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Collaborating Authors
North Sea
Abstract Preventing the occurrence of accidents in drilling and well servicing operations is a constant and major concern for any company or contractor acting in the upstream business. Analysis of accidents often identifies a number of contributing factors and/or anomalies, among which the equipment related items play a significant role. This article concentrates on the rig inspection process as a consistent method of detecting equipment related anomalies before operations commence. These inspections enable the necessary corrections to be made in due time, thereby limiting the occurrence of accidents once the rig is in operation. When in-depth and systematic rig inspections are carried out, it is that the percentage of accidents where equipment failure is the major cause remains very low. However, equipment condition factors contributing to the accidents still remain present in a large number of cases. Introduction Rig Inspection activities are normally an important part of the drilling safety programme. The inspection objective is both to prevent the occurrence of accidents, to limit their consequences and to minimise non-productive time linked to equipment failure. Analysis of the accidents occurring during rig operations indicates that equipment is often involved as a contributory factor. As rig equipment maintenance standards have, in general, suffered from depressed rig rates during the past ten years, the need for detailed inspection has become more important. Rig inspections normally consist of an independent and thorough survey of the rig drilling, mechanical, electrical, well control, marine and safety equipment. This allows specialised expertise to be targeted at the equipment maintenance standards, including full testing of equipment safety devices, to determine the level of equipment maintenance and safe working condition. The objective of this paper is to present the conclusions and lessons learnt from these inspections, based on the survey of 75 rigs carried out since 1991. This paper also demonstrates the benefits of this integrated philosophy, which includes a better safety approach, a worldwide standard, the rapid inclusion and verification of relevant safety bulletins and alerts, plus appropriate examples of the system achievements, and confirms the old saying that "a poorly maintained rig can never be a truly safe rig". 3. FACTORS AFFECTING SAFETY IN RIG OPERATIONS It is important to establish the added value of inspection among the actions taken by Contractors/Companies to improve rig operations with respect to safety results. In this search for improvement, one of the necessary steps is to organise a consistent incident reporting and analysis system during rig operations. This system should apply not only to accidents and near-misses, but also to anomalies, i.e. unsafe acts, unsafe equipment and incomplete procedures which can be seen by the rig personnel as contributing factors to the occurrence of accidents. For deep analysis of incidents, methods such as the Cause Tree Analysis can be used. This investigation method enables accurate identification of the contributing factors to the accidents, and those which need to be corrected to prevent accident reoccurrence. A survey of over 41 LTA's occurring over one year of drilling activity indicates that the contributing factors leading to accidents can be split into three main groups: Group 1: Human Behaviour Factors. These factors typically cover the human qualities necessary to minimise the occurrence of and exposure to accidents during rig operations. They are always present and generally constitute the major cause of accidents. These factors can be minimised by a comprehensive safety programme, including the set up of clear corporate objectives, proper management of human resources, safety incentives, safety training, etc. If properly organised, this safety programme promotes the detection of anomalies on the rig site which will fuel further improvements. By nature, these factors are more subjective than objective; they are highly dependant on the area environment (such as safety culture), and improving them generally requires significant time and effort. P. 871
- Oceania > Australia (0.89)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.89)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.89)
- (2 more...)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Safety > Safety risk management (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > HSSE & Social Responsibility Management > HSSE management systems (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > HSSE & Social Responsibility Management > HSSE reporting (0.88)
Abstract Ranking of environmental projects in relation to other projects in a company's portfolio of business has posed problems for years. Substantial effort has been spent toward developing systems or methodologies to overcome this problem but have been met with limited success. To be accepted as a responsible industry and manage the environmental discharge issue, the oil industry should through a process of continuous improvement minimise effluents and discharges that are known to harm the environment. Many oil companies have already made substantial headway in reducing discharges through low cost operational changes and better awareness. However these are often not enough and environmental projects requiring capital investments are needed. These projects will normally proceed when regulatory driven, but they have more difficulty proceeding if they are not regulatory driven and must rely on meeting the economic criteria applicable for approval. So how is a company to decide which environmental