Gazprom Neft and Rusatom Overseas (RAOS PJSC, part of the Rostatom state organisation) have signed an agreement on cooperating in hydrogen energy and reducing carbon dioxide emissions under a document signed by Vadim Yakovlev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft, and Evgeny Pakermanov, President, RAOS PJSC, during the 10th Anniversary St Petersburg International Gas Forum.

The two companies have agreed to work together on investigating opportunities in transporting and storing carbon dioxide generated during hydrogen production as part of Rosatom’s projects on Sakhalin Island. Gazprom Neft will work on investigating the technical and commercial aspects of carbon dioxide recycling. The parties will also look into prospects for collaborating in other areas associated with decarbonising production facilities. Deploying carbon dioxide recycling technologies is consistent with sustainable development goals (SDGs), and is gradually becoming standard practice in industry.

Rosatom is implementing a project to build a plant to produce hydrogen from natural gas in the Sakhalin Oblast, expected to produce between 30,000 and 100,000 tonnes per year. The company is to study Gazprom Neft’s experience in closed-cycle CO₂ capture and injection at depths of several kilometres, and to examine the outlook for recycling CO₂ emitted during hydrogen production on the Sakhalin project. Similar solutions have been successfully deployed by Serbia’s NIS (a joint venture between Gazprom Neft and the Republic of Serbia) at the Rusanda field.

“Our company is part of the global trend in transitioning to low-carbon energy and decarbonising production facilities. Oil-industry specialists have considerable experience in capturing and injecting gas into geological formations, and we are in a position to offer our company’s skills and competencies to companies in related industries — including low-carbon hydrogen production on Sakhalin.”

Vadim YakovlevDeputy Chairman of the Management Board, Gazprom Neft

“The issue of achieving carbon neutrality is becoming ever more urgent for many of Russia’s regions, and demand for cutting-edge technologies in this area can only grow. It’s beyond question that our cooperation with Gazprom Neft in organising carbon dioxide handling as part of our hydrogen projects on Sakhalin is going to play a key role in implementing our major programme to develop a carbon-free economy in the region, and to deploy the best technological solutions there. We also see prospects for cooperating on decarbonisation projects in other Russian regions, and look forward to working together.”

Evgeny PakermanovPresident, RAOS PJSC