Russian oil pipelines are one of the key components of the fuel and energy sector of the country's economy. Today, the Russian Federation has an extensive network of oil product pipelines of varying importance. Pipeline transport connects the territories of most subjects of the Federation, and also serves for the export of hydrocarbons and their processed products.

Pipeline classification

Pipelines are divided according to their purpose:

• Local connections connect facilities within the field, oil and gas storage facilities, and oil refineries.
• Regional pipelines have a length of several tens of kilometers. They connect oil fields with the main station, with oil loading (loading) points for water or rail transport, and with a main pipeline.
• Main - pipelines with a length of over 50 km, pipe diameters from 200 mm to 1400 mm and above. The distance over which products can be supplied through such pipelines is measured in hundreds or thousands of kilometers. Pumping is carried out not by one, but by several located along the pipeline route. Depending on the petroleum product being pumped, the main pipeline is called an oil pipeline (pumping crude oil), a product pipeline (petroleum products), a fuel oil pipeline, a gasoline pipeline, a kerosene pipeline, etc.

Main pipelines operate continuously, their short-term stop is possible in the event of an accident, repair or planned replacement of parts.

Development of oil pipelines in Russia

The history of the development of pipelines in Russia is integrally connected with the development of the oil industry. In 1901, the state produced almost half of the world's total oil production. With the increase in volumes of raw materials, the question of its transportation increasingly arose. To reduce congestion railways and reducing the cost of transportation, the economic feasibility of constructing pipelines was justified.

The first main oil pipelines in Russia with a total length of 1147 km were built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and connected fields in the vicinity of Baku with the initiative to build the first product pipeline belonged to D.I. Mendeleev. The plan was implemented in 1906. The product pipeline, 831 km long, with a pipe size of 200 mm and 13 compressor stations, was the largest in the world at that time and supplied kerosene from Baku to Batumi for subsequent export.

In the pre-war years, the main flows of oil and petroleum products occurred in the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus and the Volga basin. The oil pipelines Grozny-Tuapse (649 km, diameter 273 mm), Ishimbay-Ufa (169 km, 300 mm) and product pipelines Mangyshlak - Samara and Ust-Balyk - Almetyevsk were put into operation.

Oil pipelines in Russia (then the USSR) received a new round of development in the post-war years. The peak occurred during the period of rapid development of oil production and refining in the Volga-Ural basin and the development of fields in Siberia. Main pipelines of considerable length with a diameter of up to 1200 mm were built. Thanks to some of them (for example, Surgut - Polotsk), Siberian oil began to be supplied to the central regions of Russia, Belarus and the Baltic states.

Advantages of pipeline transport

Oil and gas pipelines in Russia received the most intensive development in the second half of the 20th century. Today, in terms of volume and specific gravity of transported hydrocarbons, pipeline transport is steadily replacing railway and waterways for transporting oil and petroleum products. The main advantages of oil and gas pipelines are:

• Significant pumping range, uninterrupted operation, significant throughput, minimal losses.
• Wide range of viscosity of pumped petroleum products.
• Stable operation in different climatic zones.
• Possibility of constructing pipelines in almost any area.
• High level of mechanization during construction.
• Automation of process control systems.

The main disadvantage of pipeline transport is considered to be the rather large capital investments at the construction stage.

The largest oil pipelines in Russia

1. Baku - Novorossiysk - oil pipeline for pumping Caspian oil to the port of Novorossiysk.
2. Balakhany - Black City is the first oil pipeline in Russia, commissioned back in 1878. The pipeline connects the Balakhani oil field and oil refining facilities in the vicinity of Baku.
3. Baltic pipeline network. Design throughput capacity is 74 million tons of oil per year. Connects the seaport of Primorsk with oil fields in Western Siberia and the Ural-Volga region.
4. Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean- a pipeline connecting the Siberian fields with the Kozmino loading port near Nakhodka. The operator of the oil pipeline is JSC AK Transneft. The length of 4188 km makes it possible to export Russian oil to the markets of the Asia-Pacific region and the USA.
5. The Druzhba oil pipeline is the world's largest trunk pipeline system, built to supply oil and petroleum products to socialist states of Eastern Europe. Currently in use for export to Europe.
6. Grozny - Tuapse is the first Russian main oil pipeline of medium diameter, built at the beginning of the twentieth century to transport Caucasian oil to the Black Sea coast.
7. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) links the fields of western Kazakhstan with a terminal at Black Sea coast near Novorossiysk.
8. The Murmansk pipeline with a capacity of 80 million tons connects the oil fields of Western Siberia and the seaport of Murmansk.
9. Surgut - Polotsk is an oil pipeline connecting with Belarus and further the Baltic countries and Poland.
10. The only heated main oil pipeline of its kind is Uzen - Atyrau - Samara.