projects to do? In the absence of legislation, it is evident that, as more involved and expensive options are required to achieve this goal, the need for a method to rank environmental expenditures for the industry is necessary. In addition, the concept of basing the decision solely on the environmental effects and economics of a discharge must be expanded. Other considerations which drive the industry towards improved environmental performance such as public perception must be considered. This paper outlines a methodology that allows for the ranking of environmental proposals at a company level taking into account factors such as public perception and possible future legislation and enables the use of the 80/20 rule. The methodology has been applied by Shell U.K. Exploration and Production, operator in the U.K. sector of the North Sea for Shell and Esso, and is applicable to most industries. Introduction In many countries the oil industry is forced to accept the Government's approach of prescriptive regulation of environmental discharges (e.g. United States). Here the regulators set the specific discharge standards for each waste stream. In the UK there is a mix of prescriptive legislation and goal setting being applied. In other countries (e.g. The Netherlands) a National Environmental Policy Plan, NEPP, has been passed which sets levels, for waste streams. To achieve these levels, the industry sector and the government both agree on a covenant to achieve longer term environmental discharge reductions. This covenant approach or the prescriptive approach both make a company's decision for them on where to spend their environmental money but in fact may provide a small benefit for the environment at a high cost. If companies were empowered to reduce emissions and with their knowledge of the process, they could allocate their expenditures better and thereby provide a much higher environmental benefit. In addition to compliance and efficient spending of the environmental funds, the oil industry must be able to assure investors that they are handling the environmental risk in a financially constructive way. Short term approaches are not considered acceptable. Operators must be seen to be improving their environmental performance just like their safety and financial performance. Excessive discharges or contributions to long term environmental liabilities are viewed as poor company management. Management of the environment by industry is becoming increasingly a public concern. Environmental external reporting is becoming more prevalent to meet this concern. A methodology which achieves this helps to lend credibility to the effort. In addition a company (or industry) which is proactive towards the environment is one that may avoid prescriptive legislation and possible future criminal or financial liabilities. Therefore a methodology must be in place in order to efficiently achieve these needs. The Environmental Target Setting and Ranking (ETSAR) methodology achieves this and embraces these goal setting approaches by setting objectives often beyond the legal requirements. P. 567
- North America > United States (0.88)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.25)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.25)
- (2 more...)
- Law (1.00)
- Government (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Asia > Middle East > Israel > Mediterranean Sea > Southern Levant Basin > Or Field (0.99)
- North America > United States > Arkansas > Paris Field (0.89)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.89)
- (3 more...)
Abstract Mercury is known to be present as a trace-gas in the Rotliegend natural gas reservoirs. In the gas reservoirs under consideration levels of between 0.3 – 0.5 mg/Nm3 are found. During the gas treatment process the mercury is removed together with water and higher hydrocarbons. All waste streams, for example sludge, which are accumulated in gas treatment units and equipment e.g. glycol- and coalescence filters and heat exchangers are contaminated with mercury. In the past this mercury contaminated waste has been disposed of at special dump sites such as in depleted salt mines in Germany. In order to reduce the impact on the environment, NAM decided to develop an alternative method of disposal. From a feasibility study it was concluded that proper conditioning of the waste streams followed by a thermal oxidation process would be the best option to clean mercury contaminated waste. As there was no suitable thermal treatment process available, an in-house research laboratory was approached. Their investigation resulted in a "High-Temperature-Oxidation (HTO)" process. On this basis NAM decided to build a facility where all its mercury contaminated waste could be treated. It consists of two separate processes; i.e. the pretreatment and volume reduction facility and the final treatment using the HTO - process. This paper gives an overview of the required pre-treatment facilities, describes the HTO-process and summarises the achieved treatment results. Introduction Produced natural gas especially from Rotliegend reservoirs contains small quantities of gaseous elemental mercury. When applying the low temperature separation technique to bring the gas to sales specification the mercury is also condensed in the metallic form. A process flow scheme of the applied separation technique is shown in figure 1a/b. The majority of mercury may be directly extracted. However, a small proportion of this metal enters the liquid treatment facilities and inevitably leads to the contamination of equipment and waste streams. The resulting materials to be treated can be divided into two broad subgroups, i.e. disposable and non-disposable items. The disposable items comprise