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Page added on April 10, 2015
Russia Wasting Millions of Tonnes of Oil From Leaking Pipes
Russia’s ageing and leaking pipelines are wasting millions of tonnes of oil a year, causing widespread environmental damage that largely goes unreported, according to Greenpeace Russia.
The pressure group says the problem is getting worse as Russia battles against falling oil prices and continued Western sanctions at a time when its pipelines need urgent repairs or replacing altogether.
“Oil extraction and oil spills are now synonymous in Russia,” says Evgenia Belyakova, Greenpeace Russia’s Arctic project coordinator. “Spills often happen as soon as a well is opened but most of them occur because of the bad conditions of the pipelines.”
Belyakova says that across Russia’s “hundreds of thousands of miles” of oil pipelines, many segments are still in use many years after their recommended lifespan has expired. To compound the problem, Russian oil companies are not obliged to record the full extent of any spills and therefore any ensuing pollution also goes unreported.
Greenpeace Russia’s claims are supported by figures from the Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia, a state-run organisation that tracks pollution in Russian waters and estimates that 500,000 tonnes of oil hydrocarbons leak into the Arctic seas each year, while up to 4.5 million tonnes of oil are spilled annually on the Russian mainland.
The country’s 4.5 million tonnes of leaked oil is seven times greater than the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010.
Belyakova says Russian oil companies have seldom made pipeline repairs a major priority and that now, during the current financial crisis, “they are likely to spend even less” on maintenance.
Gazprom Neft, which manages Russia’s only off-shore Arctic field – known as Prirazlomnaya – defended its record of pipeline maintenance, insisting that it provides “timely replacement” for its pipes.
The company played down the risks of offshore drilling in the “extreme climate” of the Arctic and said its facilities at Prirazlomnaya “prevent the discharge of any production or drilling waste into the sea”.
But Greenpeace Russia believes that not only is drilling offshore in the Russian Arctic “risky”, but could become unnecessary altogether. It estimates that the 70 million tonnes of oil which the Prirazlomnaya project is expected to produce could be accounted for within some 15 years if Russian pipelines stopped leaking its 4.5 million tonnes of oil a year. Meanwhile, the group argues that Gazprom has underestimated the harshness of the Arctic’s conditions and that “provisions in the case of an offshore disaster are non-existent”.
Deborah Gordon, director of the Carnegie Endowment’s Energy and Climate Programme – which has an office in Moscow – says the state of Russia’s pipelines is a growing issue.
“The oil industry is built on continued pipe management,” says Gordon. “Given its ageing oil infrastructure and lax regulations, Russia has a lot to prove.
“If you are maintaining an oil infrastructure, remote locations and extreme climates make the challenge even greater – and Russia does not have a great track record of pipe management.”
Gordon says that given its leading role in global oil production, Russia and its “pipeline integrity and management standards” can expect to be placed under greater scrutiny.
13 Comments on "Russia Wasting Millions of Tonnes of Oil From Leaking Pipes"
Makati1 on Fri, 10th Apr 2015 6:54 pm
I wonder how much is lost in American pipelines and crashed trains? Any statistics? It’s currently popular to point out Russian/Chinese faults but never American.
Davy on Fri, 10th Apr 2015 7:25 pm
Makster. I am going to use a Marmi term. Asshat, what do you think this site, both articles and comments, are criticizing the majority of the time? Yea, Makster the US. You are the worst of the US critical. With you it is a sickness.
I am fine with the US criticism when it is balanced and fair. This Russian article points to that balance and fairness this site needs. You cannot stand any articles that are critical of China or Russia but you salivate over US critical articles.
dissident on Fri, 10th Apr 2015 7:37 pm
Greenpeace, the Gold Standard For Truth. Not.
I guess those companies in Russia don’t feel like they have to make any money so they just let most of their oil leak en route. What a retarded joke of a claim.
Dave on Fri, 10th Apr 2015 8:01 pm
dissident, is it too much to ask to read the article before commenting on it?
Apneaman on Fri, 10th Apr 2015 8:11 pm
dissident, have you been to Russia? Siberia? Do you have any idea what kind of beating infrastructure takes in that kind of environment? Almost all infrastructure built on the now melting permafrost is doomed even if it was maintained properly (which it has not been). I have worked in northern Canada in the winter building/maintenance of power boilers, tank farms, etc, so I have some idea. What is a joke is that you trust in the efficiency and honesty of Russian oil companies using a bunch of Soviet era pipelines. What are your qualification/experience regarding heavy industry? Hey, if you prefer to take the word of Russian Oil Oligarchs feel free.
tk on Fri, 10th Apr 2015 8:24 pm
The “market” is efficient. (myth)
We are wasting huge amounts of oil and gas, that way, everywhere, and sometimes even deliberately:
Example:
German doc about gas flaring mainly in Africa and in Russia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tZJKhZFr58I#t=898
Another example from the past:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_pipeline_sabotage
And I won’t start about that “nation” bashing because that’s irrelevant.
We are dealing with international entities bound by the profit motive of a fiction.
just my 2 cents
(negative “value” of wasted energy and metal for an obsolete “accounting medium”)
Plantagenet on Sat, 11th Apr 2015 12:13 am
Much of the Russian oil infrastructure is left over from the mismanaged socialist economy of the bad old USSR days.
