Thousands of representatives of the gas industry gathered at the XI St. Petersburg International Gas Forum that opened today: more than 40 delegations from 22 countries of the world. The participants shared ideas and solutions in the field of energy sector, formed a new vision for the further development of the fuel and energy complex (FEC). Already on the first day, an important aspect of the eco-friendly use of the world's natural resources was identified. During discussions and conferences, a kind of slogan of rational and reasonable exploitation of the earth's subsoil was crystallized: "To consume without destroying, but developing."

At the scientific and practical conference Underground Gas Storage: Reliability and Efficiency, it was noted that Russia needs additional volumes of underground gas storage facilities (UGSF). Today, a significant part of the gas is stored in underground storage facilities, and this is due to the climate peculiarities, due to which the dynamics of consumption is strongly related to seasonality.

According to Elena Zabodaeva, Head of the Hydrocarbon Storage Department at NIIgazeconomika LLC, the share of UGSF during periods of fuel consumption growth is 10-12% (in absolute terms, this is 61 billion sq. Meters. of gas), and at peak times reaches 30-50%.

UGSF can contain not only resources being used, but also spent ones. "We could use new technologies to create strategic oil reserves. In the current geopolitical situation, when the price of oil is jumping, this topic should be raised on a national scale," said Sergey Khan, Deputy Head of the Department, Head of the Directorate of PJSC Gazprom. In his opinion, another promising direction for the use of UGSF is the disposal of greenhouse gases. Gazprom PJSC also has the necessary capabilities for this, Sergey Khan noted.

The efficiency of underground storage facilities was also emphasized by Andrey Mitioglo, Executive Director of Kexton LLC from Tula region. For example, the cost of capital expenditures for creating oil storage facilities in salt formations is 14 times less than in case of constructing surface ones. According to Andrey Mitioglo's calculations, the costs for such an underground storage facility will amount to 2.8 thousand rubles/sq. Meters., while a surface oil storage facility will cost from 40 thousand rubles/sq. Meters. Methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and propylene can also be stored in salt beds.

The discussions that took place at the foreign conferences of the first day of the SPIGF-2022 were also interesting and stormy. In particular, the Algerian authorities called on Russian companies to actively cooperate in the gas sector. The need for interaction between Algerian and Russian companies was discussed at the international conference Russian-African Gas Dialogue: Points of Growth and Prospects for Expanding Cooperation. Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria to the Russian Federation Smail Benamara said that Algeria is one of the largest gas suppliers on the African continent, whose exports via two gas pipelines are directed to European countries through Italy and Portugal. And this country sells liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Turkey, France, Spain, Italy and the UK. According to Smail Benamara, joint work in the gas sector is a new direction in cooperation between Algeria and Russia. In particular, a new field is being produced in the south of Algeria, its development will begin in 2025: "There is a huge potential for both our countries, and Russian companies can invest in the development of fields."

An interesting direction of the gas industry was outlined during the closed meeting "The Arctic: the ice has moved" organized by New Horizons business club.

It was announced that the preparatory stage of work in the Arctic territories is almost complete, now Russia has all the tools to begin active development of the Arctic. The authorities do not forget about ordinary infrastructure and residential buildings in the northern territories and invest in them through various programs. Thus, housing and roads worth 82.5 billion rubles will appear in the Arctic zone of Russia.

On the first day, the most pressing topic of recent times, import substitution, was not left without discussion. Import Substitution of Software for the Oil and Gas Industry session participants noted that the market lacks investments in domestic IT solutions. In IT, the number of orders from the oil and gas industry is increasing. Among the fuel and energy companies, it is 40%, the contract value has increased by 37%. There is a lack of local solutions that will replace the products previously provided by foreign vendors. Now these suppliers have left the Russian market and strictly protect their intellectual property. Mikhail Konstantinov, Executive Vice President of Gazprombank JSC, spoke about this at the session.

Almost all participants of the Gas Forum events pointed out the importance of personal meetings and negotiations, which is relevant after several years of the pandemic.

"The SPIGF put into practice a hybrid format of events for the first time in 2021, when a part of the discussions and round tables were broadcast live and online. This has certainly provided a powerful synergy. Nevertheless, the most effective form of cooperation in the oil and gas industry and power industry is personal communication between leaders and business partners. From year to year, it is the Gas Forum that successfully provides this opportunity," said Sergey Voronkov, CEO of EF-International Ltd. The business part of the Forum program, according to Sergey Voronkov, involves filling with constructive discussions and meaningful speeches, and it is at the SPIGF-2022 that the participants’ meetings will be full of the exchange of best practices, practical knowledge and valuable ideas. It’s a place for everyone to find answers to urgent challenges they are concerned about, as well as to work out strategic solutions aimed at provision of sustainable development of the oil and gas industry.