Export through oil pipelines

Currently, Russian oil pipelines account for 84% of oil exported outside the country. The remaining 13% comes from rail transportation and 3% from water and river transport. JSC AK Transneft is the only oil pipeline operator in Russia. It accounts for 97% of all transported oil produced in the country. The length of the company's pipeline system is more than 217 thousand km, which connects the main oil production regions in Russia with sales markets in Europe. From the total transport system 46.7 thousand km are oil pipelines and 19.3 thousand km are oil product pipelines.

The main Russian oil pipelines involved in exports:

• Baltic oil pipeline, throughput capacity - 74 million tons per year;
• Pipeline system "Druzhba". One of the branches of this highway goes to Poland, the second to Slovakia. Total throughput capacity - 90 million tons;
• Black Sea oil pipelines - 43 million tons.

The most promising direction for export development Russian oil is East Siberian, due to the brisk growth of oil consumption in China.

They have a history of more than half a century. Construction began with the development of the oil fields of Baku and Grozny. Today's map of Russian gas pipelines includes almost 50 thousand km of main pipelines through which most of Russian oil is pumped.

History of Russian gas pipelines

The pipeline began to be actively developed in Russia back in 1950, which was associated with the development of new fields and construction in Baku. By 2008, the amount of transported oil and petroleum products reached 488 million tons. Compared to 2000, the figures increased by 53%.

Every year, Russian gas pipelines (the diagram is updated and reflects all pipelines) are growing. If in 2000 the length of the gas pipeline was 61 thousand km, in 2008 it was already 63 thousand km. By 2012, Russia's main gas pipelines had expanded significantly. The map showed about 250 thousand km of pipeline. Of these, 175 thousand km was the length of the gas pipeline, 55 thousand km was the length of the oil pipeline, 20 thousand km was the length of the oil product pipeline.

Gas pipeline transport in Russia

A gas pipeline is an engineering design of pipeline transport that is used to transport methane and natural gas. Gas supply is carried out using excess pressure.

Today it is difficult to believe that the Russian Federation (today the largest exporter of “blue fuel”) initially depended on raw materials purchased abroad. In 1835, the first plant for the production of “blue fuel” was opened in St. Petersburg with a distribution system from the field to the consumer. This plant produced gas from foreign coal. 30 years later, the same plant was built in Moscow.

Due to the high cost of building gas pipes and imported raw materials, the first gas pipelines in Russia were small sizes. Pipelines were produced with large diameters (1220 and 1420 mm) and long lengths. With the development of natural gas field technologies and its production, the size of “blue rivers” in Russia began to rapidly increase.

The largest gas pipelines in Russia

Gazprom is the largest gas artery operator in Russia. The main activities of the corporation are:

• geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing;
• production and sale of heat and electricity.

On this moment There are the following existing gas pipelines:

1. "Blue Stream".
2. "Progress".
3. "Union".
4. "Nord Stream".
5. "Yamal-Europe".
6. "Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod".
7. "Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok".

Since many investors are interested in the development of the oil production and oil refining sector, engineers are actively developing and building all of Russia’s new largest gas pipelines.

Oil pipelines of the Russian Federation

An oil pipeline is an engineering pipeline transport structure that is used to transport oil from the place of production to the consumer. There are two types of pipelines: main and field.

The largest oil pipelines:

1. "Druzhba" is one of the major routes Russian Empire. Today's production volume is 66.5 million tons per year. The highway runs from Samara through Bryansk. In the city of Mozyr, “Druzhba” is divided into two sections:

• southern highway - passes through Ukraine, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic;
• the northern route runs through Germany, Latvia, Poland, Belarus and Lithuania.

