Rosneft Commences Testing Unique Microbial Agent for Hydrocarbon Pollution Removal
The Arctic Research Centre of Rosneft Oil Company and the Innopraktika non-governmental development institution has launched testing an agent based on endemic psychrophiles that provides high-level removal of hydrocarbons from the marine environment and in cold weather conditions. The tests are held at the Belomorskaya Biological Research Station of the Moscow State University Faculty of Biology.
Care for the environment while conducting business activities is one of Rosneft’s key priorities. 
The use of advanced biotechnologies will ensure the effective and environmentally friendly elimination of the consequences of any type of oil pollution. Statistics show that the bulk of petroleum products enter seawater in the form of small and often imperceptible spills. Those are the so-called chronic pollution associated with the transport infrastructure.
The agent has already shown high potency in laboratory conditions, in experiments at low temperatures and high salinity. Now, it will be tested in life-like conditions as far as possible. To do that, a Laboratory for Flow-Through Marine Systems was established at the Belomorskaya Biological Research Station with the Company’s support. The laboratory is located on the seashore in difficult terrain conditions, which is essential for year-round operation of the offshore water pipeline, including complex ice conditions in winter.
A flow-through marine aquarium system will be installed in the premises of the new building, which simulates the conditions of the open sea to the maximum extent possible. At the same time, it is guaranteed that hydrocarbons and the microbial product do not enter the sea. The non-pollution principle is one of the decisive test conditions.
Note for Editors:
The Arctic Research Centre (a part of Rosneft Corporate Research and Development Complex) was established in 2011 to provide scientific proof for implementing offshore projects. The tasks of the Centre include the study of weather and ice conditions; the development of criteria for designing marine structures; as well as the creation of technologies for studying environmental parameters, ice, and iceberg drift monitoring, bottom ground surveys.
The Centre puts special emphasis on environmental research, development of technologies for safe production of hydrocarbons, as well as modelling and monitoring of the ecosystems of the Arctic seas.
The Pertsov Belomorskaya Biological Research Station is a structural division of the MSU Faculty of Biology. It is situated on the Karelian coast of the Kandalaksha Bay in the White Sea. The biological research station was founded in 1938 with the aim of organising and conducting marine scientific research in the northern region, training specialists and providing field student internships.
Rosneft
Information Division
September 24, 2020