of sludge, coalescence-filters, glycol-filters, scrap material, spent activated carbon and occasionally soil. The non-disposable items are equipment such as heat exchangers, personal protection items and trucks used to transport water and condensate. Until now the waste has been collected centrally in a very basic facility at a production site within the field and prepared for export and storage in a depleted former salt mine in Germany. In 1989 a re-appraisal of the situation, in the light of improving standards for environmental care and personal exposure called for the design of a new facility. The Netherlands has directed in its National Environmental Policy that the amount of hazardous waste must be reduced and that the export of hazardous waste with the objective of dumping is no longer accepted. In line with this policy the export of hazardous waste has officially been stopped by the authorities since January 1996. This national policy is in line with the NAM policy, i.e. to reduce the impact on the environment as much as possible. In the following sections an overview of the development is given, resulting in a two stage treatment process for all mercury contaminated waste. P. 269
- Europe > Netherlands (0.49)
- Europe > Germany (0.44)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > Southern North Sea (0.24)
- Water & Waste Management (1.00)
- Materials (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Europe > Netherlands > Groningen > Southern North Sea - Anglo Dutch Basin > Groningen License > Groningen Field > Upper Rotliegend Formation (0.99)
- Europe > Netherlands > Groningen > Southern North Sea - Anglo Dutch Basin > Groningen License > Groningen Field > Limburg Formation (0.99)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > Southern North Sea > Rotliegend Sandstone Formation (0.98)
- (2 more...)
Factors Affecting Methods for Biodegradation Testing of Drilling Fluids for Marine Discharge
Vik, E.A. (Aquateam - Norwegian Water Technology Centre A/S) | Nesgard, B.S. (Aquateam - Norwegian Water Technology Centre A/S) | Berg, J.D. (Aquateam - Norwegian Water Technology Centre A/S) | Dempsey, S.M. (Aquateam - Norwegian Water Technology Centre A/S) | Johnson, D.R. (Conoco Norway Inc.) | Gawel, L. (Conoco Ponca City, U.S.A.) | Dalland, E. (OLF/Statoil Norway)
Present address: This paper was selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any position of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, its officers, or members. Papers presented at the SPE meetings are subject to publication review by Editorial Committees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Write Librarian, SPE, P.O. Box 833836, Richardson, Texas 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-214-952-9435. Abstract Although general agreement was reached between the OSPARCOM (Oslo and Paris Commission) countries in 1994 regarding testing of drilling chemicals for approval for use and discharge, there are still some practical variations concerning the implementation. In all standard environmental compliance areas, such as toxicity, bioaccumulation and biodegradability, there has been, or is, some concern about the reassessment of change. It is only recently that an agreement has been reached on test species for toxicity assessment of drilling fluids and chemicals for North Sea discharge. Regarding approval for the use of synthetic based muds (SBMs), biodegradability has probably been the most controversial issue with respect to the test methods, test results, acceptable degradation rates and overall environmental impact. Drilling fluids used in SBMs have low water solubilities and are adsorbed onto drill cuttings. They are known to enter the marine sediments and will, in high concentrations, and when they are buried under a layer of cuttings or under sediments, accumulate in anoxic marine sediments. OPSAR has therefore required that both aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation test results be available for the base fluids of SBMs. Presently, a seawater biodegradation test protocol has been developed into an OECD Guideline for water soluble materials, but no standard test protocol has been agreed upon for poorly or non-water soluble materials. This is the case both for aerobic or anaerobic biodegradation tests. For the aerobic biodegradation test, several attempts have been made to come up with a standard seawater test, but presently different laboratories use different protocols. Small differences in existing test protocols for aerobic seawater tests have resulted in great variations in test results obtained between different test laboratories. For the anaerobic test, only a few attempts have been made to come up with a seawater test protocol and only a limited number of test results exist. It has been the general opinion among North Sea environmental authorities that rapid degradation will minimize the environmental impact, thus allowing fast recovery of the seabed. This argument was introduced at an early stage and lead to the development of a set of seabed simulation studies. The results of these studies generated alternative viewpoints. One argument was that aerobic degradation in a localized area will lead to anoxic conditions which immediately can have a lethal impact on the benthic fauna. Another argument was that although the base material may be relatively non-toxic, the by-products or any other constituents of the drilling mud, may be toxic. The ultimate issue concerning the use of any drilling fluid should therefore be environmental impact rather than fate. P. 697
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.46)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.46)
- Europe > Netherlands > North Sea (0.46)
- (3 more...)