1. The Baltic Pipeline System is a system of oil pipelines that connects an oil production site to a seaport. The capacity of such a pipeline is 74 million tons of oil per year.
2. The Baltic Pipeline System-2 is a system that connects the Druzhba oil pipeline with Russian ports on the Baltic. The capacity is 30 million tons per year.
3. The Eastern Oil Pipeline connects the production site of Eastern and Western Siberia with the markets of the USA and Asia. The capacity of such an oil pipeline reaches 58 million tons per year.
4. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium is an important international project with the participation of the largest oil producing companies, created for the construction and operation of pipes with a length of 1.5 thousand km. The operating capacity is 28.2 million tons per year.

Gas pipelines from Russia to Europe

Russia can supply gas to Europe in three ways: through the Ukrainian gas transportation system, as well as through the Nord Stream and Yamal-Europe gas pipelines. In the event that Ukraine finally stops cooperation with the Russian Federation, supplies of “blue fuel” to Europe will be carried out exclusively by Russian gas pipelines.

The scheme for supplying methane to Europe suggests, for example, the following options:

1. Nord Stream is a gas pipeline that connects Russia and Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The pipeline bypasses transit states: Belarus, Poland and Nord Stream. It was put into operation relatively recently - in 2011.
2. “Yamal-Europe” - the length of the gas pipeline is more than two thousand kilometers, the pipes pass through the territory of Russia, Belarus, Germany and Poland.
3. "Blue Stream" - the gas pipeline connects Russian Federation and Turkey along the bottom of the Black Sea. Its length is 1213 km. The design capacity is 16 billion cubic meters per year.
4. "South Stream" - the pipeline is divided into offshore and onshore sections. The offshore section runs along the bottom of the Black Sea and connects the Russian Federation, Turkey, and Bulgaria. The length of the section is 930 km. The land section passes through the territory of Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, and Slovenia.

Gazprom said that in 2017 the price of gas for Europe will be increased by 8-14%. Russian analysts claim that the volume of supplies this year will be greater than in 2016. The income of the Russian gas monopoly in 2017 may increase by $34.2 billion.

Russian gas pipelines: import schemes

CIS countries to which Russia supplies gas include:

1. Ukraine (sales volume is 14.5 billion cubic meters).
2. Belarus (19.6).
3. Kazakhstan (5.1).
4. Moldova (2.8).
5. Lithuania (2.5).
6. Armenia (1.8).
7. Latvia (1).
8. Estonia (0.4).
9. Georgia (0.3).
10. South Ossetia (0.02).

Among the non-CIS countries that use Russian gas:

1. Germany (supply volume is 40.3 billion cubic meters).
2. Türkiye (27.3).
3. Italy (21.7).
4. Poland (9.1).
5. UK (15.5).
6. Czech Republic (0.8) and others.

Gas supply to Ukraine

In December 2013, Gazprom and Naftogaz signed an addendum to the contract. The document indicated a new “discount” price, one third less than that specified in the contract. The agreement came into force on January 1, 2014, and must be renewed every three months. Due to debts for gas, Gazprom canceled the discount in April 2014, and from April 1 the price increased, amounting to $500 per thousand cubic meters (the discounted price was $268.5 per thousand cubic meters).

Gas pipelines planned for construction in Russia

The map of Russian gas pipelines at the development stage includes five sections. Project not implemented " South Stream"between Anapa and Bulgaria, the Altai pipeline is being built - this is a gas pipeline between Siberia and Western China. The Caspian gas pipeline, which will supply natural gas from the Caspian Sea, in the future should pass through the territory of the Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. For supplies from Yakutia to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, another route is being built - “Yakutia-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok”.

Pipeline transport is widely used in Russia to transport hydrocarbons over long distances. Industrial gases are transported through pipes in the on-site gas production mode at industrial enterprises or within large industrial clusters. In industrial enterprises, laboratories and medical institutions, the following are transported through pipes: nitrogen, argon, oxygen, air, helium, carbon dioxide, acetylene, hydrogen, ammonia, nitrous oxide and other gases and gas mixtures. The total length of pipelines within one enterprise can reach tens and sometimes hundreds of kilometers. Source industrial gases Industrial enterprises can have both direct installations for their production and cold gasifiers or cylinders. A comprehensive system for supplying gases to an industrial facility includes a source of technical gases, pipelines and gas distribution panels.

