Rosneft’s Sechin: Russian Oil Is More “Environmentally Friendly” Than American

The oil and gas industry of Russia is becoming reformed under the influence of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Igor Sechin, Rosneft’s CEO, said during the Energy Transformation Panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Such factors as increased regulation in production, the OPEC + agreement, containment of retail prices, and an increase in the share of depleted fields in the traditional production region of Western Siberia are also influencing these developments, he said.

According to Sechin, soon there could also be an emergence of new players, the growth of medium-sized companies, and the consolidation of the industry as a whole.

In the long term, global oil consumption will grow, although its share in the global energy balance is declining, Sechin said.

According to him, the increase in demand for energy resources will occur due to the growth of the world’s population and the world economy. The main driver of this growth will be developing countries, which have a rapidly growing middle class, but energy security is critically low.

Oil production in Russia is more environmentally friendly than in the United States, Sechin said, adding that this is facilitated by significantly stricter environmental regulation in the oil and gas industry in our country.

In the US, more hydraulic fracturing operations are carried out than in Russia, Sechin noted, pointing out that it may be time to change the way how the future of oil is presented – it should not be about rejecting oil as such, but about rejecting oil from environmentally dirty projects.