Abstract There are approximately 70 working and planned structures in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The majority are steel-legged installations (oil and gas jackets) placed in depths ranging from 70 to 200 m. Several oil fields and structures are soon to be abandoned. Production from the North-east Frigg and Odin fields, was stopped in 1993 and 1994 respectively From a technical and safety viewpoint, most of the structures are probably removable. Economically, concern has been expressed as to whether it is necessary to remove to shore all the installations. A positive environmental impact may be achieved by using some of the structures as fish aggregating devices. The implications of creating an artificial reef from a steel jacket by toppling in-place are discussed. A typical steel jacket in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea weighs 5,000 - 10,000 tonnes (excluding piles) and has a volume of 100,000-150,000 m3. It may also be possible to utilise some of the deck modules. Technical and biological aspects relating to artificial reef establishment are reviewed, including the identification of the chemicals and materials that need to be removed prior to toppling. Suggestions for further management and monitoring for documentation purposes, are reviewed. A 5 year monitoring programme protocol is proposed. The creation of a test reef from a steel jacket would present an ideal opportunity to obtain essential data, hitherto lacking in the North Sea, on the usefulness of high profile steel reefs as fisheries management tools. Data obtained would also be used to propose effective North Sea reef management and exploitation strategies. The suitability of using material arising from the petroleum industry, as components for artificial reefs, seeks to be determined. Introduction There is a growing concern regarding the fate of oil and gas facilities that are abandoned as a result of declining production in some fields. Traditionally, the total removal of all abandoned offshore oil and gas related structures has been the only acceptable disposal strategy. Different abandonment options have though been proposed for consideration in recent years. It is technically possible to remove most of the structures placed on the Norwegian continental shelf, but in some instances there may be safety risks, both to the people performing the removal and to the environment in the area. It is then, for safety and economic reasons, unlikely that the total removal of all structures in the Norwegian sector will prove a feasible disposal option. The potential impacts, both positive and negative, of leaving the structures in the sea should therefore be addressed. There is no doubt that offshore structures act as fish attracting devices, and thereby act as artificial reefs. The Japanese have a large industry centered around the construction of artificial reefs to attract fish and to increase the biological productivity in the ocean. P. 295
- Europe > Norway > North Sea > Central North Sea > Central Graben > PL 018 > Block 2/4 > Greater Ekofisk Field > Ekofisk Field > Tor Formation (0.99)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea > Central North Sea > Central Graben > PL 018 > Block 2/4 > Greater Ekofisk Field > Ekofisk Field > Ekofisk Formation (0.99)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea > Northern North Sea > South Viking Graben > PL 030 > Block 30/10 > Odin Field > Hermod Formation (0.98)
- (6 more...)
