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Download a Full PDF of Petroleum and the Environment Petroleum and the Environment Edith Allison and Ben Mandler The American Geosciences Institute Petroleum and the Environment Edith Allison and Ben Mandler Petroleum and the Environment Cover photos: clockwise from top-left: Oil Rig, Williston Oil Edith Allison and Ben Mandler Field, North Dakota, Lindsey Gira, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia ISBN: 978-1721175468 Commons; Alyeska Pipeline at mile 562, Alaska, Copyright © Larry Fellows, Arizona Geological Survey; Los Angeles © 2018 American Geosciences Institute. highways, ©Shutterstock.com/S. Borisov; Petrochemical Published and printed in the United States of America. All Plant, Corpus Christi, Texas, ©Shutterstock.com/Trong rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced Nguyen. Cover background: ©Shutterstock.com/Sergey or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or Nivens. mechanical, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without the expressed written consent of the publisher. Design by Brenna Tobler, AGI Graphic Designer, and Ben Mandler, AGI Critical Issues Program. For more information on the American Geosciences Institute and its publications, check us out at store. americangeosciences.org. Contact: Ben Mandler, Schlumberger Senior Researcher American Geosciences Institute 4220 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302 www.americangeosciences.org [email protected] (703) 379-2480, ext. 226 AGI Critical Issues Program: www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues i Petroleum and the Environment Supported by the AAPG Foundation. © 2018 American Geosciences Institute Written by E. Allison and B. Mandler for AGI, 2018 Acknowledgments This publication benefited from the expertise of many reviewers from different sectors all over the United States. Thank you to our internal AGI reviewers: Allyson Anderson Book, Maeve Boland, Kelly Kryc, and Cassaundra Rose; and to our external review- ers: Donna S. Anderson, Kevin Book, James Cooper, Carol Frost, Ryan Hill, David Houseknecht, Kerry Klein, Jennifer Miskimins, Jacques Rousseau, Steven Schamel, and four anonymous reviewers. Additional information from Timothy Zebulske (Bureau of Land Management) helped in the production of the Pinedale case study, and Tracey Mercier (U.S. Geological Survey) provided higher-resolution graphics for Part 5: Using Produced Water. Thank you to the California Department of Public Health, the Environmental Defense Fund, Northeast Natural Energy, the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Utah Geological Survey, and the Texas Oil and Gas Association for permission to reproduce additional images. And finally, thanks to Bridget Scanlon, David Houseknecht, John Fontana, Katherine Saad, Sherilyn Williams-Stroud, Steven Dade, and Susan Nissen for kindly sharing their stories in Part 24: Geoscientists in Petroleum and the Environment. This work was supported by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation. AGI Critical Issues Program: www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues ii Petroleum and the Environment Supported by the AAPG Foundation. © 2018 American Geosciences Institute Written by E. Allison and B. Mandler for AGI, 2018 Foreword The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) represents and serves the geoscience community by pro- viding collaborative leadership and information to connect Earth, science, and people. In 2003, AGI, in cooperation with our member societies and several federal agencies, released a publication called Petroleum and the Environment to give the general public, educators, and policy makers a better under- standing of environmental concerns related to petroleum resources. In the years that followed, the shale boom yielded a huge increase in domestic energy production, which came with new environmental challenges, opportunities, and uncertainties. We realized that our 2003 publication no longer provided the breadth or depth of information needed to understand how today’s oil and gas operations interact with the environment. This update to the original Petroleum and the Environment provides a completely rewritten overview of many environmental considerations associated with current practices as of 2018 in oil and gas explo- ration, production, processing, refining, transportation, and use. Designed as a series of factsheets that can be read individually or as a single publication, online or in print, this update is an accessible and impartial explanation of a complex subject. It can serve as a starting point for someone interested in learning more about petroleum and the environment, or as a reference work. We gratefully acknowledge funding from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Founda- tion, which made this publication possible. I would also like to