions for Russian citizens, the problem of environmental distress has become particularly acute. It poses a real threat to the very biological foundations of the health and life of the country's population.
It is important to take into account that the negative consequences of environmental processes are characterized by significant inertia. So, if today the emission of ozone-depleting substances completely stops, then the amount that has already accumulated in the atmosphere will destroy the ozone layer for decades to come. The consequences of the release of radioactive substances from nuclear bombs exploded in the atmosphere and underground and from operating nuclear power plants will also have a negative impact on the state of the natural environment for many years to come.
That is why today we cannot postpone efforts to improve it, so that the ecological a crisis has not developed into an environmental catastrophe. Russia was already late in taking radical measures in this area.
Experts on the environmental situation believe that a radical improvement in the state of the natural environment in Russia can only become possible if two new approaches are implemented in addition to all currently existing areas of action in the field of environmental protection and human health.
The first is associated with the application in all areas of domestic policy of the concept of the Russian Federation’s transition to sustainable development. This means the need to constantly take into account in the economic and social life of society the problems of exhaustibility of natural resources and the ecological capacity of the biosphere as a whole. To do this, first of all, it will be necessary to stop planning and implementing economic and technical projects that do not ensure the preservation and maintenance of both global and regional natural balance.
The second approach to solving environmental problems is associated with the introduction of the level concept when assessing economic and other activities. acceptable risk.
It is well known that among the environmentally unfavorable sectors of domestic industry, the fuel and energy complex takes almost the first place. It accounts for over 40% of total environmental pollution.
FEC enterprises annually disturb about 30 thousand hectares of land, while less than half are reclaimed. Of this volume of land, 43% falls on oil industry.
Oil and gas producing The industry is one of the most environmentally hazardous industries. It is characterized by high earth capacity, significant polluting capacity, and high explosion and fire hazard for industrial facilities. Chemical reagents used in drilling wells, production and preparation oil, as well as produced hydrocarbons and their impurities are harmful substances for flora and fauna, as well as for humans.
Oil and gas production is dangerous due to the increased accident rate of work, because The main production processes take place under high pressure. Promyslovoe equipment and pipeline systems operate in aggressive environments.
Let us illustrate in numbers the main patterns of influence of oil and gas industry on the environment.
The determining factors of global oil gas industry technogenesis are:
-scale of production oil And gas;
-level their losses natural and processed form.
With modern development methods, about 40-50% of explored reserves oil and 20-40% natural gas remain not extracted from the subsoil, from 1-17% of oil, gas And petroleum products get lost in processes production, preparation, processing, transportation and use.
Large oil and gas complexes gas industries and human settlements transform almost all components of nature (air, water, soil, flora and fauna, etc.).
More than 3 billion tons of solid industrial waste and 500 km 3 of wastewater are annually released into the atmosphere, water bodies and soil in the world.
The nomenclature of toxic pollutants contains about 800 substances, including mutagens (affect heredity), carcinogens, nerve and blood poisons (functions of the nervous system), allergens, etc.
Russian oil industry enterprises alone recently annually emit more than 2.5 million tons of pollutants into the atmosphere and burn about 6 billion m3 oil gas, leaving dozens of barns with drilling sludge, 740 million m3 of fresh water are taken from reservoirs.
Unregulated growth in volumes in an environmental sense oil production, gas and other fuel and energy resources caused dangerous degradation processes in the lithosphere: landslides, earthquakes, failures, local movements of the earth’s crust, etc., which negatively affects the distribution of the geomagnetic and gravitational fields of the Earth.
According to the second factor of regional environmental significance:
Losses oil in the world with her production, processing and use exceed 45 million tons per year, which is about 2% per annum production. Moreover, of this, 22 million tons are lost on land, about 7 million tons in the sea, and up to 16 million tons enter the atmosphere due to incomplete combustion petroleum products during operation of automobile, aircraft and diesel engines.
The largest amount of emissions of air pollutants comes from flares, especially in emergency situations. Calculations have shown that 75% of emissions are carbon monoxide: CO. In case of incomplete combustion of petroleum gas, it enters the upper layers of the atmosphere, where it is oxidized to CO 2 and participates in creating the “greenhouse” effect.