It leaked then and it still leaks now.
dissident on Sat, 11th Apr 2015 8:09 am
There have been rail oil disasters in Canada (e.g. Lac Megantic). Following the “logic” of Greenpeace, Canada is wasting millions of barrels of oil. There have been pipeline spills in Alberta, British Columbia and in Alaska.
http://activehistory.ca/2013/11/tracking-canadas-history-of-oil-pipeline-spills/
These articles are for idiots. Don’t equate accidental spills with deliberate waste. And Planty, how do you explain the increasing rate of pipeline spills in Canada after 2000. Are we living in a decrepit, corrupt post-Soviet regime?
Apneaman on Sat, 11th Apr 2015 9:31 am
Are we living in a decrepit, corrupt post-Soviet regime?
Pretty much. N American infrastructure is falling apart too. The US is in worse shape than Canada. The bottom line is the money has not been spent on proper maintenance – this is true of governments, at all levels and corporations. You can only kick the can so far down the road before the consequences catch up with you. Bridges falling down, industrial accidents, non compliance, broken down roads, DE-regulation, etc. Yet the bureaucracies keep getting more bloated and there is somehow always money to kick in for another sports stadium or the Olympics or some other useless self aggrandizing project which many citizens are happy to see. Any talk of a tax increase to fix anything is shot down as heresy. We want and expect everything….it should just be there and work because were entitled. Both the leadership and citizenry are living in a fantasy world – like spoiled children.
Infrastructure Report card from The American Society of Civil Engineers 3.6 Trillion by 2020.
http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/
Aging US Power Grid Blacks Out More Than Any Other Developed Nation
http://www.ibtimes.com/aging-us-power-grid-blacks-out-more-any-other-developed-nation-1631086
Davy on Sat, 11th Apr 2015 9:39 am
Diss, you remind me of the other agendist Makster. You salivate on anti-Amercan articals but when a anti-Russian artical is posted, oh shit, the world comes to an end. Are you not happy that the majority of the comments and articals here are anti-American? Does that not satisfy your sick hate lust? No one is saying the US and or Canada is any better in regards to infrastructure. We have seen numerous articles on PO claiming poor infrastructure. Grow up
BobInget on Sat, 11th Apr 2015 10:20 am
One summer, perhaps this coming or next,
Siberian pipeline pylons built on permafrost,
will collapse into hundred kilometer piles of scrap metal. HRH is right, sloppy, delayed maintenance left over from Communist days
is about to come home.
You can build gas pipelines on permafrost, but it’s a bit like building on Jell-O.
BobInget on Sat, 11th Apr 2015 11:09 am
As Climate Changing events begin to effect more of the electorate, funding will become available for infrastructure.
Republicans forced by corporate, contributor pressure will allocate additional tax-payer dollars keeping business flowing.
Nothing happens until the US
stops looking for oil with Predator Drones.
Dozens of fruitless, ill advised military adventures drain funding form
infrastructure rehab.
Americans are hooked on oil.
When a human is ‘hooked’ on a substance,
nothing else matters as much.
Today, we are looking down the barrel of
massive oil shortages*.
How we manage that crisis will determine
our future.
Every single presidential candidate (so far)
for next years election is prepared to double down on military failures.
“Pogo” decades ago, said it best;
“We have met the enemy and it is us”.
*This current World Oil War managed to suck in every Mideast and North African oil exporting nation.
Not since a disastrous Iraq/Iran, Iraq/Kuwait wars have OPEC members been openly fighting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwaiti_oil_fires
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Praying_Mantis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War
Apneaman on Sat, 11th Apr 2015 11:34 am
Davy, there are other factors than just plain old American bashing in the amount of criticism your country receives. IMO no other country provides the amount of data that one can get in the US. Other countries, especially western countries are data junkies too, but Americans have a peculiar compulsion for it that borders on addiction. I think it is related to both control/dominance and the ideal of an open society – a strange contradiction for sure. In addition, I think it is more than fair to say that much of the attention is your own fault. When a country spends it’s entire history claiming manifest density, exceptionalisim, self proclaimed leader of the free world (I did not get a vote for that leadership position) Were #1 (even for things your not) etc etc – your bound to have your claims examined. Most importantly, America is still a powerful country who’s policies affect untold numbers of people spanning the globe and not in a positive way. Fair and balanced, like respect, is earned – not given for it’s own sake – that’s just PC bullshit. As for Russia, China and other countries, I’m getting sick and tired of all the self proclaimed experts who, at best, maybe traveled through said countries, but have little real understanding of their cultures or history. We can only know so much from reading especially in a propagandized world with bad intent from bad elites on all sides. I have literally read hundreds of books on different cultures and ask tons of questions of foreigners that have visited or migrated here, but that does not make me an expert – that’s just the advanced basics. To understand other cultures one must live in them for years, like I lived in the great state of Georgia for 7 plus;) Even though I lived right next door to you guys and traveled across the border many times, I only started to truly understand America and The South after living there. Never forget Davy, the majority of critics of America are Americans themselves – it’s that whole free speech thang.