Oil and gas company policy regarding the concept of sustainable development (water resources)

The paper considers oil and gas companies implementing the strategy of sustainable development. Being vital to the national economy, oil and gas companies have a significant impact on the environment. Having analyzed the statistical data, the authors state that the leading Russian oil and gas companies contribute to the industry dynamics and conduct eco-friendly production practices. The environmental component is reported to be integrated in production, HR, information and other company policies, which results in “greening” both economic cooperation and place of production. The authors report the inverse relation between production dynamics and significance of the impact on water resources.


Introduction
Intensive development of the productive forces, limited resources, and carrying capacity insufficient to mitigate the human impact have boosted the choice and implementation of measures for sustainable development. Though the concept of sustainable development is assumed to support all national industries, this approach is particularly important for oil and gas producing regions due to the tradition of using fossil fuels in goods production.

Materials and Methods
Under sustainable development we mean a way of life which ensures expanded production, however, particular attention should be paid to the interaction between production and environment. Intensive development of Russian oil and gas companies shown in table 1 [1] makes them key factors for dynamic development of national economy, i.e. its sustainability in satisfying society needs. However, oil and gas complex has a negative environmental impact on water and land resources, as well as flora and fauna, at all production stagesgeological and seismic survey, exploratory drilling, field facilities construction, field development and oil transportation, site restitution. Water resources contamination takes place throughout field development, production, and well abandonment stages. For instance, according to the research data on the fields of Tumen' oblast, there are 30 thousand exploratory wells (most of them drilled more than 15 years ago) collapsing due to long downtime and lack of maintenance, which, in its turn, results in seal failures and oil, gas and water showings. The total square area of oil-contaminated and saline lands and water surfaces is from 20 to 30 thousand ha [2].
Following the sustainable development strategy, oil and gas companies need to develop an environmental policy and then integrate it into the production one. However, environmental regulations of exploration and production are created earlier and become the requirements, which a company should meet to start a business. This indicates the prevalence of the environmental component over the production one. In compliance with the Federal Mineral Resources Act [3], the major requirements to sustainable use and conservation of mineral resources are "prevention of subsurface pollution during subsurface works, especially those connected with underground storage of oil, gas, and other substances and materials; hazardous and processing waste burial; waste water discharge, etc.". For example, NOVATEK conducted the environment research while constructing and commissioning the Ust-Luga Fractionation and Transshipment Complex processing stable gas condensate, with particular attention being paid to Luzhskaya Guba, the Gulf of Finland, and its water conservation zone [4].
The company environmental policy is not developed in isolation of production, quite the opposite, the environmental component is integrated into all activities performed. For example, in 2014, Gazprom conducted eco-friendly HR policy: 9012 employers of Gazprom Group attended environmental training courses (with 4669 persons trained for environmental management system (EMS)), including 7290 employers of OAO Gazprom (with 4580 persons trained for EMS) and 1306 employers of Gazprom Neft (with 54 persons trained for EMS) [8].
In order to meet environmental regulations, the companies not only improve current production, but also identify the strategic priorities (Table 2). Waste water collecting and treatment account for 26.1%; the company conducted campaigns on water reclamation to remove residential waste and submerged trees. Bashneft Circulation water supply system and water recycling are operational in the oi fields; at the petrochemical plants, after two-stage filtration, about 65% of water is returned into the technological process. The water-body management system includes 1391 water monitoring centers, with 70% monitoring the surface water quality and 30%underground fresh water.
There is also a large-scale project aimed to modernize the biological treatment plants of the Bashneft-Ufaneftekhim branch. Lukoil The program for 2014-2018 presumes additional treatment of 6.8 billion m³ of sewage water and a decrease in water consumption by 7.6 billion m³.
To ensure a sustainable use of water resources and prevent water contamination, the company takes actions as follows: pipeline failures prevention and repair, constructing the system for produced water disposal; pipeline water crossing inspection and maintenance; slop water treatment system, etc.
Eco-friendly policy conducted by oil and gas companies stipulates establishment of special departments and services responsible for environmental monitoring, control, and implementation of the required production systems (table 3) [8,9,10]. contracts with them (organization of waste collection, storage and accumulation sites and the transfer of waste for recycling; making payments for negative environmental impact; compliance of water consumption and discharge processes with environmental legislation). NOVATEK The company has implemented HSE policy and operates an Integrated Health, Safety and Environment Management System (IMS). Before carrying out activities involving environmental impact, the company, through media, informs the society about the data on environmental risks assessment, hold public consultations, establishes community liaison offices, present the information on the company's website. The company representatives are among the members of the consulting group contributing to research and conservation of the Atlantic walrus in the Barents sea south-east and contiguous zones; they also make a part of the study team considering environmental impact of Sabetta dockyard construction, Obskaya guba.
It is noteworthy that the above mentioned companies improving their production regarding environmental safety and sustainable development set environmental requirements for their partner (for example, contractors), inform the society about an environmental impact (actual or anticipated), and consider public opinion. Firstly, this indicates "greening" not only economic cooperation, but also the place of production, since all participants are involved in this process. Secondly, this defines the external environmental policy (including the information one). Moreover, making project solutions with due regard to environmental risk assessment signifies "greening" investment policy.
The companies currently promote environment-conscious policies, which leads to the fact that production growth and environmental impact are associated with opposite dynamics (for example, Gazprom and Lukoil data [7,8,11], Figure 1). 1 2 Figure1. Comparison of business capacity and water resources use track records (1 -Gazprom data, 2 -Lukoil data).
As for OAO Gazprom, water discharge into surface-water bodies decreased (by 22 % over the study period) due to shrinkage of water required for process needs in the companies of Gazprom Energy Holding. Moreover, Gazprom Group took actions on sustainable use of water resources and preventing water contamination. If we turn to Lukoil, the drop in waste water disposal into surfacewater bodies (25 % over the study period) results from high-tech and resource-efficient equipment implementation at the sites. Table 4 gives more information on water resources use. According to the data presented, the companies are reducing their water use with the production growth; also, the percentage of water meeting the quality standards and water treated is almost 100 %.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the oil and gas companies lay foundation for sustainable development of national economy, however, this does not result from their particular status of energy suppliers but is due to the consistent measures taken to mitigate the negative environmental impact. The environmental policy being integrated in company management system underlies all company activities (HR, investment, information, etc.), stipulates "greening" economic cooperation, involving contractors, public, and local authorities.