Abstract This paper reviews and evaluates blowout risk analyses and suggests a new overall approach with focus on required levels of modelling detail and a subjectivistic risk interpretation. The general scope is put forward by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) and the operating companies' need for an adequate decision making tool that permits studies of the effects of implemented risk reducing measures based on local conditions. A different and perhaps more thorough approach to blowout risk modelling in exploration drilling is suggested that is based upon physical causal mechanisms and expert judgements combined with hard data rather than world wide blowout statistics. The paper concludes that a significant strengthening of the basis for decision making must be achieved through a detailed stochastic modelling which considers the physics of the blowout phenomenon rather than statistically treated events at a somewhat coarse level. Further, the subjectivistic theory of probability represents a systematic way of integrating hard data and expert opinions leading to consistency between the risk analysis objectives and the interpretation of the model conclusions. Introduction Blowouts are the most spectacular, expensive, and feared operational hazard in offshore drilling. They may result in costly delays in drilling programs, fires, explosions, casualties, serious property damage, and pollution. Risk analyses carried out for fixed platforms in the North Sea show that blowout risk alone contributes 40% to 50% of the total risk regarding loss of lives, environmental impact and loss of economic value. The importance of performing quantitative and qualitative analyses of blowout risk in order to strengthen the basis for decision making in an offshore safety management context is thus obvious. It is, however, questionable whether todays' blowout risk analyses provide a satisfactory basis for decision making in a cost conscious operational environment. First, a relatively superficial level of detail and large uncertainties in the risk estimates contribute to weaken the management's confidence in the blowout risk analysis as a tool for making better decisions. Second, established practices reveal a certain lack of consistency between the analysis objectives and the blowout risk interpretation and expression. A more thorough approach to risk modelling based on a comprehensive decomposition of the blowout phenomenon with subsequent syntheses is required in order to take into account company and well specific characteristics, evaluate risk levels, highlight critical factors, and permit cost-benefit studies related to risk reducing measures and alternative solutions. Previous Work and Todays' Practises Numerous statistical models for the analysis of blowout risk on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) have been developed during the last 20 years. The extent of historical data that form the basis for statistical modelling of NCS blowout risk is, however, limited. The extent of the data material has been expanded by utilising data from areas outside Norwegian waters. Most of the statistical models are thus based on events from the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the entire North Sea (NS) including UK-, Norwegian-, German-, Danish-, and Dutch sectors. It is, however, questionable whether exploration drilling in these areas is representative for the conditions on the NCS. Nevertheless, by means of statistical modelling based on historical blowouts from these areas, the blowout frequency per NCS exploratory well has been estimated by various institutions to be in the area of 1 in 125 to 1 in 1487. P. 607
- North America > United States (1.00)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.54)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.54)
- (2 more...)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea > North Sea Basin (0.99)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea > North Sea Basin (0.99)
- Europe > Netherlands > North Sea > North Sea Basin (0.99)
- Europe > Denmark > North Sea > North Sea Basin (0.99)
- Well Drilling > Pressure Management > Well control (1.00)
- Management > Risk Management and Decision-Making (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Safety > Operational safety (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > HSSE & Social Responsibility Management > Contingency planning and emergency response (1.00)
Abstract Increased regulation in the North Sea area calls for the use of less toxic chemicals in the oilfield industry. European countries with interests in the North Sea are beginning to require the use of these "green" chemicals to prevent further environmental damage. The Oslo/Paris Commission (OSPARCOM), which will become the official regulatory body for 22 European member countries in 1997, dictates that each member country is responsible for enforcing OSPARCOM regulations. Some countries more stringently apply the regulations than others. To meet the standards of the regulations, service companies need to evaluate their existing chemical lines and determine which products meet the environmental regulations. The concept of Best Available Technology (BAT) offers companies a way to keep up with continuing changes in environmental regulations. The regulatory agencies for each country provide recommendations on the supply, use, and disposal of chemical products to minimize the discharge of hazardous substances. As "greener" alternatives become more widely required, manufacturers and oilfield suppliers will have to work together to produce chemicals that meet both environmental regulations and the needs of the oil field. This relationship between the need to develop technological solutions and the BAT can generate a substantial market for "green" chemical substances. Introduction As European countries band together to regulate and limit the toxicity of chemicals used in the North Sea, service companies and chemical suppliers will have to respond with "greener," less