Rosneft Oil: Rosneft and Innopraktika to Study Changes in Arctic Ecosystems in White Sea

On the sidelines of the 7th Eastern Economic Forum, Rosneft has signed an agreement with Innopraktika to carry out research to assess the impact of global climatic and local anthropogenic factors on the condition of ecosystems of the Arctic seas.

As part of the research, scientists will analyse the current state of the Arctic seas using the White Sea as a model site, replicating century-old observations (1922-23) by K.M. Deryugin, the famous zoologist researcher. To this end, not only conventional hydrobiological methods will be applied, but also the best practices available today, including molecular genetic ones.

Analysis of changes in the diversity of benthic organisms, phyto-, zoo- and bacterial plankton, as well as hydrochemical parameters of seawater over the past 100 years will help to predict the dynamics of the ecological state of the Western Arctic seas.

Studies of multi-year trends in Arctic ecosystems are part of Rosneft’s research portfolio and extend the list of environmental projects implemented by the Company.

Much of the work will be carried out at the Pertsov Belomorskaya Biological Station of the Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Faculty of Biology.

With Rosneft’s support, the Belomorskaya Biological Station is completing the reconstruction of the marine flow systems building, which is a testing ground for a microbial agent for the disposal of hydrocarbon pollution from the northern seas. This is an innovative product designed by Rosneft’s Arctic Research Centre and Innopraktika.

The station’s laboratories are installing the flow-through marine aquarium system that allows the agent to be tested in conditions as close to real as possible, without impacting on the Arctic ecosystem. Once the building renovation is complete, specialists will be able to process hydrobiological samples taken in the waters of the Kandalaksha Bay in the White Sea.