The main structural materials of pipelines are stainless steel, carbon steel or copper. Both traditional pipes are used in straight sections and in coils. In some cases, in addition to pipes, flexible polymer or steel pipelines are used to transport gases. In metal hoses, gas comes into contact with a stainless steel bellows, and in high pressure hoses - with a tube made of fluoroplastic (PTFE) or polyamide (PA). The strength of such pipelines is ensured by one or more stainless steel braids. The warehouse of the Monitoring Valve and Fitting (MV&F) company constantly maintains a large assortment of hoses high pressure, metal hoses, seamless stainless steel pipes in straight sections and in coils. The main material of seamless pipes is 316L stainless steel. Pipes are offered in a light annealed condition. This means that the pipes are tempered in a reducing protective atmosphere of hydrogen gas. After such heat treatment, both the outer and inner surfaces of the pipes remain perfectly clean and smooth. Pipes of this quality combine well with instrument fittings and can be used for clean and corrosive gases.

IN Lately Seamless steel pipes in coils are becoming increasingly used. The most advanced technology for the production of pipes in coils is used at the Handy-Tube enterprise (USA). These pipes are distinguished by a higher level of safety and reliability compared to pipes in straight sections. They can be tested for tightness and strength, both in production and immediately before installation. Pipes can be laid on supporting structures, which are usually used for installing electrical cables. Handy-Tube specializes exclusively in the production of seamless stainless steel pipes in coils. This circumstance allows the manufacturer to achieve impressive results. The length of pipes in a bay can reach up to 2000 meters. Moreover, the bay lacks not only longitudinal seams, but also welded joints. That is, the entire pipe in each specific coil is made from a single piece and is truly seamless. The advantages of pipes in coils are obvious: - the ability to conduct complete comprehensive tests of pre-installation; - reduction in overall installation costs due to the absence of welds or refusal to use fittings; - significant reduction in time and simplification of installation; - elimination of costs associated with non-destructive testing methods of welds; - ensuring the required level of gas purity; - ensuring safety during transportation of aggressive and dangerous gases; - increasing the reliability and tightness of pipeline systems during underground and underwater installation; - simplification of high-rise installation; - ease of transportation and storage of pipes.

Several projects have been implemented using pipes in coils in Russia, including large air separation plants, an industrial filling station for filling helium cylinders, transportation of ammonia, hydrogen and oxygen at jewelry enterprises, and several large analytical laboratories. Around the world, pipes in Handy-Tube coils are used in all major industries: - oil and gas: subsea production and well production; - geothermal systems; - chromatography; - shipbuilding; - petrochemical industry. Let us further consider in more detail the prospects for using pipeline transport of helium gas over long distances. Currently, helium is produced only in Orenburg and is delivered from one geographical point over long distances. Helium consumption in Russia is 1.7 million nm3, and a significant share of this amount is supplied throughout Russia in cylinders

With an annual turnover of helium gas, for example, 1.5 million nm3, the container turnover is about 15 thousand tons.

The container is transported in two directions. With an average transportation distance of 1,500 km, the turnover of containers only when transporting helium gas is 45 million ton-kilometers. Reducing the transport load can be achieved by using large cryogenic transport containers with a volume of transported liquefied helium of up to 40 m3. Containers for transporting liquefied helium can transport an order of magnitude larger quantities of the target product than in compressed form, but the cost of such equipment is so high that it is inaccessible to the mass consumer. In addition, a very large part of consumers use helium gas, often of the “B” grade.

For these consumers, helium liquefaction followed by gasification does not seem entirely justified. In this regard, it is possible to consider a combined method of transportation: delivery of compressed helium to large filling stations and liquefaction stations via main pipelines, followed by refueling of cylinders and monoblocks at these stations, and, if necessary, further purification to the level of grade “A”, 6.0 or 7.0 and liquefaction for local consumers of liquid helium.

Let us take the Orenburg-Moscow direction as the base route for laying the main helium pipeline. Large industrial centers of the European part of Russia are located between Moscow and Orenburg. To increase reliability, you can consider laying two pipelines. One route through Samara, Tolyatti, Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk, Kazan, Cheboksary, Nizhny Novgorod, Dzerzhinsk, Vladimir, Elektrostal and Balashikha. The other is through Samara, Tolyatti, Syzran, Penza, Ryazan and Kolomna. Surely in each of these cities there will be enterprises that will show interest in connecting to the main helium pipeline.

The benefit is obvious - connect and take helium in the agreed amount, paying according to the meter readings. It is clear that such regional helium centers will not appear immediately and not in all cities at the same time, but the development of such infrastructure will be a serious incentive to increase the technological level of the regional industry.

