Environmental Protection in the Petroleum Industry
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10.3 Environmental protection in the petroleum industry 10.3.1 Introduction whole, the world is witnessing an internationalization of environmental controls, as international law-making The Oil and Gas (O&G) industry, by its very nature, is on environmental matters is becoming more environmentally intrusive. Various environmental centralized, thus reducing the room for standard problems arise throughout the entire petroleum cycle, setting at the individual state level. including upstream and downstream phases, but they International regulations, primarily in the form of especially occur at the stage of O&G Exploration and various international treaties, often directly or Production (E&P) and transportation. The indirectly determine (through the process of national international petroleum industry is encountering implementation), both the content of national increasing pressure from governments and civil regulations, and the general conduct of states and the society for continued enhancement of its performance industry. At the global level, there is a large group of from the point of view of limiting its impact on the binding instruments as well as numerous soft law environment. (non-binding) type documents of relevance to the oil Posing a serious challenge to the O&G industry and gas industry. The most important of these will be are: a) demands for significant reduction of hazardous discussed in this paper, which will provide an in-depth wastes at source; b) more stringent regulation of analysis of some selected areas of international discharges and emissions from petroleum production environmental regulation of particular concern to the installations and refineries; c) stricter controls of oil E&P activities. This will be followed by a more transportation by ships and pipelines; and d) general overview of the national environmental legal rehabilitation of the production sites upon frameworks and industry-specific environmental abandonment and increased energy efficiency. At the management practices. same time, international petroleum companies are exposed to a rapidly growing body of international and national regulations, standards and various guidelines, 10.3.2 Environmental impact as well as to risks associated with environmental of the petroleum industry litigation. Three main levels of regulation can be identified O&G activities always entail certain environmental within the complex and intertwined web of effects, or impacts, at local, regional and even global environmental norms and standards that currently level. These impacts vary depending on the type of exist: international (global and regional); national; and activity – petroleum E&P, transportation by ships or corporate self-regulation in the form of industry-wide pipelines, refining, processing of crude oil and gas or individual company guidelines. The balance products and burning of fossil fuels for energy between various levels of regulation and their relative production, as well as its scale, location (onshore or importance primarily depends on the type and nature offshore) and the nature and sensitivity of the of activity in question. The higher the potential for surrounding environment. international implications – whether in the form of Petroleum E&P activities are accompanied by a pollution or any other transboundary effect – the more variety of operational discharges, some of which are prominent the role played by international law. On the more harmful than others. At the E&P stage, most of VOLUME IV / HYDROCARBONS: ECONOMICS, POLICIES AND LEGISLATION 507 INTERNATIONAL LAW the impact is relatively localized, but may acquire a submarine petroleum pipelines’ construction and transboundary dimension in the case, for example, of operation have the potential for a variety of an offshore development. Seismic operations and environmental impacts, from the destruction of exploratory drilling are usually associated with noise, habitats and clearance of vegetation during the vibration, various disturbances of the local construction, to oil spillages and leakages resulting environment – including vegetation and wildlife – soil from possible pipeline ruptures due to natural and erosion and changes in surface hydrology. Onshore man-related causes. The impact of thousands of activities may require construction of roads and construction workers on the local environment during vegetation clearance over significant territories. several years of construction can be massive. During exploration drilling, discharges are mostly Trenching for buried submarine pipelines creates composed of drilling fluids and cuttings, which may major impact on the benthos environment and habitats. contain hydrocarbons and surface-active chemicals. Impact on wetlands and surface water bodies may be Similarly, produced waters at varying degrees of particularly serious. salinity are discharged. Disposal of waste, atmospheric At the stage of processing oil and gas, petroleum emissions and discharges of effluents, containing oil, refineries and petroleum distribution systems generate chemicals and other harmful substances is a common a series of different kinds of hazardous wastes. environmental problem. These may also contain Refining operations produce wastes from each step of hydrocarbons and residual treatment fluids. Although the refining process: both water and sludges impact during this stage of operations is usually contaminated with petroleum, hazardous waste relatively minor and confined in terms of time and containing persistent and toxic contaminants, spent space, it can be substantial in sensitive areas. catalysts (which often contain heavy-metal Impact becomes more pronounced during constituents), as well as atmospheric emissions such as production activities, as this phase involves active benzene, toluene and other toxic air pollutants. recovery of hydrocarbons from producing formations. Finally, petroleum processing – especially burning Operations at the development and production stage of the fossil fuels – is the major source of criteria air often result in increased discharges. This stage is also pollutants: Particulate Matter (PM), carbon dioxide characterized by growing risks of accidental pollution (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), by oil, soil and water contamination from spillage and hydrogen sulphide (H2S), and sulphur dioxide (SO2). leakage. In particular, these emissions lead to two principal Rehabilitation, restoration, reinstatement, environmental problems: long-range transboundary air reclamation of the petroleum E&P sites – including pollution causing acid rain; and more importantly, the disposal of offshore oil platforms – are among the global warming as a result of build-up of the so-called most technically and economically serious problems greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The latter is a which face the petroleum industry in the long-term problem of a truly global proportion, of concern to perspective. As oil fields approach the end of their both international community and global petroleum productive life, the question of what to do with industry. existing structures has to be addressed. Thus, the main environmental media affected by Decommissioning covers: a) cessation of well various oil and gas activities include the atmosphere, operations; b) removal of plant and equipment; aquatic environment (both freshwater and marine), c) removal or partial removal of any fixed or floating terrestrial ecosystems – especially structures; d) removal or stabilization of drill cuttings; environmentally-sensitive, including wild fauna and e) decommissioning or removal of pipelines; f ) and flora. The primary sources of atmospheric emissions rehabilitation of the seabed, along with any related include combustion processes, gas flaring, fugitive onshore activities (e.g. recycling or stabilization of gases from loading operations, and particulates from waste). Although decommissioning, as such, does not other burning sources. Waste streams from E&P pose serious threats to the environment, abandoned operations, including produced water, drilling fluids, offshore installations can create obstacles for other process and drainage water and so forth affect the uses of the sea – primarily navigation and fishing aquatic environment. Potential impact on terrestrial activities – and their complete removal is seen as the ecosystems, including soil, plant and animal best solution in the majority of cases. communities, arise from construction, contamination At the transportation stage of oil and petroleum as consequence of spills and solid waste disposal, and products, the operational pollution by discharges of other physical disturbances. Consequently, various oily waters and drainage from ships, as well as oil petroleum activities constituting the entire spills resulting from collisions or other accidents hydrocarbon fuel cycle are exposed to environmental involving oil tankers is of primary concern. On-land or regulations – international and national – that deal 508 ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF HYDROCARBONS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY with specific areas of the global environment, such as at the end of the life of petroleum resources, an annual water, air, biodiversity and others. sustainable yield equal to the income portion of the receipts from petroleum resources (Gao, 1998). The overall objective of this approach is to save a portion 10.3.3 International environmental of the state’s wealth for future generations by, among legal frameworks relevant