Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer NOVATEK approved new environmental targets until 2030, which include atmospheric emissions reduction, associated petroleum gas utilisation and waste disposal.
“NOVATEK fully subscribes to the tenets outlined in the Paris Climate Agreement, which was subsequently adopted by the Russian Federation in September 2019,” noted NOVATEK’s Deputy Chairman of the Management Board Mark Gyetvay. “The present level of our greenhouse gas emissions per barrel of production is already among the lowest globally due to the use of state-of-the-art technologies and a high share of natural gas in the Company’s hydrocarbon production. We set ambitious targets that will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to meet global climate change initiatives, as well providing affordable, secure and sustainable, clean-burning natural gas to our customers for many decades”.
The company’s strategy considers the increasing role of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in the future global energy mix by replacing other types of fossil fuels (coal, fuel oil and diesel), which reduces greenhouse gas and air pollutants emissions. The role of natural gas will be fundamental in decarbonising the global energy mix, as a low‐carbon energy alternative to traditional fossil fuels in the energy transition, while managing the intermittency of the energy supply from renewables.
In this regard, NOVATEK continued implementing its large-scale Yamal LNG project throughout 2019. The company plans to increase its LNG production up to 70 million tonnes per annum (mmtpa) by 2030. Cogeneration technology is used at the NOVATEK Group’s facilities, which almost doubles the fuel efficiency, resulting in lower fuel gas consumption and a significant reduction of GHG emissions.
The recent changes in environmental regulation also create strategic opportunities for NOVATEK. The new international environmental regulations on marine fuels will have a large impact on shipping and shipbuilding industries, eliminating fuel oil and expanding the share of LNG used as a marine fuel. LNG and CNG are also used as motor fuels, and NOVATEK’s strategy provides for small-scale LNG supplies development to provide cleaner-burning natural gas to commercial transport, buses, haul trucks and locomotives.