PRODUCE WITHOUT CONTAMINATING

Hydrocarbon production worldwide is quite a risky sphere from an environmental standpoint. Despite the high environmental protection requirements imposed on companies by the governments of almost all countries where such work is carried out, this, unfortunately, does not prevent damage from accidents and violations of the ecological balance in the entire process of hydrocarbon production. In Azerbaijan, where oil has been produced for nearly two centuries, the problem is the most pronounced - despite the introduction of new technologies for environmental protection, it is necessary to eliminate the heavy effects of the "legacy" of yesteryear. In this issue, local environmentalists can count on the full support of the country's partners in major oil and gas projects.

We must say that the cleaning of oil-contaminated lands is the priority of the environmental policy of Azerbaijan. Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Huseyn Bagirov noted earlier that in the Soviet period, the extractive industry caused enormous environmental damage. The development and production of mineral resources was carried out without appropriate measures to protect nature, which is why Azerbaijan inherited a heavy legacy from the USSR in the form of oil-contaminated wasteland.

"The scale of damage to the country's environment, which was caused as a result, cannot be overcome in a short time with small funds. During the existence of the USSR, 35,000 hectares of land were contaminated as a result of oil production in and around the Abseron Peninsula, and the situation is particularly difficult on 15,000 hectares of this land. Therefore, SOCAR is taking enhanced measures to clear the contaminated areas. In this area, measures have been implemented to lay out new parks and collect and dispose of oil waste," Bagirov said.

According to him, when Azerbaijan hosts the first European (Olympic) Games in 2015, it is planned to accomplish a number of large-scale projects to improve the environmental situation in the country, including the cleanup of oil-contaminated lands. "Nevertheless, it will not be possible to complete all cleanup activities by the deadline, and therefore, efforts to restore the normal environment will continue," the minister said.

We should add that in 2011, SOCAR opened a new plant to clean and reclaim oil-polluted lands in Baku. It was built by the SOCAR-Baghlan joint venture. The processing capacity of the new enterprise is 540 cubic metres of soil a day, and it is not the last and largest project of the company in this field.

According to the SOCAR vice-president for ecology, Rafiqa Huseynzada, the most important environmental projects are carried out by the Azerbaijani company jointly with a major partner in oil and gas projects - BP. For example, the British oil giant is putting part of its investment in the creation of a centre for the management of oil waste in Qaradag district of Baku, whose foundation will be laid in a month's time. "Thanks to BP investment, all necessary treatment and processing plants will be installed at the centre," Huseynzada said. The centre will undertake disposal of drilling sludge. Overall, the project is estimated at 60-70m manats.

The next most voluminous stage of cooperation between the two companies in the environmental field will be the implementation of a project for the processing of reservoir waters. "This is a big problem for all the countries where oil is extracted, and not everywhere it can be solved at the appropriate level. As SOCAR is conducting its activities in line with international standards, we intend to work with BP to come to grips with the problem in Azerbaijan," the vice-president of SOCAR said.

Huseynzada reported that the treatment of reservoir waters should be carried out at the highest level and there are three options for their future use. For example, they can be used for irrigation purposes, in particular irrigation of trees. "Experts also suggest directing purified reservoir water to the Oil Rocks for further injection into the reservoirs. Another option - the reservoir water will be discharged into the sea after cleaning. All three issues are on the agenda and are being actively discussed," she said.

The SOCAR representative stressed that two years have been allocated for all these issues. During this period, a joint project group will be set up with BP. The project will involve seismologists, ecologists and other experts, including those who work directly on the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli [Azari-Ciraq-Gunasli] block.

We must say that this project also promises to be the largest from an investment point of view - today it is estimated at nearly 4bn dollars.

In turn, BP representative Faiq Asgarov noted that after the well-known major accident in the Gulf of Mexico, the British oil giant tightened environmental requirements for all projects in which it participates. "In Azerbaijan, we have quite a favourable situation, not a single case of serious harm to the environment has been reported so far," Asgarov said. According to him, appropriate tests and assessments of the environmental situation in production areas are carried out regularly, certification on the basis of standard ISO14001 is carried out and the latest technology is being employed to prevent the threat of harm to the environment.

The fact that a major partner of Azerbaijan on hydrocarbon production projects concurrently acts as one of the most important investors in environmental projects, of course, inspires hope that in the process of exploiting oil and gas deposits, requirements for environmental protection will maintain the standard, especially as this issue is under scrutiny at the highest government level. For example, President Ilham Aliyev noted in one of his speeches recently that over the past few years a lot has been done in the environmental field. "In Azerbaijan oil has been produced for 200 years, but previously, nobody paid attention to the ecological situation. For example, the Bay of Bibiheybat was in a catastrophic state recently, but now all its territory has been completely cleared. It is planned to plant new trees here soon," the head of state said.

That is to say with common efforts, "the mistakes of history" will be gradually eliminated and the ecological situation will be maintained and improved at today's platforms amid increasingly complex technologies of extracting and transporting hydrocarbons.