Specific environmental risks of the Lena-Tunguska oil and gas province

Abstract

Oil and natural gas make up a significant part of the global economy, and the extraction of these natural resources is an essential industry. Recently, the rate of extraction of natural resources has increased significantly, the accumulated growth in exploration and discoveries of new and previously mothballed deposits, of course, entail the huge costs for restoring the natural environment. Currently, most of the deposits are located in the northern territories, where there are additional risks to the natural environment. In addition to unfavorable climatic factors that complicate the process of extraction and restoration of land, soils of natural areas are also represented by permafrost, which complicates both the extraction process itself and the process of subsequent land restoration. The impact on the atmospheric air has its negative consequences, at present most of the negative emissions and flaring have been significantly reduced. Nevertheless, there are undoubtedly risks for workers and the living environment in mining areas. In this article, we have tried to present and calculate the environmental risks for the deposits of the Leno-Tunguska oil and gas province. The paper presents the main indicators of the impact on the environment: atmospheric air, soil (waste drilling mud and industrial waste), and the impact of harmful factors on the health of workers. Currently, this impact makes the main negative contribution. The damage is given in a specific equivalent, which gives us an equivalent impact, due to the fact that the total cost of the negative impact is divided by the volume of extracted raw materials.