Release of pollutants (pollutants) from objects oil production creates zones in the field where surface concentrations exceed the maximum permissible concentration by 3-10 times.
Currently, the scale of the impact on nature has begun to exceed its restoration potential.
The volume of pollutants in air, water and soil is constantly growing. The natural environment is changing irreversibly and dangerously. Industrial facilities are sources of emissions of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere and cause an increased risk of so-called acid rain. The natural environment not only changes itself, but also changes a wide variety of biological species (biocenoses).
Thus, in all types of production activities of enterprises oil and gas industries the natural environment is used as source consumed natural resources and how natural capacity for storage of hydrocarbon raw materials and to reset production waste unsuitable for further use at this stage of development.
There are two extreme opposing opinions on environmental issues.
One thing boils down to the fact that interference in the environment must be sharply limited, because... modern management methods can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Another opinion is that the potential for self-healing of nature is quite large and therefore large amounts of money should not be spent on its protection and restoration work.
Applied to oil and gas region the concept of approach to environmental problems should take into account the following factors:
1. To survive, a person must manage the land, extract oil, gas and other minerals.
2. At the present stage of development of science and technology, such technologies do not exist production, transport and processing oil, which would be implemented without negative impact on nature.
Rational environmental management is a compromise between the need for action to ensure economic activity and the corresponding state of the natural environment.
(i.e., it is necessary to optimally combine factors 1 and 2: extract oil and develop fields, minimizing negative consequences, maximizing the restoration of disturbed territories, avoiding emergency spills oil).
The successful implementation of any compromise solutions can be achieved only through the formation and compliance with restrictive measures that determine: 1) the content and 2) the conditions for the reasonable use of natural resources and 3) the environmental safety of the decisions made. World trends and Russian problems. Awareness of the significance of the possible consequences of uncontrolled environmental management was reflected in the conclusions of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in 1992. in Rio de Janeiro. At this forum, it was noted that the previous model of socio-economic development has exhausted itself and achieving a new, higher standard of living for all peoples is possible only if those negative factors that do not correspond to the model of sustainable development are eliminated.
Indeed, consumption in the developed world is increasing exponentially. For example, over the past 25-30 years, as much fuel and energy resources have been used on the planet as in the entire previous history of mankind, with approximately three quarters of them coming from oil And gas. In these conditions, a balance is simply necessary between increasing the material well-being of people and preserving their favorable living environment.
The international community, trying to give development a sustainable and long-term character so that it meets the interests of the current generation without depriving descendants of the opportunity to meet their needs, has adopted a number of important decisions and program documents within the UN. This is first of all:
ü Declaration of the UN Conference on Environmental Problems, held in Stockholm in 1972;
ü Declaration of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, held in 1992. in Rio de Janeiro;
ü Program of Action for the 21st Century, adopted by the UN General Assembly at its nineteenth special session in 1997.
Our country does not remain aloof from general planetary trends. In Russia, in order to implement a consistent transition to sustainable development, by presidential decree in April 1996. The “Concept of the Russian Federation’s transition to sustainable development” was also adopted. It is important that this document reflects one of the main principles of the Rio de Janeiro Declaration: to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection must be an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it.
However, on the way to implementing the concept of sustainable development, Russia faces a number of intractable problems. It is no secret that many sectors of the domestic economy are structurally deformed and inefficient, and the negative impact on the environment (calculated per unit of product produced) in Russia is higher than in technologically advanced countries. In our country, the practice of excluding the cost of treatment facilities from the tax base of enterprise property and providing preferential targeted investment loans aimed at improving the environment, which is widespread in a number of developed countries, for example, in Japan, has not yet found application.
As in any transition period for the country, now the danger of deterioration of the environmental situation in existing production facilities has increased significantly, which is explained by constant financial turmoil, chronic non-compliance with technological regimes, and dilapidation equipment etc. The former practice, based on compulsory methods of observing environmental safety of production (through norms, laws, rules), still retains a stable position today. Economic mechanism environmental protection, as before, is a system of payments for the use of natural resources, for emissions and discharges of pollutants, waste disposal and other types of harmful effects on nature. This system, under new economic and legal relations, is morally outdated and does not meet modern requirements.
