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Drilling Fluid Waste Management in Drilling For Oil and Gas Wells
Drilling Fluid Waste Management in Drilling For Oil and Gas Wells
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Drilling Fluid Waste Management in Drilling for Oil and Gas Wells
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Drilling operation produces two major wastes which are produced water and drilling waste. The drilling waste
must be properly managed to ensure no impact to the environment and human. The environmental and
human effects of the exposure to drilling waste are discussed in the paper. Different type of drilling fluids has
different composition, which influence the environmental impact of the drilling fluid. Due to the potential impact
to environment and human, there are regulations by the host government and international conventions for
drilling waste management. Generally, oil based drilling fluid is not permitted for offshore disposal and drill
cuttings require treatment before disposal. However, water based drilling fluid is allowed for disposal.
Synthetic based drilling fluid is preferred due to its technical performance and minimum environmental effects.
Main regulations related to environmental and waste management in Malaysia is Environmental Quality Act
and Exclusive Economic Zone Act. There are three options of drilling waste disposal, which are offshore
disposal, onshore disposal and drill cutting re-injections. Offshore disposal is limited by the regulations while
onshore disposal can give additional liability at the disposal site. Drill cuttings re-injection can be a good option
of disposal, with zero discharge to the site. However, not all formation is feasible for the re-injection.
1. Introduction
Drilling wastes are the second largest volume of waste, behind produced water, generated by the oil and gas
exploration and production industry. Based on API (American Petroleum Institute) Survey of Onshore and
Coastal Exploration and Production Operations for 1995, about 150 million barrels of drilling waste were
generated from onshore wells in the United States alone (ICF Consulting, 2000). Drilling process produces
two major wastes, which are drilling fluid waste and drilling cuttings (Onwukwe and Nwakaudu, 2012).
Depending on the depth and diameter of the wellbore, the volume of drilling wastes generated from each well
is different. Typically each well can generate few thousand barrels of drilling waste. With the high volume of
waste generated from drilling operation, it requires a proper waste management and disposal to avoid
pollution and impact to human and environment. Drilling operation can also potentially give impact to the
environment. The most significant impact from drilling operation to the environment is the discharge of drilling
waste including drill cuttings to the seabed. Marine population can also be affected by the discharge of drilling
waste. The toxicity of drilling fluid can cause high mortality to the marine population. Case studies showed the
effect of drilling waste toxicity to the marine population (Gbadebo et al., 2010). The study conducted by
Soegianto et al. (2008) also showed the effect of toxicity due to drilling fluid waste. Drilling waste can also
cause human affect to the workers. The common effect of drilling fluid is skin irritation, contact dermatitis,
coughing and nausea. The understanding and awareness of the effect of improper management of drilling
waste changes the way operators manage the drilling fluid waste. Host governments are also imposing
regulations on drilling fluid management. Besides that, major oil and gas companies such as Shell,
ExxonMobil and PETRONAS set their own standards on how to manage the drilling waste.
Please cite this article as: Ismail A.R., Alias A.H., Sulaiman W.R.W., Jaafar M.Z., Ismail I., 2017, Drilling fluid waste management in drilling for
oil and gas wells, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 56, 1351-1356 DOI:10.3303/CET1756226
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(mineral oil) with 53 % mortality in the solid phase. Besides the toxicity of base fluid, additives such as foralyst
and resinex can contribute to drilling fluid toxicity and pollution. Work by Soegianto et al. (2008), also shows
the effect of drilling fluid to tiger prawn. The results showed that the 96 h LC50 of used drilling fluids ranged
from 30,740 and 78,271 ppm SPP, which is consider high in Indonesian standard of toxicity limit. In this study,
drilling fluids from five fields were tested. From the result, generally mortality increased with increasing drilling
waste concentrations.
One of the most significant environmental threats from drilling fluid waste is heavy metal. Heavy metal in
drilling fluid waste discharge could potentially led to bioaccumulation in aquatic organisms. Studies showed
that the growth of flora and fauna was affected by the toxic heavy metals contamination in the environment (Sil
et al., 2012).
