The Impact of the Oil and Gas Exploration/Production/Distribution on the Environment. As an environmental consultant, your role is to provide guidelines and information on issues related to the impact of the oil and gas exploration, production and distribution on the environment. Analyse and discuss how this kind of impact can be prevented, if not, minimised.
Oil and gas exploration is the process of searching hydrocarbon production under the earth’s services, which are mainly known as petroleum products. This process has to be in existence for over a century to sustain the demand of petroleum products that are used in several tasks. Hydrocarbon exploration is categorised in the branch of petroleum geology, which is among the largest mining exploratory processes. Different oil and gas exploration methods are currently exercised in this particular field to ensure that the extraction of petroleum is successful. For any particular areas to be subjected to the exploration, various processes must be undertaken to prove that there are high levels of hydrocarbon deposits. Some of these processes include; magnetic survey, gravity survey and seismic reflection to check whether the sub-surface geology is in large amounts (Howard et al., 2014).
Despite the numerous advantages of oils and gas exploration in the community, there are some negative impacts on the environment. Based on previous research work, the entire process of oil exploration, production and distribution have posed several dangers to the environment, thus causing water, air, and soil pollution. The community has been focusing more on the importance of petroleum production, thus forgetting to handle the negative impacts experienced. Some environmental organisations have developed interventions to deal with such issues, but these plans and methods have gained little support from the authorities (Mariano and La Rovere, 2007). Therefore, this paper will outline the negative effects of exploration, production, and distribution of oil and gas on the atmosphere, specifically of air pollution.
During the exploration of the oil and gas exploration, some emissions reduce the quality of the air in the surrounding environment. These emissions are as a results dust produced from the vehicles moving around the place, earth movers used, seismic surveys, testing, and completion of the wells. There are also pollutants that are emitted into the space such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxide, particulates, carbon monoxide among other volatile organic compounds. Some of these compounds combine to create ground ozone such as the volatile organic compounds and the nitrogen oxides (Jean-Pierre and Favennec, 2011). Dangers are also posted by the distribution processes, which includes the piping leakages and spillages from trucks.
Fire tragedies have been frequently observed as a result of these spillages, thus leading to the emission of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. In the petroleum production firms, the refining process of turning crude oil into petroleum products leads to the emission of toxins into the environment that is dangerous to the living things (TEEIC, 2014). The machines that are used in the exploration and production companies produces a lot of sounds that caused to noise pollution. People living in these areas are at risk of suffering from hearing problems because these sounds are unfriendly. Blasting, seismic activities, drilling, earth movers and traffic are among the sources of the noise.
Carbon dioxide is produced in the process of burning gasoline, thus increasing the volume of greenhouse gases atmosphere, which increases the rate of global warming. The natural oil and gas processes lead to the emission of methane gas into the environment, due to incomplete combustion. Although, the rate of oil and gas combustion cannot be compared with coal, carbon dioxide, and methane gases are emitted in the processes. Based on environmental research works, methane contributes the highest percentage of air pollution in the society.
Other hazardous air pollutants result from the oil and gas operation such as certain hydrocarbons and sulphide. Among these compounds, benzene is included, which is known as a human carcinogen. Benzene has been detected in several areas around natural gas production such as in Colorado and Texas, thus concluding that it is emitted in these particular processes (Kharaka and Dorsey, 2005). Formaldehyde is another hazardous pollutant that is emitted by compressors’ engines, and it has been perceived as a factor contributing to health issues, although there little studies that have correlated such pollutants with societal effects. Due to the air pollution resulted in air and oil operations, the neighbourhood residents have reported complaints from residents about cases such as dizziness, skin irritation, headaches, neurological and respiratory problems (Nasen, Noble, and Johnstone, 2011).
The effects discussed above are the most experienced air pollution sourced from gas and oil operations. Ministries that are dealing with the exploration, production and distribution of oil and gases are working on projects that can reduce these negative effects in the society. Technology improvements in these operations are the only refuge, which can be used to lower the intensity of the effects perceived from these activities (Khan and Islam, 2007).
The operational processes of the oil and gas exploration, production and distribution activities should be reviewed to create more proactive and effective methods that are less harmful to the environment. Pollution prevention is a task that should be undertaken through a combination of efforts between the producers, government, and the private sector (Matanovic, Gaurina-Medimurec and Simon, 2013). Several methodologies can be used to reduce the effects of poisonous emissions to the atmosphere and noise pollution that disturbs the residents. Achieving a ‘pollution-free’ environment, the society will be cleaner and eco-efficient (Exploration and Production, 2016).
The atmospheric emissions have been reduced through the adoption of the latest and improved technologies that have been developed by engineering researchers (Xu et al., 2015). These technological developments have been conducted in search for better approaches to reducing the emissions, which will reduce the rate of air pollution from the oil and gas operations (E. Ite et al., 2013). Firstly, the technological improvements in the valve design and maintenance systems have reduced emissions fugitive contents. Also, improved design of the flare has raised the combustion efficiency, reducing the chance of harmful gases being emitted. The turbines gas have been made more efficient after consideration of their optimizations (Mariano and La Rovere, 2007).
