3.2. Atmospheric Air Protection

Documents Regulating the Gazprom Group’s Air Protection Activities
  • Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2035
  • Environmental Policy of PJSC GazpromApproved by resolution of the Management Committee of OJSC Gazprom No. 21 dated May 25, 2015
  • Comprehensive Environmental Program of PJSC Gazprom for 2020–2024.

Managing Air Pollutant Emissions

GRI103-2, 103-3

Management of air pollutant emissions is part of PJSC Gazprom’s corporate environmental protection and climate strategy.

PJSC Gazprom’s EMS identified the significant environmental aspects and set the 2020–2022 Corporate Environmental Targets.

Significant Environmental Aspects of the Company’s Emissions Management

  • methane emissions associated with trunkline repairs;
  • nitrogen oxide emissions by compressor stations.

To control air pollutant emissions, the Gazprom Group has in place an operational environmental monitoring (OEM) system. It enables the Group to promptly receive reliable information on the state of the environment in the areas affected by the Company’s production facilities, timely analyze the environmental conditions when conducting business operations, plan environmental protection measures, monitor their implementation and make informed management decisions in this area.

The Gazprom Group’s measures to reduce emissions:

  • gas pumping using mobile compressor stations;
  • the use of hot tapping;
  • blowing gas from the sections under repairs into neighboring active pipelines;
  • conducting well surveys without releasing natural gas into the air;
  • the use of multi-component surfactants to better remove reservoir fluids from well bottomholes.
OEM system structure

Environmental laboratories

  • fixed-site
  • mobile

Environmental stations

  • meteorological
  • hydrological
  • automated control stations

Observation wells

Air emissions across the Gazprom Group, thousand tons
GRI305-7
Indicator 2019 2020 2021 Change 2021/2020, %
Hydrocarbons (including methane) 1,542.64 1,266.42 1,193.49 –5.8
Carbon monoxide 596.42 550.66 642.07 16.6
Nitrogen oxides 307.71 284.22 341.60 20.2
Sulphur dioxide 221.46 171.97 169.72 –1.3
Volatile organic compounds 124.76 117.22 107.82 –8.0
Solids 67.47 53.57 50.05 –6.6
Other gaseous and liquid substances 2.24 1.60 1.56 –2.5
Total2,862.702,445.662,506.312.5
Unit air pollutant emissions by business segment, kg per ton of reference fuel
Business segment 2019 2020 2021 Change 2021/2020, %
Production and exploration 0.271 0.312 0.313 0.3
Processing 2.324 2.391 1.983 –17.0
Transportation 2.141 1.851 1.698 –8.3
GRI305-6UNCTADB.4.1

PJSC Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Gazprom Energoholding and Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat do not use ozone-depleting substances on an industrial scale.

APG Flaring Reduction

The Gazprom Group continues to reduce associated petroleum gas (APG) flaring, which is a significant contribution to emissions cutting and resource saving.

The Group’s new solutions help maximize APG utilization and reduce flaring. In the reporting year, Gazprom Transgaz Krasnodar obtained two new patents for the utilization of low-pressure flare gases. The novel technology based on exhaust flare gases divides the low-pressure gas into liquid hydrocarbons and fuel gas, preventing the flaring of low-pressure gases. It helps improve production efficiency and energy saving and can easily be integrated into the existing processes with no need to introduce major changes.

APG utilization across the Gazprom Group’s assets in RussiaIncluding production volumes at fields where PJSC Gazprom or its major subsidiaries are licensees and Gazpromneft-Zapolyarye is a developer under long-term risk-based operator agreements signed in 2018–2020

GRIOG 6
Indicator 2019 2020 2021 Change 2021/2020
APG utilization, % 89,9 91,6 90,1 –1,5 п. п.
APG flaring across the Gazprom Group, mcm 1,854.5 1,643.2 2,338.4 +42.3 %

Fanis Sakhautdinov

Environmental Protection Division Head at Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg’s Oil and Gas Production Directorate, Winner of PJSC Gazprom’s 2021 Environmental Services and Ecologists Contest in the Best Ecologist category

Author of efficiency-improving proposals aimed at reducing methane emissions and mitigating the environmental impact. In 2021, Fanis saw to it that Gazprom Dobycha Yamburg’s approaches to environmental protection were assessed for compliance with the best available technologies.

3.3. Atmospheric Air Protection ›

Reduction of Carbon Footprint