Representatives of Rosneft have taken part in the 10th MARESEDU-2021 Maritime Studies and Education international research and training conference in Moscow.

The conference was organised by the Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Marine Research Centre and the UNESCO-MSU’s Training and Research Centre for Marine Geology and Geophysics, with support from the Shirshov Institute of Oceanography of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Traditionally, the conference brings together representatives of the scientific community including employees of research institutes and leading Russian universities.

This year, more than 1000 participants attended the event. It was held online for five days. The programme included over 300 reports on the main areas of the conference: oceanology, environmental management, hydrology, marine biology, geology, geophysical research and marine cultural heritage.

During the plenary session, Rosneft representatives presented a report on the results of the Company’s scientific activities in maritime studies. The participants discussed relevant issues of maintaining marine biodiversity and responsible environmental management. Rosneft has carried more than 30 expeditions in five Arctic seas since 2013 and gathered a one-of-a-kind body of information on the Arctic region. In autumn 2020, the Company conducted scientific stratigraphic drilling in the Kara Sea, the first-ever in the history of Arctic shelf research. The objective of drilling such shallow wells is to study the collected core samples in a laboratory to obtain data on the geological structure of the area. In 2021, Rosneft continued comprehensive scientific activities in the Laptev Sea. Laboratory studies are conducted in association with Innopraktika and the Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Faculty of Geology.

At the premises of the Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Faculty of Geology, Rosneft and the Innopraktika non-governmental development institute united to develop a one-of-a-kind microbial agent for combating hydrocarbon waste. The joint scientific project of Rosneft, Innopraktika, and MSU is aimed to solve the problem of hydrocarbon waste utilisation in subpolar latitudes. The agent can function at low and negative temperatures. It is based on psychrophilic bacteria able to subsist in Arctic climate and consume hydrocarbons as a source of food. Presently, there have been 39 patents on microbial agents obtained and laboratory tests were successful. The Company conducts unique hydro-meteorological studies.

As a result of this project, an archive of hydro-meteorological elements in the Arctic over the period of 1966-2017 was formed, containing data on atmospheric pressure fields, wind direction and velocity, air temperature and humidity, sea level, velocity and direction of currents, water temperature and salinity, sea states, and elements of ice-cover.

At the conference, the Company’s specialists also gave an account of Atlantic walrus populations studies at Franz Josef Land archipelago in 2020-2021. As part of the Ecology national project, Rosneft implements a programme to study, preserve, and monitor red-listed animals: the polar bear, the Atlantic walrus subspecies, the wild reindeer, and the ivory seagull. The programme’s second field season was finished in autumn 2021.

Furthermore, a general-audience film on the Company’s spring expedition to study the polar bear at Alexandra Land island was presented at the event.

Rosneft
Information Division
November 9, 2021

Keywords: Environmental News 2021