Russian President is strengthening the course for the saving of national natural resources

23.03.2010 — News

UGRA.

On 23 March the President of the RF Dmitry Medvedev participated in the start up of the first train of the gas turbine power plant at the Priobskoye oilfield in Ugra. This will become the largest Russian power plant running on associated petroleum gas.

The RusBusinessNews correspondent is informing us that the capacity of the first train of the plant is 135 megawatts and that by the end of 2010 the second and third trains will be started up, their summary capacity amounting to 180 megawatts.

The oil company running the Priobskoye oilfield - Rosneft - is investing 18.7 billion roubles in the construction of the plant. Serghey Bogdanchikov, the Head of Rosneft, said that the plant will achieve three goals: use associated gas, provide the oilfield with electricity, and serve as a backup capacity for the electric power system of the region.

The construction of power plants running on associated petroleum gas is becoming one of the main ways of its utilisation. The Russian Government made it mandatory for oil companies to utilise 95% of associated gas by 2012. According to the data provided by the Accounts Chamber of the RF the seven largest Russian oil companies have flared 19.96 billion cubic metres of gas in 2009. Using GAZPROM's tariffs for sales of gas to Europe the losses are assessed at 5.7 billion US dollars.

Dmitry Medvedev made a statement that leading countries in the world for several decades have been implementing rigorous and consistent policies for the preservation of national natural resources for the future generations. So Russia should get to the same level of the modern economic culture.