There is no doubt that creating favorable preconditions for reducing environmental pollution is possible only through the combined efforts of the government, legislators and producers of the national product. There is an urgent need to create a mechanism of cooperation between environmental organizations and industrialists, aimed at joint preparation and implementation of environmental programs and projects, searching for sources of financing, and prompt exchange of information in this area. Moreover, it would be advisable to change the methods for calculating production efficiency so that this indicator is directly dependent on environmental safety.
The technical and technological lag of domestic products from foreign analogues does not allow us to blame industry environmental problems alone oil workers. These problems are only most clearly manifested in their field of activity. In this regard, it must be emphasized that increasing environmental efficiency oil and gas production is a complex issue, the solution of which depends on the general state of the Russian economy. There is a need for a long-term state program for the technical re-equipment of the oil and gas complex, which would also provide for the solution of existing environmental problems in accordance with modern world standards.
In the oil and gas industry, as well as in Russia as a whole, it is necessary to quickly solve a number of fundamental problems. These include ensuring stabilization and subsequent radical improvement of the environment through the “greening” of economic activity, i.e. introduction of economic activity within the limits of the capacity of ecosystems based on the mass introduction of energy and resource-saving technologies, introduction of an environmental management system, including the creation of a mechanism that will purposefully orient all business entities to comply with environmental requirements; a systematic approach is required that optimizes all material -production cycle - from raw materials to the finished product and disposal of production waste. This cycle should include the creation of a closed industrial scheme of low-waste and environmentally acceptable production.
During the transition economy, the Russian oil and gas complex turned out to be one of the most resilient and stable sectors of the economy, although external factors (falling prices for oil) and internal (economic crisis) reasons have placed a heavy burden on oil and gas complex of the country. But even in these conditions, our enterprises take the initiative to solve environmental problems and implement environmental projects.
Oil and gas have long been necessary products for the development and improvement of civilization. Typically, the birth date of the oil and gas industry in a country is considered to be the receipt of the first gush of oil from a well (Table 2.1).
The table shows that the oil industry in different countries of the world has existed for only 110-140 years, but during this period of time oil production has increased more than 40 thousand times. In 1860, world oil production was only 70 thousand tons, in 1970 2280 million tons were extracted, in 1996 - 3168 million tons.
Oil and gas are believed to be confined to sedimentary rocks and distributed regionally. At the same time, large oil deposits have now been discovered (for example, on the shelf in Vietnam) in crystalline rocks (granite massif). This contradicts the canons of oil and gas geology, which consider only sedimentary rocks as oil-containing formations.
Until the 30s of the last century, oil production was carried out using open-pit methods (even when oil flowed, production was regulated by a valve). At the same time, large losses of oil occurred, especially light fractions, which caused great harm to the OS. The modern production method involves sealed collection of oil, gas, and condensate, in which the harmful effect of formation products on the environment is sharply reduced.
A significant decline in production in recent years, many
Table 2.1
The first industrial oil flows in the main oil-producing countries of the world
Numerous organizational and technical environmental measures carried out in the oil and gas complex have not led to a significant improvement in the environmental situation, which is due to the high accident rate in the fields. Due to the physical aging of oilfield equipment, the frequency of emergency volley discharges of oil, gas, commercial, reservoir and drilling wastewater into environmental protection systems annually amounts to thousands of cases and tends to increase. Across the country as a whole, oil recovery factor has decreased (by 1.7 times), the stock of idle wells has increased (by 4 times), and environmental problems have worsened.
During its existence, the oil and gas production complex has caused enormous damage to natural resources and the environment. Thousands of hectares of land have been disturbed, hundreds of billions of cubic meters of associated gas have been flared, many hunting grounds, reindeer pastures, rivers, lakes have lost their economic importance, and the number of fish has decreased several times. According to experts, as a result of accidents at oil and gas production facilities, up to 4 million tons of oil are found on soils and surface water bodies. Pollution of the territory of oil-producing regions has had a negative impact on all components of the natural environment to such an extent that proposals to classify the Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Nefteyugansk districts as territories of environmental disaster are quite legitimate.
