OREANDA-NEWS. June 11, 2009. For the last five years, Surgutneftegas investments into the environmental activities tripled and reached RUR 21.82 bn in 2008.

The investment initiatives enabled the Company to construct and commission a large number of environmental facilities, also in Eastern Siberia, a new region of our business, dramatically eliminate emissions and effluents, enhance waste recovery. Moreover, we maintain the leading position among our peers boosting utilization of associated petroleum gas (APG) and developing small-scaled power generation.

Over the last three years, the growth rate of environmental investments reached 30-40% per year. The biggest part of financing (one half of the total financing) was envisaged for recovery of production and industrial wastes. The remaining amount was traditionally allocated to environmental facilities key assets and pipelines emergency control, respectively.

The Company gains considerable advantage through investment into environmental activities and low impact and resource saving technologies resulting in RUR 8.7 bn of annual economic benefit. The environmental impact on ecosystems of the oil fields territories does not exceed 5%. As part of its environmental programs, Surgutneftegas employs cutting-edge equipment and advanced information technologies. Striving to apply up-to-date and effective ecological and economic approaches, we actively collaborate with more than 25 Russian scientific institutions.

Along with developing new oil and gas provinces and extending the pipelines, OJSC “Surgutneftegas” is continuously expanding capacity of environmental services machinery fleet and commissioning new environmental facilities. In 2008, the Company furnished state-of-the-art equipment for a Liquidator Unit of Oil and Gas Production Division “Talakanneft”, one of the first divisions in Eastern Siberia that can boast high-efficiency oil spill equipment. Moreover, we launched waste treatment plants of industrial and domestic effluents in Vitim village and at the Talakanskoye field in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

The Company’s efforts to provide air protection resulted in enhancing APG utilization to 95.4% in 2008. We also managed to reduce air emissions by 8.7% due to a 20% decrease of flare gas amount compared to 2007.

In 2008, Surgutneftegas put into operation 12 new air protection facilities including 2 gas turbine power plants, 1 gas piston power plant, 3 compressor stations, 5 indoor heated parking lots and 2 indoor parking lots with an air-heating line. Vast majority of facilities provides APG utilization where the considerable importance attached to the gas turbine and gas piston power plants. At the beginning of 2009, small-scaled power generation facilities included 17 GTP and 4 GPP plants. The continuous growth of gas processing volume to over RUR 6.874 bcm in the reporting year allowed the Company to enhance APG utilization rate which is to reach 95.96% in 2009.

- Today, we are highly committed to careful and effective use of natural resources and balanced improvement of the industrial safety, says Lyubov Malyshkina, Head of Environmental Management and Safety Division. This only fact is the reason to prove Surgutneftegas to get the top rating among socially and environmentally responsible Russian companies in terms of environmental efficiency and reduction of environmental impact.

In 2009, Surgutneftegas is to continue implementing its program on balanced reduction of industrial impact on environment through the latest low impact and resource saving technologies. As the Company is actively engaged in developing Eastern Siberia oil fields, it is planned to launch a large-scale environmental project and construct a variety of environmental facilities in the Republic Sakha (Yakutia). All in all, in 2009, the Company’s environmental program “Ecology” expands to 11 regions of its operations.