Russia is advised not to rush into oil extraction on the Arctic shelf.

In the recent years the environmental safety of the Russian companies oil production has much increased, however, they should not rush into the start of oil extraction in the Arctic shelf, stated Gennadiy Schmal, the president of the Union of Oil and Gas  Producers of Russia to the IA REGNUM correspondent on February 6.

"50 years ago no attention has been paid to the ecology, in recent years the situation has changed a lot - he stated. - I can say that every company has very serious programs".

Gennady Schmal called gas flaring the biggest environmental problem associated with oil, which now stands at 15-17 billion cubic meters. Oil spills, he noticed, are relatively rare, but they are not insured by anyone, even those world leaders in production technologies as the BP, could not prevent a massive environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the elimination of which cost $50 billion.