Gazprom Neft to Establish a Science and Education Centre with Tyumen State University and the Government of the Tyumen Oblast
Gazprom Neft, the Government of the Tymen Oblast and Tyumen State University have signed a strategic partnership agreement at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, with the parties agreeing to work together on establishing a science and education centre (SEC) in Tyumen. The signatories to the document were Vadim Yakovlev, First Deputy CEO, Gazprom Neft, Alexander Moor, Governor of the Tyumen Oblast, and Valery Falkov, Rector of Tyumen State University.
The Tyumen SEC will be one of five world-class science and technology centres established throughout Russia’s regions as part of the federal National Science Project, and will combine Gazprom Neft’s scientific resources with those of higher educational establishments and research centres throughout the Tyumen Oblast and the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs.
Joint R&D initiatives will be undertaken within the centre, technologies developed, and personnel trained for the oil and gas industry and other key areas for research and development in Russia. Projects planned include developing digital projects for data processing and manufacturing operations management, as well as collaboration with partners and customers. The SEC will create prototypes and conduct pilot testing of technologies, as well as engaging new partners. The parties have also agreed to implement joint masters, PhD and continuous professional development (CPD) programmes, as well as holding practical scientific conferences, strategic sessions and seminars at the centre.
Gazprom Neft and Tyumen State University are already running the country’s only programme for training specialists in integrated engineering, covering every stage in field development. Admissions to the “Conceptual Engineering in Oil and Gas Field Development” masters programme have been ongoing since 2016. Supported by Gazprom Neft, the university also runs a continued professional development (CPD) programme, “HSE Management”. One area of our cooperation also involves scientific and technical developments in the oil and gas industry — specifically work on projects to develop domestically produced chemical reagents for enhanced oil recovery, and on modelling processes for developing hard-to-recover oil-rim reservoirs.
Vadim Yakovlev, First Deputy CEO, Gazprom Neft, commented: “As the Russian oil and gas industry’s technological leader, Gazprom Neft collaborates with leading scientific and research partners throughout the entire country, creating a new innovative environment. Our partners today include about 30 major Russian science centres. This new SEC, working in one of the key areas in which Gazprom Neft operates, will allow us to combine our intellectual resources to create cutting-edge domestic technologies and train qualified specialists.”
Tyumen State University Rector Valery Falkov added: “Collaboration with Gazprom Neft is an example of the university’s successful cooperation with business. The company’s support means we can develop promising new areas, and implement innovative educational techniques. The key areas of focus at the planned West Siberia Science and Technology Centre will mainly be on Arctic and oil and gas projects. Engaging with such a significant industrial partner is completely in line with the logic of national projects in education, science, and joint technologies.”
