AIE has conducted an assessment of the environmental impacts related to produced water treatment and disposal at one of our client’s facilities. This work has provided insights into the impacts, risks and uncertainties associated with the disposal of produced water by reinjection at the facility and sets out practical and sustainable options for improving the management and monitoring of this activity.
‘Produced water’ is water that comes out of the oil or gas reservoir as part of the production process. It can vary in composition greatly depending on the reservoir geology, hydrocarbon properties and production techniques. It typically contains a range of contaminants from traces of hydrocarbons to naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM), scales, dissolved salts, production chemicals, dissolved aromatic hydrocarbons and various metals. As such, it poses many challenges in terms of treatment and responsible disposal.
The assessment began with reviewing documents on legal requirements that included any laws on industry discharges as well as international practices on produced water discharge. The magnitude of the impact of produced water discharge by the facility along with the sensitivity of nearby environmental receptors were then evaluated to determine the significance of this impact. A risk assessment was also performed to work out the level of risk associated with this activity.
The recommendations from the assessment included proposals to reduce injection well integrity failure risks, increase certainty around confinement of the water in target disposal zones, obtain representative data on the water quality and implement monitoring programs.
The assessment being conducted is part of AIE’s new Sustainability Services line – which complements our existing operational management and integrity offering. Utilising our core strengths and industry knowledge, we support companies within the energy sector in achieving more responsible and sustainable operations.
AIE has extensive experience working with heavy industry across the MENA region in countries such as the UAE, Oman, Algeria, Qatar, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. This regional knowledge coupled with our deep technical and software expertise puts AIE in a unique position to work with clients to develop and deliver sustainable solutions.
Neil Flemming, AIE’s Managing Director commented, “We are excited to be supporting our clients reduce their environmental impacts and manage their operations more sustainably. AIE remains at the forefront of the changes taking place in the energy industry and our technical expertise, software and evaluation tools are the perfect combination to help define and operationalize sustainability into our clients’ businesses.”