The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug will develop professional standards for the industry, as well as mechanisms for effective implementation of innovations at mining and processing enterprises.
On Thursday, 21 February in the capital of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, Vladimir Litvinenko, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the International Centre of Excellence in Mining Education under the auspices of UNESCO, Rector of St. Petersburg Mining University, and Natalia Komarova, Governor of Ugra, signed a cooperation agreement. The parties agreed that the Khanty-Mansiysk District will become a reference region for the Centre of Competence in Oil and Gas.
On the basis of local scientific laboratories and specialised enterprises, advanced training courses for specialists working in the oil and gas sector and internships for students of flagship mining universities around the world will be held. In addition, the Ugra Government and top managers of resource companies, who will interact within the framework of the Centre, will be engaged in improving higher education and developing a system for assessing the level of professionalism of the industry's employees. Their tasks will also include the promotion of national achievements and the implementation of the national strategy for the development of the mineral and raw materials complex using the best international practices.
"Why was Ugra chosen as a reference region? Because this region is headed by a strong governor, and high-tech raw materials companies operate on its territory. Cooperation on the platform of the Centre of Competence in Mining Engineering Education will allow us to jointly eliminate such a serious problem as the shortage of qualified engineers, improve the level of higher education, and ensure the transfer of modern technologies to the industry. Statistics show that today our productivity in the mining sector is 40% compared to the leading countries. If we increase productivity by at least 2-3 per cent by improving the quality of personnel managing the production process, it will bring billions of dollars. They will replenish both the federal budget and the budget of Ugra," said Vladimir Litvinenko after the signing ceremony.
The concept of a new structure for Russia is of interest to higher education institutions, business, and the authorities. Moreover, both at the regional and federal levels. For example, Natalia Komarova, Governor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, has joined the Supervisory Board of the International Centre of Competence in Mining Education under the auspices of UNESCO. And the heads of two large companies - "SIBUR" and "Russneft", having commercial interests in Western Siberia, became members of its Board of Governors.
What is the interest of big business in this Centre? After all, SIBUR, which is engaged in processing hydrocarbons into plastics, rubbers and other products with high added value, shows very decent financial results. The profit of the company, which employs 27,000 people, totalled $7.8 billion in 2017. It would seem, why the extra hassle and arrangements?
Nevertheless, Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board of SIBUR Holding PJSC, who flew to St. Petersburg two days ago to take part in the election of the management bodies of the International Competence Centre, considers it extremely important to work on further increasing the efficiency of petrochemical enterprises and gas processing. First of all, by transferring new technologies that can not only increase profitability, but also reduce the load on ecosystems, as well as by increasing the qualifications of specialists.
The authorities of Ugra are also interested in this. Natalia Komarova, for example, has repeatedly spoken about the work on reducing emissions of associated gas - a by-product of oil production. Due to the fact that it is burnt above the wells, a huge amount of harmful substances, including CO2, is released into the air. The regional authorities have set a goal for oil companies to achieve 100% processing of associated gas by 2030. It is planned to solve this task, as well as many other problems relevant to the industry, on the site of the Competence Centre.
"Today we signed a cooperation agreement between the Government of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug Yugra and the International Competence Centre under the auspices of UNESCO. It defined mutual obligations for the development of educational and scientific space, as well as the integration of science and industry. I received the relevant certificate, and this event certainly opens up many new opportunities for us. For example, in the area of creating a platform for young people that will allow them to make an informed choice of their future profession," Natalia Komarova emphasised.
The signing of an agreement between Ugra and the Competence Centre under the auspices of UNESCO took place within the framework of the II Youth Forum "Oil Capital", which is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk on 21-22 February. The purpose of this conference is to consolidate ideas and developments that can improve the efficiency of the fuel and energy complex. Among the participants, among others, are young scientists from St. Petersburg Mining University. They are presenting in Ugra their projects that allow to reduce associated gas emissions, increase the oil recovery factor, reduce the time of well killing and many others.
After the first day of the forum, Vladimir Litvinenko visited the Production Management Centre of Gazpromneft-Khantos. The host made a presentation of an innovative project - digital modules responsible for oil production processes, optimal loading of wells and pumping equipment. Artificial intelligence collects information and controls the operation of 3,000 wells, which account for 2.5 per cent of Russia's total oil production.
Alexey Kan, General Director of Gazprom Neft-Khantos, noted during a working meeting with the Rector of Mining University that the company has managed to increase its oil recovery factor thanks to digitalisation of production. For example, at Priobskoye field it is one of the highest in Western Siberia - 60%.
Earlier, Vladimir Litvinenko repeatedly stated that the recovery factor in Russia today is unacceptably low - 30%. While BP, for example, has 60-70%. At the same time, if we raise the recovery factor by at least 1% on average across the country, it will allow us to receive $23-25 billion of additional revenues annually.
