PRESS: Russia’s oil reserves to last for 59 years – minister

MOSCOW, May 11 (PRIME) -- Given the current production levels, Russia’s oil reserves will last 59 years, while the natural gas reserves will last 103 years, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Alexander Kozlov said in an interview to RBC business daily published on Tuesday.

“Availability of all oil reserves with existing production stands at 59 years given the current production level, and for natural gas it is 103 years. But we understand that this is only a general balance. There are fields that are being unlocked, while there are fields that are yet to reach full load. Anyway, we have to improve geological exploration, including exploration in remote areas. We have the goal of loading the Northern Sea Route, hydrocarbons will become its basis,” he said, as quoted by RBC.

It will be difficult to maintain production costs of hard-to-recover oil. The price of the end product exerts pressure on the industry, while the foreign partners do not allow the Russian oil industry to use some technologies. Still, the government helps the companies by taking on some costs, including the cost of geological exploration, so that the companies spend more on production, he said.

Kozlov also said that the ministry supported abandonment of production of non-recyclable colored plastics.

“We have to withdraw things we don’t need from circulation, withdraw things like plastics of vibrant colors. Why do we need it? Do we need it because of some marketing specialist who studied in an institute and learned that it affects human psychology?” he said.

“The ban on non-recyclable plastic utensils and dishes is a part of the large strategy connected to the goal of not only recycling the already produced waste, but also not making new one,” he said.

The Russian forests may absorb more than 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide within the framework of the global fight against climate change, Kozlov said.

“Under the current methodology, our absorption exceeds 1 million tonnes per year. We think that the figures are grounded, and we will work on them together with the international community,” he said.

He also said that discussion was going on about so-called green certificates that would allow Russian exporters to avoid paying carbon taxes in other countries if they pay it in Russia. “We have prepared a bill on pilot introduction of emission quotas in the Sakhalin Island, we have signed a method for calculation of the environmental damage, and we have changed the system for calculation of our forests,” he said.

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