In this paper the authors are looking at the environmental consequences of oil and gas production activities in the Russian Federation's Arctic regions. The main reasons for the increasing ecological impact of these activities are presented. The data on the pollution extent are reported and discussed. Means for mitigating these problems are suggested.
The purpose of this study is to assess the environmental impact of oil and gas activities in the Russian Arctic. The authors analyze the main reasons for the negative effects of the hydrocarbon extraction and propose measures to reduce or eliminate the main sources of pollution affecting the Arctic environment.
The Russian Federation's main hydrocarbon resources are concentrated in the north, and represent 93% of its gas and 75% of its oil reserves. These resources are strategically important to the Russian Federation, as well as to European Union nations, which are becoming more and more dependent on them. Since the 1960s, the north part of West Siberia is Russia's main oil and gas producing province. The Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YNAO), northeast of the Ural mountain chain in Western Siberia, has become the richest Arctic region of Russia, with an annual gross regional product per capita of 34,000 USD (Granberg, 2004). Oil is mostly extracted in the middle Ob'region (basin), which extends from the giant oil deposits close to the cities of Nizhnevartovsk and Surgut in the taiga regions of the Khanty-Mansiisk Okrug to Noiabrsk and Muravlenko in the taiga regions of the YNAO. Gas is extracted in the central parts of the YNAO, from a total of 26 deposits, whose reserves are estimated at 10.4 trillion m3. The tundra regions in the central and northern parts of the YNAO are the main site of gas extraction in Russia.
