Fate And Effects Of Nearshore Discharges Of Ocs Produced Waters Vol2

This volume constitutes the proceedings of the Produced Water Seminar held in Trondheim, Norway, in September 1995. Hosted by Statoil Research and Development and IKU Petroleum Research, the seminar was an update of the 1992 seminar of the same title held in San Diego, California (Ray and Engelhardt, 1992). Produced water remains the largest volume waste stream from oil and gas production offshore. In the North and Norwegian Seas, produced water volumes are projected to increase significantly over the coming decades, as oil reservoirs near depletion. These releases are therefore the focus of continuing environmental concern. The purpose of this seminar was to provide a forum for scientists, legislators, and industrial and environmental representatives to share recent information and research results, and to encourage cooperative pursuit of solutions in the future. The success of the seminar, and the quality of this volume, are due in large part to the many authors from around the world who presented almost 50 posters and papers focused on environmental issues and mitigation technologies. In addition, we wish to acknowledge the contributions of the local and international organizing committees. Local Committee Asbj0fg 0verli and Heidi Torp, Statoil Egil Wanvik and Laila S. Olden, IKU Petroleum Research International Committee James P. Ray, Shell Chemical and Petroleum Products Companies Alexis E. Steen, American Petroleum Institute Theodor C. Sauer, Battelle Ocean Sciences Steven A. Flynn, British Petroleum Martin C. Th. Scholten, TNO Kjell Lohne, Statoil Ingvild Martinsen, Norwegian Pollution Control Authority.

A state-of-the-art review of scientific knowledge on the environmental risk of ocean discharge of produced water and advances in mitigation technologies. In offshore oil and gas operations, produced water (the water produced with oil or gas from a well) accounts for the largest waste stream (in terms of volume discharged). Its discharge is continuous during oil and gas production and typically increases in volume over the lifetime of an offshore production platform. Produced water discharge as waste into the ocean has become an environmental concern because of its potential contaminant content. Environmental risk assessments of ocean discharge of produced water have yielded different results. For example, several laboratory and field studies have shown that significant acute toxic effects cannot be detected beyond the "point of discharge" due to rapid dilution in the receiving waters. However, there is some preliminary evidence of chronic sub-lethal impacts in biota associated with the discharge of produced water from oil and gas fields within the North Sea. As the composition and concentration of potential produced water contaminants may vary from one geologic formation to another, this conference also highlights the results of recent studies in Atlantic Canada.

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. The Gulf of Mexico is an open and dynamic marine ecosystem rich in natural resources but heavily impacted by human activities, including agricultural, industrial, commercial and coastal development. The Gulf of Mexico has been continuously exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons for millions of years from natural oil and gas seeps on the sea floor, and more recently from oil drilling and production activities located in the water near and far from shore. Major accidental oil spills in the Gulf are infrequent; two of the most significant include the Ixtoc I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in 1979 and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010. Unfortunately, baseline assessments of the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before these spills either were not available, or the data had not been systematically compiled in a way that would help scientists assess the potential short-term and long-term effects of such events. This 2-volume series compiles and summarizes thousands of data sets showing the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Volume 1 covers: water and sediment quality and contaminants in the Gulf; natural oil and gas seeps in the Gulf of Mexico; coastal habitats, including flora and fauna and coastal geology; offshore benthos and plankton, with an analysis of current knowledge on energy capture and energy flows in the Gulf; and shellfish and finfish resources that provide the basis for commercial and recreational fisheries.