[ad_1]
ExxonMobil has not yet decided what to do with produced water from its seventh project
…means that no discharge of water will take place unless the requirements of the environmental permit are met
Kaieteur News – Rebecca Cvikota, Exxon Guyana global projects cost engineering manager, said at the opening of public consultations on Exxon’s seventh project, Hammerhead, that they would not commit to treating produced water in any specific way.
Rebecca Cvikota, Global Project Cost Engineering Manager, Exxon Guyana
The publication asked the official if the company had plans to re-inject water produced from the project, and if not, could she explain what the impact on sea level rise would be if it wasn’t re-injected. She said, “Produced water has been an issue that we’ve been deeply involved in, and we’ve worked very closely with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Natural Resources to study it, evaluate it, and look at it. So, we’re still in the early stages for the Hammerhead project, and I’m not going to commit to treating the produced water in any specific way. What I will say now is that the studies that we’re doing inform such decisions, and it’s international practice to discharge produced water into the sea.” Cvikota explained that the water is treated, and they won’t discharge any water unless it meets the requirements of the environmental permit and is adequately treated. “It’s part of our practice and it’s one of the things that we monitor closely to make sure we’re operating safely,” she added.
Produced water is liquid extracted during the oil extraction process. Produced water contains dissolved mineral salts and may also be mixed with organic compounds such as acids, waxes and mineral oils. The U.S. Department of Energy pointed out in a research report that produced water may also be mixed with inorganic metals and byproducts, or trace amounts of heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive materials. The temperature of produced water is also usually very high, which can be fatal to marine life.
Because the substance is toxic, it is better to reinject it into the wells, although this can be an expensive exercise. ExxonMobil has previously warned of the dangers of discharging produced water into the ocean in environmental impact assessments for six of its previously approved projects. The amount of produced water discharged varies from project to project. For example, the sixth project, Whiptail, will produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day, but will also generate 200,000 barrels of produced water per day, which will be discharged into the ocean.
On the other hand, the fifth project, Uaru, is designed to produce 250,000 b/d and will discharge 300,000 b/d of produced water. Before the produced water is discharged offshore, it needs to be treated on the FPSO as required by the EPA to ensure it meets industry standards. The license granted by the regulator to ExxonMobil requires the operator to treat the substance to ensure that “the oil content specification of the produced water to be discharged does not exceed 42 mg/l per day or 29 mg/l per month on average”.
Dr. Ulric Trotz was interviewed Kaieteur News Earlier this year, he stressed the need for strict monitoring of these discharges by the EPA. “Pollution of any kind should not be allowed to occur in a pristine marine environment that provides so much for our livelihoods, for our fishermen, for our own nutritious diets as we rely on marine sources of protein, and that supports so much marine life, think of the turtle nesting facilities on Shell Beach – anything that disturbs that environment is not in our interest,” he said.
ExxonMobil’s admission
ExxonMobil acknowledged that discharges from the seventh project could affect water quality and harm marine species and wildlife. This information was included in the project summary submitted by ExxonMobil to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The regulator has since directed the company to conduct a thorough Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to study the possible damage to the environment caused by the project. This study will also highlight measures to mitigate these harmful effects.
According to a project summary seen by The Times, “The project may have localized impacts on marine water quality in the project development area due to drill cuttings discharges, routine operations and hydrographic testing discharges. The project may impact marine water quality in the project area of interest (AOI) due to unconventional, unplanned events such as spills or releases.” Drill cuttings and drilling fluid discharges during drilling of development wells, wastewater discharges of cooling water and produced water, hydrographic testing discharges and unconventional, unplanned events such as spills could result in the release of hazardous materials that could affect marine life. ExxonMobil said that “increases in total suspended solids concentrations, chemical concentrations or temperature in the water column could affect marine water quality and marine habitat quality and impact wildlife.”
Fisheries
Meanwhile, speaking on the thorny issue of the project’s impact on fisheries, Mariya Skocik, Environmental and Regulatory Manager for ExxonMobil’s Guyana Project, explained when asked about it that over the years they have “conducted several studies on the fishery, especially since 2018. Over six years, we have visited several fisheries and conducted multiple rounds of studies. The results we have seen are consistent with our previous environmental impact assessments.”
Furthermore, she said: “We mentioned in our presentation that these facilities are about 200 km from the coast, so any minor impacts that may occur are limited to that geographical location. Therefore, in our study, we did not find any increase in near-shore impacts.”
She also noted that if the livelihoods of fishermen are affected, “there is a mechanism to submit these complaints and a process to enforce them.” Kemraj Parsram, executive director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), revealed that the operator of the oil-rich Stabroek block has been providing information to the regulator on the concentration of oil in the treated oil. water Daily discharge.
In an interview with the Energy Viewpoint Podcast, Parsram shared the progress the agency has made in the past three years, especially in regulating the booming oil industry. Parsram noted that the EPA will launch a third water quality sensor in late December 2023 to monitor surface water. According to him, “This is our primary surface water Waters And offshore. The plan is to install these sensors to measure water quality or measure pollutants in water, surface water, rivers, and we can actually see in real time in our office or on our phone the quality of these parameters – things like turbidity, temperature, pH, total dissolved solids – these are key parameters that indicate the health of our Waters”
He said the system is funded by the Government of Guyana (GoG) through a grant to the agency. Currently, sensors are located in Bartica, Demerara River and Saksacali; another sensor will be placed in Kaieteur National Park or This is Oklahoma Center. Pasram said that in the future, the deployment of sensors will be expanded.
related
[ad_2]
Source link