Until the end of the eighties, practically no one was involved in the reclamation of oil-contaminated landscapes; only in the early nineties, under pressure from environmental protection committees, mass work began to eliminate oil contamination of land.
To radically improve the environmental condition and ensure the protection of the population and territory from the consequences of man-made emergencies, it is necessary to develop and apply a new environmental strategy that allows one to predict the occurrence of emergency situations and take preventive measures to prevent their consequences.
Three groups of interrelated environmental problems continue to be the most pressing for modern oil and gas production: depletion of oil and gas reserves and their replenishment through the discovery of new fields; prevention of OS contamination;
- ensuring natural ecological balance, preserving landscapes.
All specific issues of OS protection are resolved at the level of industry regulations. Preventing pollution of the natural environment with oil and its products is one of the complex and multifaceted problems of environmental protection. No other pollutant, no matter how dangerous it may be, can compare with oil in terms of the breadth of distribution, the number of sources of pollution, and the magnitude of the load on all components of the natural environment. In Fig. Figure 2.1 shows a fragment of a map of deposits in the Samara region.
The figure shows the diversity of oil and gas fields and their scattering due to historical tectonic movements.
Oil and gas production is moving to Eastern Siberia, the North and the Arctic, offshore zones of the seas, where the largest deposits of oil, gas and gas condensate have been discovered. In this regard, new environmental problems arise for new conditions of field development.
A whole range of environmental and legal problems arise when implementing oil and gas production projects in the territorial seas of Russia and on the shelf, especially the Sea of Okhotsk. On the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin, the implementation of the Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-1 oil and gas production projects continues.
2”, which, in violation of environmental legislation, provides for the discharge of drilling waste into the sea (for each project it is planned to drill up to 40 wells, the development of each of them will generate more than 1000 tons of drilling waste). Thus, over one million tons of waste containing oil, heavy metals and other toxic components will be dumped into the Sea of Okhotsk, which produces up to 70% of Russia’s fish and seafood. Irreversible damage will be caused to marine biological resources.
Not only in the Russian Federation, but also in the CIS countries, legal acts are often violated. For example, in Kazakhstan, a new law “On Oil” was adopted on June 28, 1995. One of the legislative decisions that led to a decrease in oil production by many companies operating in Kazakhstan was the new wording of Art. 30-5 of the Law “On Oil”. The introduction of this provision into the law led to the fact that almost all subsoil users extracting hydrocarbon raw materials found themselves in violation of the current legislation, since according to this provision, the industrial development of oil and gas fields without utilization of oil and natural gas is prohibited.
Under the new legislation, flaring of natural gas is permissible only with the appropriate permit:
- in exceptional cases, which include an emergency situation and a threat to the population and the environment;
when testing wells or trial exploitation of deposits for a total period of no more than three years.
In the current situation, in order to prevent a further slowdown in growth and decline in oil production, it is advisable to introduce a moratorium on the law for a period of up to five years, while simultaneously increasing the rates of mandatory payments for gas flaring, which will allow subsoil users to modernize their production facilities aimed at complete gas utilization. They will be interested in reorienting to new production, since during the moratorium period they will incur financial costs in connection with the production of mandatory payments for emissions into the atmosphere, and after the expiration of the moratorium, their actions will contradict the requirements of the law. However, such a decision has not yet been made by the Government of Kazakhstan.
Almost all production facilities in the oil and gas industry, under appropriate conditions, pollute the environment with a variety of harmful substances of varying environmental significance.
Sources of negative impact on the environment in the oil industry are human activities during prospecting and exploration work for oil, when drilling wells, during the construction of oil production facilities, and the oil production facilities themselves, both during operation and in a state of conservation. The period covering exploration, survey and construction of objects is usually much shorter than the operating life. However, technogenic impacts in this period are characterized by much greater intensity than during operation, although they are of a different nature.
Depending on the duration of exposure, these sources of pollution are divided into sources of long-term and time-limited exposure. The first includes the oil production facilities themselves and human activities associated with the exploitation of the fields. The scale of their negative impact on the environment depends on the quality of work during the construction of oil production facilities, including drilling wells. Limited sources of exposure include all other human activities.