Let us further assess the feasibility of such a project. To calculate the hydraulic resistance of the Orenburg-Moscow high-pressure helium pipeline, we will accept the following initial data: - distance 1500 km; - pressure at the inlet to the pipeline 400 bar; - helium consumption when pumping into the pipeline in Orenburg is 0.5 million nm3/year; - helium consumption in Moscow is 0.25 million nm3/year; - helium consumption in large industrial centers of Russia along the route of the proposed pipeline laying is evenly distributed and amounts to 0.25 million nm3/year; - the pipeline is made of seamless pipe, supplied in coils in a light-annealed state (clean internal surface with minimal roughness, minimal amount welded joints).

The pressure drop for a pipe with an internal diameter of 20 mm will be about 1 MPa, and for a pipe with a diameter of 12 mm - 18 MPa. We will determine and estimate the cost of a pipeline with a diameter of 12 mm. Let's take a safety factor of 2.5. The working pressure of a 15x1.5 pipe with such a safety margin is 400 bar, and the destruction pressure is correspondingly 1000 bar. We believe that, if necessary, reinforcement of the pipeline up to four times the safety factor can be done using carbon steel armor. The weight of the main stainless steel pipeline is 760 tons. The cost of a stainless pipe as part of the pipeline will be approximately 300 million rubles. It can be expected that additional costs will be comparable to this value and the total construction cost will be about 600 million rubles. Let’s assume the depreciation period of the pipeline is 50 years, then the rise in price of helium will be about 20-40 rubles per nm3, depending on the point of extraction. Shipment of compressed helium gas via pipeline will lead to additional savings due to lower production costs. Indeed, a continuous round-the-clock supply of helium through the pipeline will eliminate a number of technological and organizational operations at the Orenburg Helium Plant (registration of entry and exit of vehicles into the protected area, connection and disconnection of flexible metal hoses, quality control of containers and the finished product, checking the safety of containers, paperwork, etc.). P.).

When transporting compressed helium by road, the costs will be about 70 rubles per nm3. Delivery of 20 tons of cargo along the Orenburg-Moscow-Orenburg route will amount to 100 thousand rubles, and depreciation of recipients by 2 thousand nm3 per flight will cost 40 thousand rubles.

Thus, the implementation of such a project is technically possible and economically feasible. An important circumstance is that helium is an inert, non-flammable gas. This means that helium pipelines can be laid literally anywhere: along main pipelines for transporting hydrocarbons, along highways, in the exclusion zone of railways, along with electrical cables and fiber optic communication lines, along river beds, etc. This task is of national importance and, of course, cannot be financed by a separate enterprise. Therefore, it requires an appropriate government decision. The main benefit from such a decision at the national level will not even be a reduction in direct costs of transportation and shipping, but an improvement in the environment, a reduction in traffic congestion on roads and the development of industry in the regions.

The gas industry is the leading branch of the fuel and energy industry in Russia, it provides 50% of the country's fuel needs, performs the most important stabilizing and integrating functions in the Russian economy, maintaining economic security and Russian positions in the priority markets of Europe, and serves as one of the main sources of foreign exchange earnings to Russia . Currently, the country's Unified Gas Supply System (UGS) has basically been established, which includes about 300 large developing fields, an extensive network of gas pipelines, compressor stations, underground gas storage facilities and other structures. RAO Gazprom holds a monopoly position in the production and transportation of gas to the Russian domestic market and especially for export.

Russia has huge reserves of natural gas, the share of which in the world balance is 32%. Currently, of all industrial gas reserves in Russia, more than 90% are located on land, including 11% in the European part of the country; in the West Siberian region - 84%; in Eastern Siberia and Far East- 5%. Noteworthy is the ultra-high territorial concentration of not only reserves, but also natural gas production. The largest volume - 92% in 1998 was extracted from the subsoil in Western Siberia, mainly from the unique deposits of the Nadym-Pur-Tazovsky region of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug: Urengoysky, Yamburgsky, Medvezhiy.

The main natural gas processing centers are located in the Urals (Orenburg, Almetyevsk), in the Northern region (Sosnogorsk), in the Volga region (Saratov, Astrakhan), in the North Caucasus (Krasnodar), in Western Siberia (Nizhnevartovsk). Gas processing gravitates towards sources of raw materials and gas pipelines. The specificity of the gas industry lies in its focus on consumers. Therefore, gas production, transportation and consumption are closely related parts of a single process, in which gas mains play a special role.

