WSSD Report FINAL! - OGP

THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY FROM RIO TO JOHANNESBURG AND BEYOND
Waste management
Typical breakdown of consumption of reprocessed used oil in the USA
43%
14%
12%
12%
5%
5%
4%
1%
5%
asphalt plants
industrial boilers (factories)
utility boilers (electric power plants
for schools, homes etc.)
steel mills
cement/lime kilns
marine boilers (tankers or bunker fuel)
pulp and paper mills
commercial boilers (generating heat for
school, offices etc.)
other uses
Used oil can be re-refined over and over again
and is typically subject to the same stringent refining,
compounding and performance standards as
virgin oil. Wide application of this methodology
enables us to extend natural resources and prevent
negative ecological impacts.
Probably the most visible—and occasionally
controversial—aspect of waste management in our
industry is the question of what to do with our
facilities once they have reached the end of their
useful lives. Removal of offshore structures has
posed a particular challenge. It is now widely
accepted—and reflected in international standards—that
the base case in decommissioning is
removal. Consequently, in the past decade many
small structures have been removed to shore,
where much of the material (more than 90 per
cent for some structures) has been re-used or recycled.
Much larger structures, such as the steel and
concrete Maureen platform in the North Sea,
have also been re-floated and taken to land for
recycling. Other decommissioned structures have
been used to construct artificial reefs in coastal
waters to enhance both fisheries and recreation.
On land, too, many industrial sites need rehabilitation.
Our industry takes site remediation
into account from a project’s earliest planning
stages, whether the location is a rain forest or
an inner city site. In the past 10 years, the
industry has developed new approaches to site
remediation, many of which have been adopted
by governments.
Actions speaking louder than words
Case studies on waste management
Letting the sun shine in
In 2000 the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
(ADNOC) completed two major gas projects: Asab
Gas Gathering and Injection and the upstream part of
the Onshore Gas Development Project.
For both, ADNOC’s operating affiliate, Abu Dhabi
Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) employed
a novel method to eliminate the need for venting gas.
This involved the use of solar panels to generate local
power at the remote well sites. This power is then used
to drive the chemical injection pumps as well as the
Solar panels
generate local
power at the remote
well sites.
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