Based on spatial characteristics, sources of pollution are divided into point (wells, barns), linear (oil and gas pipelines, water conduits) and area (oil fields, fields).
A characteristic feature of oil and gas production is the increased danger of its products. It is dangerous from the point of view of explosion and fire hazard, and is dangerous for all living organisms due to its chemical composition. Gas, when mixed with air in certain proportions, forms an explosive mixture, which, in the presence of a spark, explodes and often leads to numerous casualties.
Environmental problems of oil and gas construction have become particularly acute during the development of oil, gas and gas condensate fields in the North and Far North, Western Siberia and the European part of Russia. The extreme nature of the ecological situation there is due to widespread
4-2124
occurrence of permafrost, low biological activity and scarcity of local fauna and flora due to a long period of negative temperatures (winter temperatures reach 45-55 °C). The duration of the period with negative temperatures is on average 240 days a year.
Exploration and drilling for oil and gas in the Far North are accompanied by a violation of the thermophysical equilibrium in permafrost conditions and the manifestation of erosion processes on the surface of the earth. The construction of wells leads to the development of thermokarst and subsidence, which causes disruption of natural landscapes. There are known cases of accidents due to the thawing of frozen rocks in the near-well zone under the influence of heat during the drilling process. As a result of permafrost disturbance, intensive flowing of oil and gas through the wellhead or through the annulus may begin (formation of gryphons). It is also possible to form mouth craters, the dimensions of which can reach 250 m in diameter.
Over the years of development of oil and gas fields in Western Siberia (since 1964), under the influence of intensive technogenic attack on the extremely vulnerable northern nature, serious changes have occurred in the biogenetic potential of the region. Thus, out of 47 species of valuable commercial fish in the Ob basin, only 21 species have survived. The reason for this situation is the low level of environmental friendliness of oil and gas production processes, the technical means used, the materials used and chemicals.
It is also necessary to take into account the social and everyday problems of small nationalities inhabiting the northern regions.
Due to the peculiarities of technological processes, the production activities of oil and gas industry enterprises have a serious impact on the environment. Here are some negative aspects of the industry: Confiscation of land resources for the construction of facilities and structures (wells, oil and gas fields for collection, separation of oil and gas, transportation of oil and gas to consumers and abroad, oil refineries and gas processing plants, etc.). The allocation of land (often highly productive land) for oil and gas production facilities is small in area, but the number of facilities is large. For example, the well stock in the country is close to 150 thousand. Emissions of gas and light fractions, waste gases into the atmosphere during the movement of oil and gas from wells to processing sites (in technological installations, during accidents, gas flaring, operation of automobile and tractor special equipment) . Discharges and spills of oil and by-products into the aquatic environment and onto the terrain (petroleum products, highly mineralized formation waters, surfactants, corrosion and paraffin deposit inhibitors, demulsifiers, chemical reagents, drilling and field wastewater, drilling and oil sludge). Emergency oil spills and unauthorized tapping into an oil pipeline, emergency and technological gas release, etc.
In addition, the causes of dangerous and harmful factors and accidents are: imperfection of control bodies; operation of faulty machines, mechanisms, devices, tools; use of equipment and tools for other purposes; low quality of training, including briefings, and untimely testing of knowledge; violation of rules, regulations and instructions relating to labor protection; lack of control and supervision over high-risk work; climatic features and seasonal climate changes.
A significant increase in environmental costs of business, recorded by KPMG analysts, allows us to predict an increase in demand for environmental engineers. What is the situation with salary offers in those industries where the work of ecologists is most relevant, and why 85% of graduates of environmental faculties work outside their specialty, the Research Center of the recruiting portal website figured out.
In demand, but unpaid
KPMG has published a report according to which the environmental costs of business around the world double every 14 years. According to analysts, the growth of this type of costs is already having a noticeable impact on business profitability. KPMG experts argue that such a rapid increase in environmental costs could threaten the sustainable development of a number of industries. This is especially true for food and beverage companies. This also applies to the oil and gas and mining industries, electric power, metallurgy and air transportation.
