Nenets governor fears Arctic oil spill

Governor Igor Fyodorov in a press release says he supports measures on enhanced control and monitoring in Russian Arctic waters. His far northern region would be among the worst hit should a major offshore oil spill happen in the Russian Arctic.

-I am carefully following the situation [in the Gulf of Mexico], he confirms. -After all, also on our Arctic shelf the development of several fields are under planning, he adds.

The Pechora Sea is one of the most oil-rich parts of the Russian shelf and several fields are in the pipeline. The Gazprom-owned Prirazlomnoe field will the first to start production due next year. Conditions in the area are highly complex with difficult ice conditions and undeveloped infrastructure.

-The shelf territories are under federal jurisdiction, however in case of major oil spill, it will first of all be the Nenets Okrug which suffers, he says.

Read also: Spills in Mexico Gulf will not affect Russian offshore plans

Governor Fyodorov last week attended a State Council session devoted to environmental policies. In the meeting, President Dmitry Medvedev proposed a number of reforms in Russian environmental management. After the meeting, Fyodorov ordered his regional natural resources department to organize an extraordinary session on the issue.

The governor also admits that his region has a big job to do to clear up after polluters. Alone near the village of Amderma on the coast of the Kara Sea, as much as 150,000 tons of scrap metal is left over from industrial activities in the 1970s.

Read also: Spills in Mexico Gulf might curb Arctic oil