In the Unified State System of Russia there are regional gas supply systems: Central, Volga, Ural - and multi-line: Siberia - Center. The expansion of the network of main gas pipelines took place mainly on the basis of the exploitation of Western Siberian fields. Currently, 20 main gas pipelines with a total capacity of about 580 billion m3 per year have been laid and operate from the Nadym-Pur-Taz region. The largest of them: 1) “Shine of the North”: Urengoy - Nadym - Ukhta - Yaroslavl - Vologda - Tver - Minsk - Novovolynsk; 2) Medvezhye-Nadym - Perm - Kazan - Nizhny Novgorod - Moscow; 3) Urengoy-Moscow; 4) Urengoy-Surgut-Chelyabinsk-Donbass; 5) Urengoy - Gryazovets - Torzhok - Minsk - Uzhgorod; 6) Urengoy - Pomary - Uzhgorod; 7) “Progress”: Yamburg - Uzhgorod; 8) Soleninskoye - Messoyakha - Norilsk; 9) Urengoy - Yelets - Kursk; 10) Igrim - Serov (Table 40). The total length of gas pipelines in Russia exceeds 150 thousand km.

Table 40

Main gas pipelines in Russia and the CIS

The growth of natural gas production in Western Siberia contributes to an increase in its exports to the Baltic, Eastern and Western Europe. Exports to the CIS countries are declining. Gas pipelines are functioning, through which gas flows to most European countries. Currently, an association of gas pipelines flowing from Russia and other countries is being formed Northern Europe into a single pan-European gas supply system.

The immediate prospects for the development of the Russian gas industry are associated with the possibility of involving in the exploitation of the fields of the Yamal Peninsula in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, where over 27 fields have already been explored with total reserves of more than 10 trillion m3. Production in Yamal was planned to begin no earlier than 2000 and by 2015 to reach the level of 250 billion m3. Gas from Yamal is planned to be transferred to Western Europe via a multi-line gas pipeline, attractive for foreign investment. For the foreseeable future, Western Siberia will remain the main gas production center of Russia.

Prospective projected natural gas reserves on the Barents Sea shelf (between the Kola Peninsula and the archipelago New Earth) reach 30-35 trillion m3. RAO Gazprom and JSC Rosshelf have developed a long-term program for the development of the Arctic sea shelf by 2010, when Western Europe, according to preliminary expert estimates, will be interested in receiving gas from the Barents Sea fields (very close to potential gas consumers). The shortest planned routes for obtaining Arctic gas should pass through Finland and Sweden. The largest fields on the Arctic shelf: Shtokman (200 km north of Murmansk), Leningradskoye and Rusanovskoye in the Kara Sea.

Okhotsk shelf and Japanese seas near o. Sakhalin has natural gas reserves of over 1 trillion m3, which in the near future can be sent to consumers in Russia, Japan, and China. A proposal by RAO UES to build large thermal power plants on Sakhalin using gas fuel, with large-scale supplies of electricity to Japan, is being considered. In the near future, it is planned to begin the development of the large Kovykta gas condensate field in the Irkutsk region. (Eastern Siberia), from which gas will flow to China - up to 20 billion m 3 / year, as well as to South Korea and Japan. Gazprom is already planning to connect a “pipe” stretched from Western Siberia to this gas pipeline. Thus, the future contours of a gigantic Eurasian gas supply system centered in Western and Eastern Siberia are visible.

Russia is one of the most important participants in the European gas market. It can be argued that in the future Russia will play no less a role in Asian gas markets.

Currently, 67% of natural gas produced in Russia goes to the domestic market, 22% is exported to the markets of the Baltic countries, Eastern and Western Europe, and 11% to the markets of the CIS countries. The domestic market is very capacious, and as the economy stabilizes and grows, it will develop intensively. It is expected that revenues from gas sales on the domestic market will be even higher than from sales on the markets foreign countries(the transport factor will manifest itself: the relative proximity of raw materials and consumers). The completed forecasts give reason to believe that gas consumption in Russia will increase by 35-40% by 2010 compared to the 1998 level.

In the next 15-20 years, the most important and predictable export markets for Russia will remain those of European and CIS countries.