Russia, as a rule, adopts global trends with a delay, however, in our country, issues of environmental support for production and construction are increasingly attracting the attention of specialists. So in the medium term, we can predict an increase in demand for environmental engineers. And in order for Russian companies to prepare for the expansion of their workforce of “green” employees, the Research Center of the recruiting portal website compared the salary expectations of environmental engineers working in industries that will be most affected by rising environmental costs.
Environmental engineers looking for work in the field of oil and gas engineering have the highest salary demands: they want to receive an average of 41,000 rubles. Their colleagues planning to work in the automotive, energy and beverage industries expect a salary of 40,000 rubles. For 38,000 rubles. environmentalists from the metallurgical industry and construction are applying. And at food industry enterprises, ecologists are ready to work for 37,000 rubles.
An interesting fact is that among environmental engineers looking for work in the automotive industry, oil and gas industry, and metallurgy, the percentage of working applicants is very high, it is 69%. For comparison, on average in the market, the share of working applicants is 50.8%, i.e. a quarter less. This means that the majority of environmentalists in these industries are looking for work without leaving their previous one, and the share of applicants without work experience is not so large here. It follows from this that environmentalists are in demand, they do not remain without work, but the conditions offered by employers are not very attractive. Therefore, after getting a job, specialists never stop looking for something more interesting.
Of course, this applies to those specialists who work in the field of education received, and this is about 15% of all graduates who received a diploma in ecology. The remaining 85%, frightened by small starting salaries and the lack of significant growth prospects along with enormous responsibility, go to work in other areas: sales, advertising, etc. Moreover, only 18% of ecologists receive a second higher education, which means that the majority of ecologists who do not work in the field of environmental activities do not have a higher education in the profile of their actual work.
Job responsibilities
An environmental engineer ensures that the activities of an industrial enterprise do not cause damage to the environment. His responsibilities include:
Monitoring compliance with environmental legislation at the enterprise;
- participation in environmental assessment of projects, technologies, equipment of the enterprise;
- drawing up plans for environmental protection, monitoring their implementation;
- development of measures to prevent environmental pollution;
- development and coordination of design and permitting documentation;
- assessment of industrial environmental hazards and risks;
- preparation of reports on the implementation of environmental protection measures.
Salary offers and employer requirements
The average salary offer for environmental engineers in Moscow is 36,000 rubles, in St. Petersburg - 28,000 rubles, in Volgograd - 16,000 rubles, in Yekaterinburg - 23,000 rubles, in Kazan and Ufa - 17,000 rubles, in Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Rostov-on-Don - 18,000 rubles, in Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk - 20,000 rubles.
Graduates of environmental faculties will have to work literally “for the idea” for the first time after graduation. Starting salaries for young specialists with no experience in environmental activities, alas, are not too high. So, in the capital they range from 20,000 to 25,000 rubles, in St. Petersburg - from 16,000 to 20,000 rubles, in Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod - from 9,000 to 12,000 rubles. Young specialists must be proficient in specialized software, know environmental legislation, the requirements of regulatory and methodological materials on environmental protection, and systems of environmental standards and regulations.
| City | Income level, rub. (no work experience) |
|
| Moscow | 20 000 - 25 000 | Higher specialized education |
| Saint Petersburg | 16 000 - 20 000 | |
| Volgograd | 9 000 - 11 000 | |
| Ekaterinburg | 13 000 - 16 000 | |
| Kazan | 9 000 - 12 000 | |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 9 000 - 12 000 | |
| Novosibirsk | 11 000 - 14 000 | |
| Rostov-on-Don | 10 000 - 13 000 | |
| Omsk | 10 000 - 12 000 | |
| Samara | 10 000 - 13 000 | |
| Ufa | 9 000 - 11 000 | |
| Chelyabinsk | 11 000 - 14 000 |
Higher salaries are offered to environmental engineers with at least 1 year of work experience. Employers require applicants to know the procedure for conducting environmental monitoring and have experience in preparing and submitting reports to supervisory authorities. Applicants are also expected to have strong environmental calculation skills. Salary offers for specialists who meet the specified requirements in Moscow increase to 30,000 rubles, in the northern capital - up to 23,000 rubles, in Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod - up to 14,000 rubles.
