Impact on Indigenous sub-Arctic communities Lukoil has a monopoly in the Izhma district of Komi, located on the banks of Pechora River and mostly inhabited by the Indigenous Komi people. Over the years, this Indigenous group’s traditional lifestyle and livelihood has been threatened by Lukoil’s polluting activities, which have led to the poisoning of reindeer, cows and fish.

Local people interviewed by the Barents Observer after an oil spill in May 2021 describe the crisis this pollution has caused for local agriculture, including the death of cattle many relied on for milk and the poisoning of the soil. Local communities face food insecurity, loss of their culture and traditions as well as health issues related to the numerous oil spills that have occurred over the years.

Health impacts from toxic emissions: Karachaganak field The Karachaganak Oil and Gas Condensate field in Kazakhstan is operated by Karachaganak Petroleum Operating (KPO), a joint venture between KazMunaiGaz, Eni, BG Group, Chevron Corporation, and Lukoil. The field is located only 5km from the village of Berezovka, whose inhabitants, exposed to toxic emissions from the project, have been asking for years to be relocated to a safer place.

An independent report published by the NGO Crude Accountability revealed that a number of health issues, including memory loss, vision loss, muscular-skeleton problems and headaches were connected to the emissions from the project and that the local population is chronically ill as a result of its exposure to toxic chemicals.

The Berezovka inhabitants were relocated only after a mass child poisoning. In November 2014, children suffered convulsions and loss of consciousness during school hours. According to a local NGO, children fell ill because of the poisonous emission of the Karachaganak project. A few years later some of those children were diagnosed with toxic encephalopathy, a brain disease caused by chemical poisoning.

Lukoil figures in the top 30 companies responsible for nearly half of the energy sector’s total methane emissions. According to its own Sustainability Report for 2021 (page 43) its emissions from exploration and production have grown to 10,836 million tonnes CO2e in 2021 from 10,267 million tonnes in 2017.

Lukoil committed to eliminate its routine flaring of APG (Associated Petroleum Gas) by 2030. Nevertheless, over the last four years, Lukoil’s self-reported total utilisation rate of flaring has been over 97% and in 2021 it even registered an increase (Sustainability Report pages 51, 57 and 149). Furthemore, Lukoil is leading efforts by Russian energy companies to lobby for the government cap on flaring associated gas to be raised.

A Climate Action 100+ assessment of Lukoil in March 2022 found that the company meets none of the criteria in many areas, including having no goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 or having a decarbonisation strategy, while only partially meeting criteria for medium-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction, climate policy engagement and governance and TFCD Disclosure.

The World Benchmarking Alliance states that “the company has made almost no progress in reducing its emissions intensity over the past 5 years and has no substantial climate strategy or emissions reduction targets that could drive alignment with the 1.5°C pathway. As such, Lukoil’s business model is unlikely to succeed in a low-carbon transition.”

Over the decades Lukoil has been responsible for a number of oil spills in Komi and the Nenets Autonomous District in northern Russia, the most recent in May 2021. As a consequence of this latter oil spill, a state of emergency was declared in three districts of the Komi region. Around nine tons of oil spilled into the Kolva, Usa and Pechora rivers, travelling  some 450 km and reaching many villages and settlements.  The spill has resulted in a criminal investigation. Although Lukoil argues that it completed cleaning-up operations in July 2021, environmentalists say that the contamination is bigger than Lukoil has stated and has not yet been fully addressed.