Gazprom Neft has concluded an agreement with the Tomsk Oblast Administration on developing cooperation in import substitution and oil production technologies, as well as on increasing supplies of high-tech bitumens and lubricants to the region. The agreement was signed at the 2021 St Petersburg International Economic Forum by Alexander Dyukov, Chairman of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft and Sergey Zhvachkin, Governor of the Tomsk Oblast.
The company is interested in purchasing high-tech industrial and scientific and technical products manufactured in the region, in using IT products, and in expanding the range of services offered by local enterprises. The Gazprom Neft Group’s procurement from manufacturers in the Tomsk Oblast has increased more than
Gazprom Neft is committed to increasing the involvement of scientific (R&D), innovation, and educational organisations in the Tomsk Oblast in its projects in developing new technologies, R&D, and pilot testing, with company facilities being used as test sites for innovative solutions, equipment and materials.
The parties have also agreed to continue their collaboration on import substitution in lubricants and automotive service fluids, initiated in 2016. Gazprom Neft has supplied more than 2,200 tonnes of high-tech lubricants to businesses in the Tomsk Oblast over the last five years. Gazprom Neft’s products are in considerable demand in passenger transport, the housing and utilities sector, and the energy industry.
The agreement also envisages more extensive use of Gazprom Neft’s advanced bitumen materials in roadbuilding and industrial construction. The company will increase supplies of its innovative bitumen products, formulations for which are specially adapted to the climatic conditions and traffic loads specific to the Tomsk Oblast. Gazprom Neft is also set to offer its own soil-stabilisation and strengthening technologies, as well as cold-in-place recycling technologies.*
“Gazprom Neft has a longstanding partnership with the Tomsk Oblast. E&P companies Tomskneft and Gazpromneft-Vostok operate in the region, and projects of major importance to the industry in developing new Russian technologies for exploring and developing hard-to-recover and unconventional oil reserves are being undertaken here. We are in active collaboration with companies in the region and with Tomsk’s universities, both of which have great scientific and technological potential. This new agreement will further strengthen and expand our partnership with the Tomsk Oblast. Substituting imported lubricants with high-quality Gazprom Neft oils, and using our company’s high-tech bitumens in roadbuilding and housing and utilities will, without a doubt, contribute to effective infrastructure development, and the further development of the transport industry and other areas of the regional economy.”
Alexander Dyukov Chairman of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft
“The Tomsk Oblast was one of the first regions in Russia to launch a domestic import substitution programme as far back as 2013. And Gazprom Neft was one of the first companies to get involved. The outcomes are obvious — billions in investments in new technologies, plants and jobs, as well as better production efficiency. We are continuously expanding our scientific and technical engagement with Gazprom Neft, and appreciate the attention the company’s management pays to fulfilling their social obligations in the region, their employees’ contributions to addressing environmental issues, and their involvement in charitable projects. I consider our collaboration to be exemplary, and of benefit to both the company, and the Oblast. Which is why Alexander Valerievich and I have taken the decision to develop this cooperation at a new level.”
Sergey Zhvachkin Governor of the Tomsk Oblast
Gazprom Neft signed a cooperation agreement with the Tomsk Oblast on developing the region’s hard-to-recover hydrocarbon reserves at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in 2016. This document envisages both parties engaging in investigating and evaluating prospects for developing hard-to-recover reserves in the Tomsk Oblast, including as part of the “Paleozoic” project (for developing methodologies for investigating promising formations and evaluating Jurassic reserves), as well as utilising the science and technology skills and potential of national research institutes including Tomsk Polytechnic University and Tomsk State University, the Institute of Petroleum Chemistry (part of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences), and JSC TomskNIPIneft.
Cooperation is to be centred around the “Cross-industry Centre for Joint Technological Developments”, established by the company in partnership with the Administration of the Tomsk Oblast and higher educational establishments in Tomsk. The document also envisages the partners collaborating in areas including digitisation in oil exploration, production and refining processes, and developing tools and methodologies for opening up new types of reserves, including carbonate and fractured reservoirs.
* Cold-in-place recycling (CIR) is a road building and repair technique that involves re-ground hardcore being mixed with special bitumen-based stabilising additives to allow an existing or previous asphalt road covering to be used as part of a new one.
