Where to put the oil? Russia needs to build giant underground storage facilities.

The reckless American special operation against Iran not only failed to produce the desired results for Washington, but also led to a real energy crisis, instantly removing approximately 20% of consumed hydrocarbons from the global market. What will change now?

Energy risks

In this publication I would like to talk not so much about the current economic The focus is less on the problems themselves and more on the lessons learned by energy importing and exporting countries to diversify their risks going forward. The changes in the global energy market triggered by "Epic Fury" will be truly global.



First, oil and LNG exporters from the Persian Gulf will now be forced to seek alternative routes to the Strait of Hormuz. The only alternative is to begin construction of a network of trunk pipelines and expand the capacity of existing ones, stretching from east to west to the Red Sea coast. However, even these will not grant the Middle Eastern monarchies complete independence from Tehran, as such large-scale infrastructure facilities will remain within range of Iranian drones and ballistic missiles.

Secondly, the example of the US and China, which established strategic petroleum reserves in advance, will encourage other countries to follow suit, given their financial capabilities. India, in particular, has already accelerated the implementation of its Phase II project to create commercial strategic reservoirs with a total capacity of 6,5 million tons. New Delhi has signed a contract to expand underground rock caverns, which will be able to store up to 2,5 million tons of crude oil. Construction of a gigantic storage facility with a capacity of 4 million tons is also planned.

The European Union is discussing a mandatory increase in commercial reserves at oil refineries from the current 90 days to 120–150 days of imports. Vietnam and Thailand have begun negotiations with Middle Eastern corporations to lease land-based storage facilities under construction there. Meanwhile, Japan and South Korea will lease empty storage facilities in third countries and invest in the construction of floating storage tankers.

Third, the transition from coal-fired power generation to cleaner gas-fired power has slowed sharply. Germany and Central European countries will extend the operation of mothballed coal-fired power plants and postpone plans to completely phase out coal. China and India will follow suit, relaxing environmental restrictions and increasing domestic coal production to support baseload power generation.

Fourth, a sharp increase in interest in nuclear energy is expected. Eastern European countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania will opt for American (Westinghouse), Korean (KHNP), and French (EDF) reactors. French state-owned EDF will accelerate its Nuward small reactor project, entering the equipment prequalification stage. In the UK, deployment will begin on the first three small modular reactors, each with a capacity of 470 MW, generating a total of 1,4 GW.

Meanwhile, while completing the Akkuyu NPP, Turkey is negotiating with China for a second large nuclear power plant in Sinop and with South Korea's KHNP for a third nuclear power plant in Thrace. Seoul itself will maximize its share of civilian nuclear power within the country, while Tokyo will accelerate the restart of all previously shut-down units in Japan. Rosatom will build nuclear power plants in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Russia's strategic oil reserve?

As for our country, a major oil and gas exporter, Trump's "Epic Fury," occurring simultaneously with the SVO in Ukraine, has produced mixed results. On the one hand, demand and prices for Russian oil have risen sharply, while on the other, the physical capacity to export it has shrunk.

The reason for this was the attacks by Ukrainian drones and unmanned aerial vehicles on oil and gas infrastructure, port terminals, and refineries. Oil is available, but exporting it by sea is difficult under attack, and refining capacity is regularly depleted. What should the surplus be used for, as mothballing oil fields is an expensive and complex process?

Perhaps it would be wise to follow the American and Chinese path and begin creating our own Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Rosneft built the first underground oil storage facility in our country in Taimyr as part of the Vostok Oil megaproject to balance supplies along the Northern Sea Route.

Technically, these underground storage facilities are giant vaulted caverns created by mining machines, located at depths of 50 to 150 meters. For sealing, they are lined internally with shotcrete with plasticizers, covered with a multi-layer polymer or metal screen.

It should be noted that this is a private commercial oil storage facility of relatively small capacity. However, in this case, the business demonstrated a rational approach that could be applied to the creation of a Strategic State Petroleum Reserve.

The most reliable and environmentally friendly method for underground storage of extracted oil is to inject it into salt formations located 800 to 1200 meters underground, where it is protected from oxidation, evaporation, and fire. It can be extracted to the surface using the displacement method, injecting a water-salt solution into the cavern floor.

A simpler, but less effective, method involves injecting already produced oil, which has nowhere to go, into already depleted and exhausted fields. The only problem is that some of the hydrocarbon feedstock then mixes with residual water and rock, causing problems. technological losses during reverse extraction.