Sludge and here: material from oil production waste will help grow cereals in the Arctic

Russia has developed a new technology for processing oil production waste, which makes it possible to obtain soil for growing plants, including cereals, such as bluegrass, which is widely used in feed mixtures. The solution reduces the cost of developing hard-to-reach territories, promotes the development of agro-industrial potential and the formation of a waste-free production cycle at oil production facilities in the Arctic. In addition, the technology will make it possible to abandon the construction of industrial barns, where about 70% of drilling sludge is stored today, and significantly reduce the amount of waste generated. Whether the technique will help to create a waste—free cycle in the fields is described in the Izvestia article.

Valuable building materials for the Arctic region

Scientists from Perm National Research Polytechnic University (PNRPU), together with colleagues from Tyumen Industrial University, have developed a new technology for drilling waste management. It is changing the approach to the development of Arctic territories: instead of accumulating dangerous sludge barns, waste is neutralized directly on site, which eliminates the risk of long-term environmental pollution. At the same time, the recycled material turns into a technogrunt that can not only stabilize the landscape, but also trigger biological recovery processes.

It's not just about restoring tundra vegetation. The use of a formulation with the addition of peat and mineral sorbents makes it possible to achieve high germination of cultivated plants, including cereals. This opens up a new direction for the Arctic — the local agricultural development of restored lands, the scientists said. In conditions where food delivery is extremely expensive and logistically difficult, the possibility of growing cereals is becoming an important factor in food security and sustainable development of Arctic settlements. As part of the study, experts tested the germination of crops such as meadow bluegrass, which forms a stable vegetation cover and is widely used in lawn and fodder grass mixtures.

— Dehydrated drilling mud is mixed with peat (40% by volume), which acts as the main structure-forming and nutritious organic component. To neutralize potential toxicity and improve agrochemical properties, a stabilizer is introduced into the composition — gypsum or dolomite flour (10%), as well as a natural sorbent — glauconite or diatomite (10%). With the help of a recipe combining peat and sorbents, it is possible to achieve high germination of plants," the press service of Perm Polytechnic University told Izvestia.

The Arctic is traditionally considered as a strategic region for hydrocarbon production: according to PNRPU scientists, as of the end of 2025, the total initial recoverable oil resources on the Russian Arctic shelf are estimated at 57 billion tons, while the proven reserves in the Barents and Pechora Seas alone amount to about 1.46 billion tons. More than 837 billion rubles have already been invested in the exploration of these hard-to-reach territories, the scientists said. However, as the mature deposits in Western Siberia are depleted, it is becoming increasingly clear that the future of the Arctic cannot be limited solely to the extraction of raw materials.

The key limitation remains the fragility of the Arctic ecosystem. Permafrost and low temperatures practically block natural self-purification: any pollution persists for decades, accumulates in soils and reservoirs, disrupts food chains and directly threatens the lives of indigenous peoples, experts noted. The destruction of the tundra is not a local damage, but a global climate risk factor affecting the biodiversity and sustainability of the entire planet.

The new technology solves one of the most pressing problems in the region — the high cost of logistics. The delivery of soils and building materials to the tundra forms a significant part of the costs, while the processing of drilling mud allows for the production of ready-made technogrunt directly at the field. The resulting material is suitable both for the reclamation of lands disturbed during oil production, and for sprinkling road lanes. In the future, the Arctic may move from a model of exclusively raw material development to a format of combined industrial and agricultural development, PNRPU representatives believe.

— Initially, drilling mud is classified as low-hazard waste, but it contains salts, petroleum products and heavy metals. The addition of gypsum reduces salinity, sorbents reduce the content of petroleum products and bind metals, and peat creates conditions for the development of microflora and plant growth. In such a soil, the germination rate of cereals reaches 90% and a stable vegetation cover is formed," said Elena Gayeva, Associate Professor of the Department of Technosphere Safety at TIU, Candidate of Biological Sciences.

It is also noted that the development will help save on the construction of industrial facilities, in particular slurry barns.

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Alternative methods of cleaning oil-contaminated soils have been around for a long time, but each of them has serious limitations. The simplest and cheapest way remains to dispose of waste with the expectation of natural purification, but it is inefficient and unecological, said Alexey Cook, a leading expert on the FoodNet NTI market, economist. More technological solutions, such as incineration or separation of petroleum products and soil, require complex equipment and often generate new waste.

— Various sorbents, including glauconite, are widely used. However, their key problem lies in the fact that petroleum products in such materials are only absorbed, but not decomposed — the pollution is preserved, and not its full purification. The hybrid method is the use of a combination of sorbents and biological agents," he explained, adding that ozone purification remains a promising but little—studied area.

According to the expert, the cost of a complete cleanup may be higher than the cost of damage, and this creates a problem from an economic point of view, including increasing the cost of growing cereals.

The problem of eliminating oil pollution is particularly acute in remote regions, including the Arctic. The key difficulty here lies not so much in the subsequent processing, but in the collection of petroleum products in conditions of fragile ecosystems, says Viktor Kablov, professor at the Volga Polytechnic Institute of VolgSTU, NTI expert. At the same time, according to him, modern technologies for the mechanical collection and application of sorbents already make it possible to solve such problems without large-scale interference in the environment.

— On—site collection and processing of oil pollution is a modern and technologically advanced solution. The main difficulty is the collection. For example, we have developed a magnetic sorbent that can be used on rocky surfaces, in water or in thickets. It absorbs petroleum products, after which it is easily removed by magnets for further disposal or processing," the specialist explained.

According to him, this technology has already successfully passed practical tests.

Experts agree that the future of oil waste management technologies lies in solutions that allow work at the pollution site, minimize interference in the ecosystem, and at the same time remain economically viable. It is the combination of environmental safety, adaptability and cost reduction with the subsequent development of agricultural potential that is becoming a key factor for Arctic projects.