OREANDA-NEWS. December 14, 2009. TATNEFT Company has launched implementation of the most efficient projects at the Company's facilities in the framework of the corporate program for utilization of associated petroleum gas (APG) designed for the period of 2009-2013. The program implementation will enable to increase the associated gas utilization factor in OAO TATNEFT up to 98% thereby significantly reducing the emissions of combustion products into the atmosphere, reported the press-centre of TATNEFT.

The volume of 738.4 million cubic meters of the associated gas per year is effectively utilized by OAO Tatneft at present accounting for 94.6% of the total gas volume produced by the Company. Active work is underway on further reduction of the associated gas volumes flared with application of economically viable solutions of the problem. There are three main well grounded approaches: development of the gas gathering system and the gas delivery for processing to the Minnibaevo Gas Processing Plant (Almetyevsk region of Tatarstan); use of furnaces for heating oil in the process of its treatment to condition the oil to the marketable quality level; electric power and heat generation using gas engine power generator plants.

5 gas electric power generator plants with total capacity of 1,040 kW have been commissioned at the sites of NGDU (Oil & Gas Production Board) Yamashneft, where transportation of the associated gas is difficult. Utilized gas volume amounts here to 3.2 million cubic meters of gas per year with the annual output of electricity amounting to 6,167 thousand kWh. The own produced electric power is sufficient to operate 131 wells with an annual production of 139.6 thousand tons of crude oil. The average cost of electricity is 0.73 rubles / kWh. It is expected that the project will pay off within 5.2 years.

It is worth noting that a decree of the Russian Federation Government dated January 8, 2009 "On measures to stimulate the reduction of air pollution products from flaring associated gas" has set a task of bringing the associated gas utilization in the country's oil industry up to 95% by January 1, 2012.