toxic alternatives. Past practices that were thought to be benign have caused irreversible damage decades after their introduction. Stricter regulations seek to stop the potential for environmental damage. Almost 20 years ago, 22 European countries with interests in the North Sea met at the first of many North Sea conferences to formulate a plan to protect the area. The current conference body is the Paris Commission (PARCOM), ratified in 1978. The body is generally called OSPARCOM since most of the regulations posed by the commission build upon the work of the Oslo Commission, ratified in 1974. The goal of OSPARCOM is to develop regulations that effectively limit the use of hazardous substances in the region. The key countries that have large interests in oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea are the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and The Netherlands. From 1985 to 1995, OSPARCOM regulations produced a 50% reduction in the input of hazardous substances directly into the sea or through rivers or estuaries and contaminated precipitation. Most of this reduction can be traced to the discontinuing of the use of oil-based drilling fluids in the late 1980's. Most OSPARCOM decisions and recommendations indicate a thrust toward the elimination of all harmful substances. The key member countries determine the suitability of chemical substances. All countries with interests in the North Sea have developed systems that require the declaration of the intended amounts of chemicals to be used with the estimated discharge criteria before issuing necessary permits. The challenge to service companies and chemical suppliers is to find the acceptable and effective chemical treatments that satisfy both the environmental regulations and the technological needs of the well. Technological application has always been the driving force in the development of new products. The rise in the number of regulations means that companies will need to fulfill regulatory requirements in the earliest stages of product development. Meeting the Regulations To meet the standards of different country regulations, service companies can adopt the Best Available Technology (BAT) concept. P. 883
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (1.00)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea (1.00)
- Europe > North Sea (1.00)
- (3 more...)
- North America > United States > Ohio > Denmark Field (0.89)
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (0.89)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea (0.89)
- (3 more...)
Oil Contamination of Fish in the North Sea. Determination of Levels and Identification of Sources. Abstract Two fish species, cod and haddock have been sampled from five different regions in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, the Haltenbanken and the Barents Sea. Three of the five sampling areas were located in regions with no local oil or gas production, while the remaining two areas represented regions with high density of oil and gas production fields. A total of 25 specimen of each of the two fish species were collected, and liver (all samples) and muscle (10 samples from each group) were analysed for the content of total hydrocarbons (THC), selected aromatic compounds (NPD and PAH) and bicyclic aliphatic decalines. The present paper outlines the results of liver samples analyses from four of the sampled regions, the northern North Sea region and the three reference regions Egersundbanken, Haltenbanken and the Barents Sea. In general, no significant difference was observed between the hydrocarbon levels within the sampled regions. The only observed exception was a moderate, but significant increase in decaline levels in haddock liver from the Northern North Sea region. The qualitative interpretation of the results showed that the sources of hydrocarbon contamination varied within the total sampling area. This observation indicates that the local discharge sources in areas with high petroleum production activity are the sources of hydrocarbons in fish from such areas. However, it was not possible to identify single discharges as a contamination source from the present results. Introduction Determination of levels oh total hydrocarbons (THC) and selected PAH in fish was originally included in the regular environmental monitoring programme for offshore petroleum installations in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. In a work shop hosted by SFT (the Norwegian State Pollution Control) in 1988, these analyses were left out of the monitoring guide-lines. This decision was made as a result of the lack of available standardised analytical methods for determining such compounds in a biological matrix, and, the fact that the results presented in the annual reports were of relatively low quality regarding precision and accuracy. The lack of good reference material in the monitoring surveys for this purpose was also a prominent factor in this decision. In 1989, the Marine Research Institute (MRI) performed a study where fish caught in the vicinity of the Statfjord field was analysed for hydrocarbon content and potential tainting (Palmork et al. 1989) The conclusion of this work was that the fish was indeed contaminated by oil from drill cuttings discharged in the area. P. 207
- Europe > United Kingdom > North Sea (1.00)
- Europe > North Sea (1.00)
- Europe > Netherlands > North Sea (1.00)
- (2 more...)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Materials > Chemicals > Commodity Chemicals > Petrochemicals (0.67)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea > Northern North Sea > North Viking Graben > PL 104 > Block 30/9 > Oseberg Field > Tarbert Formation (0.99)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea > Northern North Sea > North Viking Graben > PL 104 > Block 30/9 > Oseberg Field > Oseberg Formation (0.99)
- Europe > Norway > North Sea > Northern North Sea > North Viking Graben > PL 079 > Block 30/9 > Oseberg Field > Tarbert Formation (0.99)
- (16 more...)