Other effective technologies have been generated to improve the power efficiency in the exploration, production and distribution processes. Some of these technologies are; compressor and pump optimisation, heat recovery for waste, electric power distribution, steam injection, and combined cycle generation among other technologies. Some of these improvements will help reduce noise pollution, which has been previously could by generators, compressors and explosions among others. For instance, if machines that are using fuel are replaced with those customised for electricity, the sound produced will be reduced. Technologies that are improving the efficiency of combustion are also being introduced into the industry. For instance, combustion of nitrogen oxides has been improved by the introduction of selective catalytic reduction technology and dry low NOx technology (Khan and Islam, 2007).
The emission of carbon oxides into the atmosphere can also be prevented by employing some approaches into the storage and distribution of the petroleum products. For instance, cases of spillages on the piping systems should be reduced by creating an efficient maintenance system. Therefore, the probability of experiencing fire explosion caused by oil spillages in the pipes will be minimized. It is through the reduction of the fire tragedies when the amounts of carbon oxides emitted into the atmosphere will be reduced. Transportation of oil products by roads should be minimized, especially for long distance to reduce the cases of accidents that lead to explosions.
It is the responsibility of all the government and the organisations dealing with oil and gas to ensure that they are operating under safe basis. Otherwise, these will be a lot of environmental effects that lead to discomfort for the residents and the world as a whole (Matanovic, Gaurina-Medimurec and Simon, 2013). Some of the effects such as global warming are long-term and without control, the side effects might outdo the benefits. More technological developments are required to solve the remaining of air pollution caused by oil and gas operations. Intentional emission of poisonous gas contents into the atmosphere should be condemned and violators judged under the law.
The community has suffered a lot of negative effects caused by oil and gas operations. There are specific technological approaches that can be used to minimize the effects of petroleum exploration and its usage. The drilling technologies can be made efficient, thus reducing effects such as noise pollution to the society (E. Ite et al., 2013). Technological approaches can be developed to capture hazardous gases emitted from the process. Such of these technologies might include processes which mix these gases with other compounds to form useful of non-harmful substances.
Currently, scientists have concentrated on creating cars, which do not depend on fuel to operate. Other sources of energy such as the sun and electricity have been the main focus for the scientists. It has not been clearly identified how the energy can be stored and made efficient for the vehicles. If such technological developments are created, the society will experience a cleaner environment, without pollution caused by emitted gases from motors that use petroleum.
Technological methods of controlling and monitoring the oil and gas firms should be developed and implemented. Human beings will always make errors and there some mistakes that will always be assumed, but they cause a lot of effect to the environment. For instance, the setting of a valve might not be accurately configured, thus letting emission of large amounts of hazardous particles into space. In contrast, using a programmed software that has monitored certainty levels, it will be easy to identify errors in the configuration of the delicate sections (Bahadori, 2014). Emergencies will also identify effectively, thus enhancing the response speed and time. All these technological approaches will be economical, socially and environmentally effective.
Projects and schemes that have been implemented need to be monitored and evaluated to be informed about the progress conditions. The stakeholders are responsible for generating the monitoring scheme, which is the government, investors in the oil and gas operations and the environmental protection association. For the case of the effective technological approaches, there should be monitoring schemes that evaluate every aspect. For instance, development of electric or solar cars can be monitored by the technological body that has implemented the idea, with the assistance of the respective governments. Secondly, installation of technological systems that controls the exploration, production and distribution processes will be monitored by the respective managements. A maintenance system should be created to reduce the chances of failures that may pose a great danger to the environment. In every technological approach created towards the air pollution led by oil and gas operations, an effective monitoring scheme should be developed to maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the processes.
The refining process of the stage when the crude oil is processed into usable products for the customer/consumers. These final products include jet oil, gasoline, heating oil, and diesel among others. The oil refining processes include several activities such as catalytic reforming, vacuum distillation, alkylation, hydrotreating, catalytic cracking, and isomerization. Natural gas is also processed through glycol hydration, amine treating, and compression processes. This method separates the mixtures of the compounds to form the required natural gases, which are then stored separately. Some of the gases that are formed from the petroleum include butane, ethane, isobutane, propane, and natural gasoline among others. Through the marketing channels, these petroleum products are marketed and purchased from the companies or distributed nearer to the customers. The main transportation channels include tanker, pipeline, rail, and truck. Pipelines are cost efficient and economical for long distance although truck and rail are used such situations.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, oil and gas operations should be performed safely to minimize negative effects on the environment. Individuals who are involved in the oil and gas business should understand the environmental impacts of all the operations so that they can develop solutions for the benefit of the community. Therefore, it will be profitable to implement the existing preventive measures as more research results are being generated to provide solutions to underlying problems. The technological approaches for reducing the negative effects discussed above should be implemented and monitored for maximum outcomes in the oil industry. The government should develop policies, which firmly protect the environment against industrial emissions. This approach will help control recklessness on the oil and gas operations.
References
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Xu, B., Bai, Y., Chen, G. and Feng, R. (2015). The impact of engineering parameters on shale oil and gas production: theory and practice. “Proceedings” of “Oil & Gas Scientific Research Projects” Institute, SOCAR, (2), pp.24-31.
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