ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT BARDOLINO DEVELOPMENT

Bardolino Development Environmental Statement
Activity / Source of
Potential Impact
1. Well Engineering, continued
1.6 Gaseous emissions
from well clean-up and
testing
1.7 Gaseous emissions
from power generation
on drilling rig or vessels
1.8 Discharge to sea
of drainage water or
sewage from the
drilling rig
Possible Environmental Effects Prevention, Control & Mitigation Measures
• The combustion of reservoir fluids flowed
during clean-up for each well would
release gaseous emissions to the
atmosphere. These could contribute to
global processes such as global warming,
acid rain deposition and low level ozone
formation (cumulative and trans-boundary
effects).
• The burning of diesel fuel on the drilling
rig and support vessels would release
gaseous emissions to atmosphere.
• This could lead to deterioration in air
quality in the immediate vicinity of the
exhaust outlets.
• Gaseous emissions could also contribute
to global processes such as global
warming, acid deposition and low-level
ozone formation (cumulative and transboundary
impacts).
• The discharge of cleaned oily drainage
water from the rig’s machinery space
drainage system would introduce oil into
the sea.
• The discharge to sea of macerated
sewage from the rig’s domestic sewage
system, would cause localized organic
enrichment in the vicinity of the discharge
location.
• The well clean-up procedures would aim to
minimise the amount of product flowed. It is
planned that each combined clean-up and welltest
would take no longer than 48 hours at a
maximum of 15,000 bbl of oil with an expected
GOR of 870 scf/bbl.
• No extended well test or clean-up is planned
and it is likely that the quantities flared will be
no more that 8,000 bbls.
• Highly efficient flare burners would be used, to
minimise drop-out and reduce the formation of
black smoke.
• All engines, generators and other combustion
plant would be well maintained and correctly
operated, to ensure that they were working as
efficiently as possible to minimise emissions.
• There would be systems in place on the rig to
ensure that drainage discharges complied with
MARPOL. This requires that the rig must be
fitted with oil-water separation and filtration
equipment, to ensure that the concentration of
oil in any discharged water is less than 15ppm.
• The rig would have UK or International Oil
Pollution Prevention certification for its drainage
systems.
• Sewage would be macerated on the rig to aid
biological breakdown once discharged into the
sea.
• Significance Rating (refer Table 5.3
Page 5-8 April 2008
for key)
Moderate – See Section 6
• In the exposed and generally windy conditions offshore,
the gaseous emissions would disperse rapidly after
release, thus ensuring there was no local cumulative
effect.
• The emissions from well clean-up and testing would make
a very small contribution to world-wide levels of
atmospheric contaminants, when compared to other
industrial sources.
Minor – See Section 6
• In the exposed and generally windy conditions offshore,
the gaseous emissions would disperse rapidly after
release, thus ensuring there was no local cumulative
effect.
• The gaseous emissions that would arise from power
generation processes on the drilling rig and associated
vessels would make a very small contribution to worldwide
levels of atmospheric contaminants, when compared
to other industrial sources.
Minor
• Only small volumes of drainage water would be
discharged from the rig’s machinery space, and the
concentration of oil would be low.
• In the generally energetic conditions offshore in the North
Sea, such small volumes of water would be rapidly
dispersed and diluted.
• At the offshore location, the small volumes of macerated
sewage would be rapidly dispersed in the water column
and be insignificant in terms of organic enrichment.