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Explore the environmental impacts of oil and gas development in the Russian Arctic, focusing on current challenges, the role of the Northern Coalition in environmental protection, and specific projects like Shtokman and Prirazlomnoe.
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Oil and gas development in the Russian Arctic Hamar 27.August 2011 Elena Kruglikova, Kola environmental center • elena.kruglikova@kec.org.ru
Situation today in Russia • The Russian Federation has one of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world. More than 34% of natural gas reserves and approximately 13% of the world's proven oil reserves are located on the territory of Russia
Situation today in Russia • Oil and gas complex in Russia is one of the locomotives of economic growth in the country and has one of the maximum investment multipliers. • Also the oil and gas complex provides a significant part of revenues to the budget of the Russian Federation
Situation today in Barents Arctic • Russia has very serious intention to develop Arctic as a big oil-gaz industrial region. International economical forums that took place in Murmansk and Arkhangelsk during last 2 years give place to the discussion of different problems of this process.
KEC Historical background • Information about oil • Our work with oil-gaz subject has started in 2002 when in mass-media appeared information that the oil pipeline will go to the open in winter port Murmansk from the West Siberia . • First steps of activity of KEC/GAIA • Of course our organization decided to follow this process. We made a workshop and decided that it is rather uneffective to fight against oil-gaz industry alone. Forces are very different.
Northern Coalition members • «Kola environmental centre» • «Kola biodiversity centre» • «Nature and Youth» • «Bellona Murmansk» • Barents office of WWF • «Aetas» from Arkhangelsk • «Saami of Murmansk region»
Northern Coalition members • Waiting for membership: • Russian Socio-Ecological Union • Kola regional organisation «Eco dialog»
Work of Northern Coalition • There were developed: • - a platform for joint activity, • - a mechanism of rotation of the secretary of NK, • - rules how to take a new members.
Northern coalition - managing • Members act from the name of NC only if all of them agree otherwise each member act from its own name; • Member is facing out of NC if it acts against the platform; • Secretary is elected for one year from one organization by turn.
Northern coalition – main goal • Minimization of ecological risks and damage to nature and social - cultural environment from the the influence of the development of operation and transportation of oil and gas for sustainable development of Barents region
Northern Coalition - tasks • - Dialogue with the authorities, industry and local population involved in the process of the development of oil-gas industry; • - Support of demands of ngos to the oil-das mpanies; • - Support only safe to nature and to the population economic development of the region; • - Doesn’t support the decision of the problems made by the means of the other regions.
Northern Coalition - seminars • 2003 – Apatity - Demands of non-governmental organizations towards oil-gas companies • 2005 – Kandalaksha – Fight against accidence • 2007 – Apatity – About protected territories and rare species
Situation today: Shtokman • One of the largest deposits in the world is situated in the centre of the shelf zone of the Russian sector of the Barents sea, about 600 km NW from Murmansk. The depth of the Barents sea in this area is 340 m. Capacity is 3.9 trillion cubic meters of gas and 56.1 million tons of gas condensate.
Situation today: SHTAG • In February 2008 Shtokman development AG – SHTAG - was formed. it has a right for the the design, development, construction, financing and operation of the first phase of Shtokman gaz field. It will be the owner of the infrastructure of the first phase of the Shtokman project during 25 years since the field commissioning.
Situation today: SHTAG • Russian “Gasprom” (51%), • French “Total” (25%) • Norwegian “STATOIL” (24%).
Situation today: Prirazlomnoe • This oil deposit was opened in 1989 in the Sea Pechorskoe in 60 km from the shore - Village Varandey. Depth of the sea is 19-20m. Volume of oil deposits are about 72 million tons. Beginning of the work is planed for 2011.
Situation today: Prirazlomnaya • Marine platform “Prirazlomnaya“ is passing to the Pechorskoe sea. • It belongs to LTD “Gazpromneftshelf" - by 100% daughter of ОАО “Gazprom".
Situation today: Prirazlomnaya • Platform will be installed in the distance of 50-100 kilometres from Nenets reserve and row of federal reserves.
Situation today: Prirazlomnoe • Conditions of the extraction and transportation of highly complex: • reach up to 2 meters;
Situation today: Prirazlomnoe • Temperature air in a cold period may be reduced to 40degree; • Possible strong winds up to 30 m/sec and more; • Stable ice cover lasts up to 7 months; • The thickness of the ice cover may reach up to 2 meters; • ;
Situation today: Prirazlomnoe • May be formed hummocks thickness up to 6-8 meters; • The number of storms reaches 22 in the year with the average length • of each to 9 days; • The average wave height of about 4 m, maximum - up to 13 meters.
Situation today: new challenge • During the last days appeared information that Gazprom has a plan to build a new oil refinery plant near Murmansk, on the left side of the Kola bay. • This is quite a new challenge for us.
Situation today: NGO activity • National ngos of Russia and ngos of the northern regions try to follow situation on all levels and make activities trying to response to all processes.
International activity: Arctic council • Before the meeting of Arctic Council that took place this year in Greenland ngos of all Arctic countries made a letters to the Ministers of foreign affairs of their countries were they urge to admit the serious environmental risks associated with the development of the Arctic and ask to uphold the moratorium on offshore drilling in Arctic seas.
NGO activity:dialogue with SHTAG • we have regular meetings where we got information about the process; • we regularly participate in the public hearings that in accordance with Russian legislation are held on all stages of the project development and where we can make our comments.
NGO activity: against Prirazlomnoe • we made joint statement from several national non-governmental organizations: Union of bird conservation of Russia, Social –Ecological Union, WWF Russia, Greenpeace Russia with the demands:
NGO activity:against Prirazlomnoe • to stop installation of the platform Prirazlomnaya and the construction of another platforms in accordance with the statement of Presidents about the order of nature use in Arctic,
NGO activity:against Prirazlomnoe • to organize comprehensive discussion of issues related to the preventing of oil accidence in the Arctic, • to organize an open and comprehensive discussion of the environmental safety of the project.
NGO activity: position of President • The Position of the President presented in the meeting of the state of Council on 9 June 2011 in the city Dzerzhinsk: • He gave the instructions about the need to ensure environmental safety in the implementation of infrastructure projects on exploration of oil production and transportation of hydrocarbons on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation at the expense of creation of mechanisms of financial security for oil spill response, as well as "by establishing special regimes of nature management in the Arctic zone of the RF, permitting the possibility of production of oil in ice conditions only if the operators have the proven methods of the response of oil spill under the ice."
Local activity: White Sea accidence • Local events are also very important. • On may 7, 2011, in the Kandalaksha bay of the White Sea there was fixed oil spill as a result of the leakage on the oil storage. • We made the relevant open statement from the name of Northern coalition. • In the plans – public inspection
NGO activity: White Sea Ecodozor • Also we work with population especially with the young part of population in the shore regions. • In the regional of the White Sea shore we are forming volunteer groups that can be attracted if the oil spill will take place.
What strategy should we take? • To stop the process of development of industrialization of Russian Arctic regions? • To stop a part of it? What part? • To follow it developing in a way friendly to nature? • To influence in some other way?
What must we do? • explain to ourselves and to the rest of the world what we lost and show the value of these regions:
What must we do? • Renewable biological resources • Cultural and spiritual values that are important for the modern civilization • Importance of these regions for the climatic system of the planet
Possible Practical Activities • Organize expedition to these regions. • Start cooperation with indigenous people and act together. • ……………………….. • ………………………..
The most important • Non-governmental organisations should act together in Arctic region.