| City | Income level, rub. (with work experience of 1 year or more) |
Requirements and wishes for professional skills |
| Moscow | 25 000 - 30 000 | - Knowledge of the procedure for conducting environmental monitoring - Knowledge of the procedure for preparing reports to supervisory authorities (quarterly, annual, etc.) - Skills in carrying out calculations for environmental protection |
| Saint Petersburg | 20 000 - 23 000 | |
| Volgograd | 11 000 - 13 000 | |
| Ekaterinburg | 16 000 - 19 000 | |
| Kazan | 12 000 - 14 000 | |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 12 000 - 14 000 | |
| Novosibirsk | 14 000 - 17 000 | |
| Rostov-on-Don | 13 000 - 15 000 | |
| Omsk | 12 000 - 14 000 | |
| Samara | 13 000 - 15 000 | |
| Ufa | 11 000 - 14 000 | |
| Chelyabinsk | 14 000 - 17 000 |
Entry into the next salary range is open to environmental engineers with more than 2 years of experience who have previously participated in the development and approval of design and permitting documentation. Having professional certificates will be an additional advantage in employment. The salary of such specialists in Moscow reaches 42,000 rubles, in the city on the Neva - 33,000 rubles, in Nizhny Novgorod - 20,000 rubles, in Kazan - 19,000 rubles.
| City | Income level, rub. (with work experience of 2 years or more) |
Requirements and wishes for professional skills |
| Moscow | 30 000 - 42 000 | Experience in developing design and permitting documentation and its coordination with Rostechnadzor, Rospotrebnadzor, etc. Possible wish: certification in the field of environmental safety |
| Saint Petersburg | 23 000 - 33 000 | |
| Volgograd | 13 000 - 18 000 | |
| Ekaterinburg | 19 000 - 26 000 | |
| Kazan | 14 000 - 19 000 | |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 14 000 - 20 000 | |
| Novosibirsk | 17 000 - 24 000 | |
| Rostov-on-Don | 15 000 - 21 000 | |
| Omsk | 14 000 - 20 000 | |
| Samara | 15 000 - 21 000 | |
| Ufa | 14 000 - 19 000 | |
| Chelyabinsk | 17 000 - 24 000 |
In order to qualify for the maximum salary, applicants must have at least 3 years of experience as an environmental engineer in a large company. Experienced specialists must have experience in creating a management system for the environmental aspects of an enterprise, practical knowledge and skills in implementing the ISO 14001 environmental management system. Fluency in English will also be useful. The highest salary offers recorded among vacancies in the capital reach 100,000 rubles. In St. Petersburg, experienced environmental engineers earn up to 78,000 rubles, in Nizhny Novgorod - up to 47,000 rubles, in Kazan - up to 46,000 rubles.
| City | Income level, rub. (with work experience of 3 years or more) |
Requirements and wishes for professional skills |
| Moscow | 42 000 - 100 000 | Experience in creating a system for managing environmental aspects of an enterprise Possible wish: knowledge of English at a conversational or fluent level |
| Saint Petersburg | 33 000 - 78 000 | |
| Volgograd | 18 000 - 44 000 | |
| Ekaterinburg | 26 000 - 63 000 | |
| Kazan | 19 000 - 46 000 | |
| Nizhny Novgorod | 20 000 - 47 000 | |
| Novosibirsk | 24 000 - 56 000 | |
| Rostov-on-Don | 21 000 - 50 000 | |
| Omsk | 20 000 - 48 000 | |
| Samara | 21 000 - 50 000 | |
| Ufa | 19 000 - 45 000 | |
| Chelyabinsk | 24 000 - 56 000 |
Portrait of the applicant
A study of the resume database made it possible to create a portrait of a typical applicant for the position of environmental engineer. Among the applicants for this position, young women with higher education are leading. Representatives of the stronger sex in this area are a minority – 24%. The majority of applicants are under 30 years of age (77%). 93% of environmental engineers have higher education. 12% of specialists are fluent in English.
Class tweet
Blog embed code
Environmental engineer
A significant increase in environmental costs of business, recorded by KPMG analysts, allows us to predict an increase in demand for environmental engineers. The Research Center of the recruiting portal Superjob.ru found out what the situation is with salary offers in those industries where the work of ecologists is most relevant, and why 85% of graduates of environmental faculties work outside their specialty.
