Drilling Investments
Recent News & Issues
Peak Oil Paradigm ShiftPeak Oil Paradigm Shift
- OPEC, peak oil and the end of cheap gas
- Caribbean country Jamaica switching sugarcane to methanol production
- 10 Steps In 10 Years to 100 % Renewable Energy
- Caribbean Leaders Betting on Renewable Energy
- Legendary Texas Oilman Bets on Wind Power
Nickle's Daily Oil Bulletin
Canada's latest Oil and Gas industry news
- Hebron Agreement Signed; First Oil Could Come In Under A Decade
- Transeuro Appoints New Director
- Antrim Announces Closing Of Over-Allotment Option
- Goldman Reiterates $149 Per Bbl End-2008 Oil Forecast
- McCain Campaigns For Off-Shore Drilling On Gulf Rig
- Cardium Well Granted GPP
- Brink Acquisition Terminated, Says Kodiak
- Goldnev Reports Initial Oil Shale Exploration Results
- Shell Canada Receives Regulatory Approvals For Duvernay Acquisition
- Verona Acquires Gainsborough Properties For $10.75 Million
- Divided Highway 63 Opens North Of Fort McMurray
- Albian Sands Accommodation Joint Venture Planned
- Iceland To Offer Offshore Oil And Gas Licenses
- Petrobras To Test Connection Of Subsalt Fields
- Ithaca Raises $75 Million
AME Info | Energy, Oil and Gas
Energy, Oil and Gas news and features
- Kuwait extends date for bids on contract
- Oil rises for a third day
- Masdar begins work on $230m photovoltaic plant
- Kuwait to invest $1.3bn in power generation
- Iraq to sign $1.2bn deal with China
Monitoring success and making progress
In a production facility control room, the facility’s managers look daily at environmental data, using it to make decisions that minimize the facility’s effect on the environment.
Greenhouse gases are one consideration. For example, emissions from gas flaring contribute to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. At some sites, these flares burn excess gases, and we monitor them to ensure they burn safely and with minimal effect on the environment. Meanwhile, new methods that require less or even no flaring are in the works.
Discharges into water are another concern. Water that comes up with oil and gas from the reservoirs is purified in a special facility before being returned to the sea, but cleansing the ‘mud’ and rock cuttings recovered during drilling is much more difficult. Often these are shipped to land for processing and safe disposal.
What goes up must come down
A production platform is not a permanent structure. Our platforms are built to be strong, but they’re also built to be taken apart cleanly and effectively when they are no longer needed.
Decommissioning a large facility can take two years or more. Careful planning is needed, and where appropriate, we ask governments and local experts to advise on the best possible approach. Some facilities can be moved to a new location for a second life. Others must be dismantled piece by piece, although we aim to recycle or reuse close to 100% of the pieces.