Abstract The western offshore oil activities contribute significantly to nation's hydrocarbon requirement. The increased activities of exploration, exploitation processing, handling, transportation, accentuate the risk of oil spillage by accident, human error, equipment failure in operation or natural calamity. Thus the spill of oil into the sea is an inevitable phenomenon that causes serious problem both to marine ecology & oil installations by increasing the risk of fire hazards. The present communique analyses the plausible causes of oil spill & highlights the development of an environmental protection technique that may be applicable to Indian waters. It also exposes all the scientific facts concerning the combatment of oil slick, especially the data base development & analysis system. Experimental part of the problem has been systematically studied through synergistic bench scale models. The weathering behaviour so studied, was conformed on test slicks in Arabian open sea. The test oil behaved typically having high wax content with low natural combatment features viz. low dispersion & evaporation both below l0% under controlled simulated environment. Further studies indicated that the use of chemical enhanced methodology has limited application as toxicity of test crude may increase many folds. Efforts have also been made to develop; two predictive models for the area which can be used as a tool for planning an oil spill clean-up strategy. These comprehensive models when integrated can predict the probable contamination, identify low & high sensitive areas and periods in a year and quantum of oil left at any moment for a large oil slick etc. An emerging technology, net boom with woven socks collection system has been attempted in open sea. Initial field trial is encouraging & speaks about the complete solution to the existing problem with minimal secondary effects. P. 525^
- North America > United States (1.00)
- Asia (1.00)
Abstract In a joint Industry program, the composition and the environmental risk of produced water discharges on the Dutch Continental Shelf was investigated, along with the investigation of existing heavy metal removal technology potentially suitable for offshore application. On fifteen gas platforms and four oil platforms on the Dutch Continental Shelf samples have been taken of produced water, which subsequently were analyzed for general physical/chemical waste water characteristics, oil and oil related compounds, mono- and poly-cyclichydrocarbons, other organics, heavy metals and radionuclides. The environmental risk of produced water discharges was evaluated on the basis of acute toxicity data from bio-assays, of data of individual compounds, fate determination and bio-accumulation. Finally, existing/proven technology capable of reducing volatile hydrocarbons (BTEX) and/or heavy metal content from produced water and that was potentially suitable for offshore application was investigated. The following conclusions can be drawn from the program results:–the general composition is presented in table 1; –the concentrations of chemical constituents in gas produced water are considerably higher than those in oil produced water; –gas produced water may be considered as moderately to practically non-toxic, according to the GESAMP* classification; –acute toxicity expressed as median lethal or effect concentration may vary over more than three orders of magnitude; –a dilution of 3.000 is required for gas platform produced water to attain the lowest 96-hr no-effect-concentration for the acute toxicity for the most sensitive species; for gas platform produced water the dilution of 3.000 will be reached within 7 mins. at a distance of 50 - 300 m from the point of discharge. –no existing suitable technology for heavy metal removal was identified; for removal of BTEX, air stripping seems to be a promising method. *Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution. Introduction The Dutch National Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP) issued in 1989/1990 proposed to set up so called Target Group Discussions (TGD) between relevant Government departments and the Target Groups i.e. the various sectors of business, industry and consumers etc. The Netherlands Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Association (NOGEPA) was recognized by the Dutch Government as a Target Group, in 1990. Under the Target Group Discussions umbrella, the necessity, technical possibilities and costs of reduction measures for emissions to air, discharges to water, waste generation, soil contamination, etc. are discussed on an integral basis. Late in 1990, a number of Project Groups were established under this TGD umbrella to assess the environmental impact of a particular emission. The Project Group on Offshore Produced Water investigated the environmental risks of produced water, in particular the risk related to the discharge of aromatic hydrocarbons, trace elements, radionuclides and state of the art technology for the reduction of heavy metals and aromatics. P. 391^
- Materials > Chemicals > Commodity Chemicals > Petrochemicals (1.00)
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Water & Waste Management > Water Management > Lifecycle > Discharge (0.97)