Bashneft Reduces Air Pollution by 8%
Bashneft, an enterprise of Rosneft Oil Company, reduced overall air pollution by 8% in 2020. This result was achieved through the implementation of environmental projects and modernisation programmes.
Preservation of the environment for future generations is an integral part of the corporate culture and business operations of Rosneft. The Company aims to achieve leadership positions in minimizing the environmental impact and ensuring the eco-friendliness of its production.
As a result of the implementation of the gas programme, Bashneft ensured a high level of associated petroleum gas utilization in Bashkortostan of 96% (standard is at least 95%), while at the largest field in the republic, the Arlanskoye field, this indicator reached 99%.
The programme included upgrading the infrastructure of the gas preparation and delivery facilities--the gas pipeline system and multiphase pumping stations. In 2020, a revamped power plant in Duvansky District of Bashkortostan was launched, bringing an additional 750,000 cubic metres of associated petroleum gas into production per year.
Equally important in reducing atmospheric pollution will be the ongoing re-equipment of the Ufa refining complex, including the construction of a backup process line for the elemental sulphur production unit at Bashneft Ufa Refinery, construction of a desulphurisation complex and a sour waste stripping unit at Bashneft-Novoil, reconstruction of the sulphur production unit, as well as recycling and treatment of decomposition gases from CDUs at Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim.
In addition, Bashneft accredited a high-tech air quality control system to the international standard GOST (ISO/IEC 17025-2019) in 2020. The system includes an environmental protection laboratory with two automated atmospheric air-monitoring stations located in residential areas of Ufa adjacent to the industrial zone. The new equipment uses state-of-the-art hardware and software to determine quickly the content of pollutants, and the resulting information is automatically sent to the Ministry of Ecology of the Republic of Bashkortostan.
Note for Editors:
Bashneft carries out exploration and production of oil in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District, Nenets Autonomous District, Orenburg Region and the Republic of Tatarstan. The enterprise’s key assets, including the refinery and petrochemical complex, are located in Bashkiria.
In 2020, Bashneft allocated 5.6 billion roubles to environmental projects. The enterprise recycled more than 155,000 tonnes of oily waste as part of its environmental initiatives. The recycling process is organised on specialised sites using advanced technologies that have passed state environmental assessment and are most environmentally friendly. Moreover, Bashneft reclaimed over 1,500 hectares of lands in the area of oil fields development in Bashkortostan.
In refining, the enterprise continued to upgrade key production facilities. In October 2020, the Republic of Bashkortostan and Bashneft signed an investment agreement for the construction of a reserve process line of an elementary sulphur production unit at the Ufa Refinery. The commissioning of the object will enable Bashneft’s refinery to increase the utilization rate of hydrogen sulphide containing gas that is released during the production of high-quality Euro-5 motor fuels and Euro-6 fuels with decreased concentration of sulphur and other harmful substances.
In 2020, Bashneft carried out work to recover water and forest resources in the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Nenets and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Districts. Bashneft workers released over 1.2 million highly valued fish fry into water bodies of these regions and cleared 5.5 square kilometres of coastal areas from household wastes. The Bashkortostan oilmen also planted over 240,000 fir and pine trees on an area of 60 hectares in several Bashkortostan districts.
Rosneft
Information Division
April 30, 2021