Table 1: Comparison between Malaysia regulations and guidelines with international conventions requirement
Drilling fluid Malaysia Regulations OSPAR Convention MEMAC Convention Barcelona Convention
and Guidelines
WBDF WBDF is allowed for WBDF is allowed for WBDF is allowed for WBDF is allowed for
usage. Cuttings must be usage. usage. Discharge of usage. Discharge must
washed properly before Discharge of WBDF is WBDF without persistentbe at specific and
disposal to sea. allowed. toxins is allowed. approved site.
OBDF Low toxicity OBDF is not OBDF discharge is not OBDF is not allowed for OBDF is allowed for
encouraged (minimised),allowed. usage, unless approved. usage, with prove of
and only for specific hole Discharge is not allowed low toxicity and
problem. Sea disposal at offshore. approved permits by
is not allowed. authority.
SBDF Low toxicity SBDF is SBDF discharge is not SBDF discharge is not Not specified.
allowed for usage. allowed. SBDF cuttings allowed. SBDF cuttings
Sea discharge is not discharge authorised discharge must be with
allowed. based on BAT. approval from authority.
5. Waste Management
Waste management is unique, based on the requirement and conditions of the drilling site. However, the
selection of the options must be taking into consideration all aspects. Zero discharge is the ultimate target of
waste management. Selection of waste management method must consider economics, environmental and
operational aspects of the waste management. Proper waste treatment must be done before any direct
discharge to sea. Sea discharge may prove to be the most economical option, considering immediate cost of
disposal, but the decision must also consider environmental impact, local regulations and operational aspects
such as additional equipment for treatment.
Onshore discharge on the other hand, will give zero discharge at drilling site, but will incur additional cost and
liability at onshore discharge site. Onshore discharge can incur additional logistic and labour cost, which must
be included in the economic evaluation of discharge options. Exposure to human and weather constraint are
some other issues, which need to be evaluated apart from direct economic and environmental impact. At
drilling site such as the North Sea, where weather is unpredictable, transporting drilling waste to onshore site
can be a challenging task. Drill cuttings re-injection is preferred in some area such as North Sea, North Slope
in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, Canada, Venezuela and Indonesia (Guo and Abou-Sayed, 2003). During the
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early years, around 30,000 barrels of slurry can be injected into one well. With the current development,
several millions of slurry can be re-injected into one well (Guo and Geehan, 2007). One of the major
advantages of drill cutting re-injection is zero discharge to the environment. However, not all formation is
suitable for the injection. Assessment and simulation must be done before the drill cutting re-injection take
place. Additional equipment, maintenance and labour cost must also be evaluated for drill cutting re-injection
option.
5.1 API Waste Management
API (American Petroleum Institute) recommends for a waste management system and plan to be available to
ensure proper waste management take place (API, 1997). A waste management plan should:
a. Offer a solid waste plan that is area-specific.
b. Provide proper management guidance for each waste generated in E&P operations.
c. Be written for field operations.
d. Be used to ensure regulatory compliance and environmentally sound management of wastes.
e. Form a basis for training, evaluation, monitoring, and pollution prevention programs.
f. Be periodically reviewed and updated as new practices and options are discovered.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for
funding this project under Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (vote R.J130000.7842.4F437) and Matching
Grant (Q.J130000.3046.00M93).
References
Agwa A., Sadiq R., Leheta H., 2012, Offshore Drilling Waste Discharge: Egyptian Environmental Regulations,
Society of Petroleum Engineers International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference, 11-14 November 2012,
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, DOI:10.2118/161446-MS.
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2003, Environmental Aspects of the Use and Disposal of Non Aqueous Drilling Fluids Associated with
Offshore Oil & Gas Operations, International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, Report no. 342, United
Kingdom.
Broni-Bediako E., Amorin R., 2010, Effects of Drilling Fluid Exposure to Oil and Gas Workers Presented with
Major Areas of Exposure and Exposure Indicators, Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering
and Technology 2 (8), 710-719.
Burke C.J., Veil J.A., 1995, Potential Environmental Benefits From Regulatory Consideration of Synthetic
Drilling Muds, US Department of Energy, Illinois, United States.
CAPP (Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers), 2001, Technical Report: Offshore Drilling Waste
Management Review, Report 2001-0007, Alberta, Canada.
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