recognize Edie Allison, an experienced petroleum geologist and writer, and Ben Mandler, from AGI, who collaborated to write and produce this revised version of Petroleum and the Environment. Eve Sprunt President, American Geosciences Institute, 2017-2018 AGI Critical Issues Program: www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues iii Petroleum and the Environment Supported by the AAPG Foundation. © 2018 American Geosciences Institute Written by E. Allison and B. Mandler for AGI, 2018 Foreword For more than fifty years the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Foundation has focused on advancing the science of geology, particularly petroleum geology, by supporting educa- tional and research programs to benefit the geoscience profession and the public. Petroleum, both oil and natural gas, form the base of our energy infrastructure, which provides the foundation for modern society. There is a strong correlation between energy consumption and eco- nomic growth. And as nations seek to provide better lives for their citizens and coming generations, it’s essential that they have access to affordable, reliable energy supplies developed and produced in an environmentally-responsible manner. The AAPG Foundation is pleased to support this publication by the American Gesociences Institute that seeks to enhance public understanding of petroleum resources and their relation to environmental, human, and societal health. David Curtiss Executive Director, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation AGI Critical Issues Program: www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues iv Petroleum and the Environment Supported by the AAPG Foundation. © 2018 American Geosciences Institute Written by E. Allison and B. Mandler for AGI, 2018 Contents Part Title 1 Petroleum and the Environment: an Introduction 2 Water in the Oil and Gas Industry 3 Induced Seismicity from Oil and Gas Operations 4 Water Sources for Hydraulic Fracturing 5 Using Produced Water 6 Groundwater Protection In Oil and Gas Production 7 Abandoned Wells 8 What Determines the Location of a Well? 9 Land Use in the Oil and Gas Industry 10 The Pinedale Gas Field, Wyoming 11 Heavy Oil 12 Oil and Gas in the U.S. Arctic 13 Offshore Oil and Gas 14 Spills in Oil and Natural Gas Fields 15 Transportation of Oil, Gas, and Refined Products 16 Oil Refining and Gas Processing 17 Non-Fuel Products of Oil and Gas 18 Air Quality Impacts of Oil and Gas 19 Methane Emissions in the Oil and Gas Industry 20 Mitigating and Regulating Methane Emissions 21 U.S. Regulation of Oil and Gas Operations 22 Health and Safety in Oil and Gas Extraction 23 Subsurface Data in the Oil and Gas Industry 24 Geoscientists in Petroleum and Environment Glossary of Terms References AGI Critical Issues Program: www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues v Petroleum and the Environment Supported by the AAPG Foundation. © 2018 American Geosciences Institute Written by E. Allison and B. Mandler for AGI, 2018 Petroleum and the Environment Part 1 Petroleum and the Environment: an Introduction Relationships between oil and gas and the environment in historical context Introduction Despite rapid advances in renewable energy technologies, in When oil and gas were first extracted and used on an industrial 2016 oil and gas accounted for two thirds of U.S. energy con- scale in the 19th century, they provided significant advantages sumption1 and over half of all the energy consumed worldwide.2 over existing fuels: they were cleaner, easier to transport, and more Annual U.S. oil and gas production is expected to increase versatile than coal and biomass (wood, waste, and whale oil). Diesel beyond 2040.3 Developments in policy, technology, and public and gasoline derived from oil revolutionized the transportation opinion may change this trend, but oil and gas will likely play sector. Through developments in chemical engineering, oil and a fundamental role in U.S. and global energy production and gas also provided the raw materials for a vast range of useful consumption for much of the 21st century. products, from plastics to fertilizers and medicines. By the 20th century, oil and gas had become essential resources for modern How can the environmental and public health risks of the energy life: as both fuel and raw material, the versatility and abundance of sector be minimized while ensuring a consistent and abundant oil and gas helped to facilitate unprecedented economic growth energy supply? An important step in addressing environmental and improved human health around the world. and health concerns is understanding the risks and the options 100 Other Renewable Nuclear 80 Hydroelectric Natural Gas Consumption 60 btu) gy 40 (Quad Petroleum 20 S. Primary Ener Coal U. 0 Biomass 1850 1870 1890 1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2010 Year Sources of
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