Ecological and economic justification of the utilization of associated petroleum gas at oil fields of Russian Federation

Abstract

Relevance. One of the main environmental problems in oil production in the world today is the utilization of associated petroleum gas (APG) by combustion it in flares. At the same time, this process has enormous economic damage, since APG is a potential raw material that can be used to produce marketable products, power or heat energy. More than 30 billion cubic meters of APG are combusted in flares annually only in Russia, which is about 20 % of the total amount of combusted APG in the world. It should be noted that combustion of 1 billion cubic meters of APG is equivalent to the loss of marketable products worth more than 300 million dollars. Aim. In the present article, the authors carried out a selection of the optimal method for utilization of APG at small fields in Russia and its environmental and economic justification. Methods. The method of power generation directly at the field using gas turbine power station was adopted as the most cost-effective method. The implementation of such a project at the field reduces emissions of pollutants hundreds of times, and payback period does not exceed 2.5 years. The oil and gas industry is a dynamically developing sector of the world economy, but produced oil and natural gas is one of the main energy resources on our planet. The oil and gas industry is one of the main industries ensuring budget formation in the Russian Federation. More than 500 million tons of oil and about 600 billion cubic meters of natural gas were produced in Russia in 2017, as the same time about 50 % of crude oil and about 40 % of natural gas were exported. With such significant production volumes and not the largest oil reserves, the resource supply of Russia with oil, according to various estimates, ranges from 20 to 25 years with current production volumes. The situation with natural gas is a little better, as resource supply of Russia with natural gas, according to various estimates, ranges from 80 to 100 years. Results. At the same time, oil and gas production is one of the most hazardous industries for the environment. In the process of developing oil and gas fields, the following main problems can be distinguished: violation of vegetation, soil and snow cover, surface runoff, cut microrelief; irreversible deformations of the earth’s surface as a result of extraction from the bowels of oil, gas and groundwater that support reservoir pressure; pollution of the atmosphere, soil, surface and underground water sources. However, one of the most pressing environmental problems of the oil and gas industrial complex in Russia is the utilization of associated petroleum gas (hereinafter referred to as APG). APG is one of the by-products of the process of oil production and its preliminary preparation for transportation. The main components of PNG are methane and other low molecular weight (volatile) alkanes.