MURMANSK, August 18, /TASS/. A national system of standards in the Russian oil and gas complex will be developed by the Institute of Oil and Gas Technology Initiatives (INTI) by 2025, so that the country could have a minimal technology sovereignty in that sphere amid the West's sanctions and sectoral restrictions, Doctor of Economics, Professor at the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Alexey Fadeyev told TASS.
"The Institute of Oil and Gas Technology Initiatives faces a very ambitious task - before 2025 to develop more than 500 national sectoral standards for the oil and gas equipment and technologies. This is, so to say, a minimal volume to have standards work, and we would be able to talk about a certain technology sovereignty in that sphere," he said, adding realistically the number of standards would be much bigger.
The sanctions and the existing sectoral restrictions, including bans on working with Russian energy companies for most Western suppliers and equipment manufacturers, in fact, have determined the direction, in which the national oil and gas industry will develop over coming years, he continued. To a big extent, this applies to energy projects in the Arctic. "The issues of technological security in implementation of Arctic projects are particularly acute. The maintaining of leading positions in Arctic resources development requires the state pursued its own technological policy and developed a national system of standards for oil and gas equipment and technologies, which largely determine the equipment's quality, reliability and safety in the Arctic," he said.
Standards and licenses
In the current political situation, he said, the American Petroleum Institute, a global certifying body, has stopped issuing certificates to Russian producers, and in certain cases even has revoked earlier certificates. "Clearly, such unfriendly actions apparently deprive Russian companies of competitive advantages, both when working in global markets and inside the country, since until recently Russia did not have a unified system of standards for Russian equipment or certification technologies," he added.
INTI, established in 2020, has united energy corporations, equipment producers, licensors and general contractors. It has become a stage towards Russia's technology sovereignty, using competitive advantages of the national industry.
"INTI's key task is to develop and approve unified industry standards for oil and gas equipment and technologies, to confirm the equipment's quality and technologies by audits and tests, as well as to put together a database of proven products and technologies. At the moment, the institute unites 21 energy companies: 13 Russian companies, and 8 foreign companies, which, having received a compliance assessment, can work in the Russian Federation and receive barrier-free access to the high-tech oil and gas markets of companies participating in the INTI project," the expert said.
Russia's unified standards system may contribute to quicker introduction of domestic technologies, including innovative and import-replacing ones, to an increase in the share of local equipment and technologies in the biggest Russian investment projects, as well as to a higher competitiveness of domestic manufacturers of equipment and technologies, he said.
Russian technologies
"The most important technological event in the industry's recent history was when the first LNG line for the Arctic LNG-2 plant left Murmansk for the Gydan Peninsula, Yamal. The event was launched by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin in July, 2023. The first technological line of liquefied natural gas on a gravity platform weighs more than 600,000 tons. The floating plant does not have analogues in the world, and the complete cycle of natural gas liquefaction takes place right on the platform," the scientist said.
Most modern energy companies have chosen digitalization as a production priority, he continued. Presently, Russia has about 30 "intellectual deposits," managed by big data digital transformation. Deposits of the kind provide already almost a third of all hydrocarbon production. "Unmanned aerial vehicles are also becoming widespread, Russian fields have been using underwater production complexes and robotic drilling rigs, thus the hydrocarbon production does not require operator involvement," he explained.
Arctic territories differ greatly, he continued. For example, while the Barents-Kara Region (the Arctic's western part) has relatively favorable conditions for exploration and production due to the warm Gulf Stream, the eastern Arctic waters have extreme natural and climatic conditions that yet are to be overcome for the region's successful development.
"Arctic resources mean not only the country's increasing resource base, which, no doubt, is the most important competitive advantage of this country. They also mean keeping busy most important industries, a significant number of jobs, the increasing tax base, stimulated scientific research, as well as a better demographic situation by attracting highly qualified personnel to work in the Arctic regions," the expert concluded.