The situation in the gas markets of the CIS and Baltic countries is developing differently. For Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, as well as for the Baltic countries, Russian gas is practically the main source of gas supply. It is supplied to the Transcaucasian CIS countries through the redistribution of Turkmen gas. Kazakhstan also plans to lay a transit gas pipeline through Russia to Europe, starting from the Karachaganak field in the west of the republic.

Ukraine and Belarus are the largest importers Russian gas in the CIS markets, the volume of gas production from which in 1997 amounted to about 50 and 15 billion m 3, respectively. The level of gas supplies to these countries, as well as to the Baltic countries and Moldova, will increase as they emerge from the economic crisis.

The European gas market (outside the CIS and Baltic countries) has been developing for more than 30 years with the active participation of Russia, which supplies natural gas to most Western European countries. IN last years, despite the measures taken to reduce energy intensity, the demand for gas in these countries has begun to increase and may increase by another 30-50 billion m 3 by 2010.

In number the most important problems In addition to the search for new markets, the gas industry includes: 1) the problem of industry disaggregation; 2) crisis of non-payments; 3) the problem of modernization and reconstruction of fixed assets.

The reform of Gazprom is considered as an urgent problem of creating a competitive market for the gas industry in conditions of the highest concentration of gas production in the north of Western Siberia. In the event of disaggregation, Gazprom will retain control over the infrastructure - the UGS system, and gas producers will connect to the gas pipeline on a competitive basis.

As for most Russian enterprises, chronic non-payments are an acute problem in the gas industry. In such conditions, the gas industry is developing mainly using revenues from gas exports. In a crisis economic situation, the gas industry plays the role of a donor. Every sixth dollar coming into the budget comes from gas exports.

Serious problems in the gas industry lie in the aging of fixed assets. Average age gas pipelines in Russia are 16 years old, 30% of them have been in operation for more than 20 years, and 40 thousand km have exhausted their design life (33 years). 7.5% of gas pipelines have been in service for more than 40 years, posing a great environmental hazard. That is why the issues of reconstruction of the Unified State System are a priority. Their essence is to increase the technical safety and reliability of gas transportation.

Peat industry

The peat industry ensures the development of peat deposits, extraction and processing of peat. Peat is formed in the process of incomplete decay of marsh plants due to waterlogging and without access to air. Peat is used as local fuel, as a component of organic fertilizers, as bedding for livestock, greenhouse soils, as a reliable antiseptic for storing fruits and vegetables, for the manufacture of heat and sound insulation boards, as a filter material, and as a raw material for the production of physiologically active substances.

In Russia, the extraction of peat for fuel purposes began in 1789 in St. Petersburg.

In 1912-1914. near Moscow (89 km from modern Moscow) engineer R.E. Klassov built the first power plant in Russia and the world using peat (this is how a village near the station appeared, then a workers’ village, and in 1946 the city of Elektrogorsk). Peat was most actively used as fuel in the pre-war period in the 20th century. The main reserves and areas of peat extraction are located in Western and Eastern Siberia, in the European North, North-West, in the Center, and in the Urals. IN modern conditions high transport tariffs for fuel delivery and the development of new technologies for peat processing, in particular briquetting, interest in it is increasing in Central region and in the steppe regions of Western Siberia.

Oil shale industry

Shale is used as a local fuel and as a raw material for the production of liquid fuels, chemical products and gas (shale gasification), and for the production of construction materials.

There are shale deposits in different parts of Russia. They began to be developed during the First World War. The extraction of shale in Russia is carried out mainly by the closed (mine) method, since it most often lies at a depth of 100-200 m. Shale is a high-ash fuel, which aggravates the problem of disposal of ash and mine dumps and makes transportation of shale unprofitable. The shale industry develops only within shale basins: the main area of ​​their production is located in the west Leningrad region. In a market economy, the shale industry remains significant only in areas not supplied with other types of fuel. Shales mined in the Leningrad region are exported to Estonia, where they serve as fuel for the Pribaltiyskaya State District Power Plant, which in turn supplies electricity to the Northwestern region of Russia.

In the Russian fuel industry in the next 10-15 years it is planned to: 1) increase the efficiency of use of natural gas and increase its share in domestic consumption and exports; 2) increasing deep processing and integrated use of hydrocarbon raw materials; 3) improving the quality of coal products, stabilizing and increasing coal production volumes (mainly open method) as environmentally acceptable technologies for its use are developed; 4) overcoming the recession and gradually increasing oil production.