Assessing the Environmental Risk of Produced Water Discharges

 

20 October 2011 London Evening Meeting

Chairman Dr Bob Allwood, Chief Executive, SUT

Sponsored by Xodus Group

 

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Flyer 

 

Overview

Media and public interest in environmental issues and the oil and gas industry are currently the greatest they have ever been since hydrocarbon reserves were discovered in the North Sea. Although much of the interest currently focuses on oil spills, there has been interest in discharges of hydrocarbons and other components in produced water.

The discharge of produced water from offshore installations has been a topic of discussions for OSPAR and the preceding Paris Commission since 1978. The Offshore Industry Committee (OIC) of OSPAR has revisited the topic of produced water many times over the intervening years and has addressed sampling and analysis, BAT, BEP as well as standards. Most recently OIC have been developing a ‘Risk Based Approach on the Assessment of Produced Water’. In addition, EU regulations such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and REACH have potential to impact on produced water discharges in the near future.

These regulations often lead to the installation of compliance based process improvements to reduce the potential of produced water discharges to adversely impact the marine environment. In bringing about such modifications these regulations may have a direct and significant impact on both the capital expenditure of projects as well as the subsequent operating expenditure of assets, and can contribute to business and project risks. They will also have an impact on the environmental performance of a project, for example as the balance of different environmental emissions shifts from marine discharges to atmospheric discharges.

In order to understand and achieve BAT and BEP for the management of produced water it is essential to understand the risk of the discharges to the marine environment. This presentation reviewed the potential methodologies for a Risk Based Approach to the Assessment of Produced Water and provided background to the work of OIC in this area. Context to current concerns regarding the environmental impact of substances in produced water was provided from an overview of the current available information on produced water discharges in the North Sea in the light of OSPAR drivers of BAT and BPEO.

 

Presentation

Dr Anthony Millais, Principal Environmental Consultant, Xodus Group Limited

Xodus Group is an independent, international energy consultancy providing a uniquely integrated package of solutions for clients as they seek to overcome challenges throughout the life of their assets.

From conceptual definition, through design and construction and into operation, Xodus provides the clever and innovative thinking needed to maximise the return on our customers’ investment.

 

SUT Perth Branch Inaugural SUT Family Day –
Exploring the Immerse Exhibit

 

16 October 2011 SUT Perth Branch Inaugural SUT Family Day, Fremantle, Australia

 

Immerse Exhibit Flyer

 

Report 

 

Report

Following the successful launch of the Immerse exhibit in early September, visitor numbers to this public exhibition on subsea technology have been exceptional – not only have over 9400 people visited the exhibit in the first five weeks since its opening (an increase for the museum of over 170% on the same time last year), a number of school group excursions and public lectures have also been hosted with the support and participation of SUT members.

A key motivation for SUT in collaborating with the West Australian Museum on the Immerse exhibit was to reach out to young people and encourage them to continue with maths, science and technical subjects which could enable them to progress into careers subsea. We were also keen to raise awareness in the community about the challenges of working in and under the ocean, and the innovations which enable us to do so. Of course, where better to achieve these aims than within our families! So on the 16th of October SUT arranged our inaugural SUT Family Day, which provided a chance for members to not just have a look at the Immerse exhibit with our spouses and partners, but also to have a go (whenever the kids would share!) at piloting the observation-class remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in a tank, or trying to stack wooden blocks with five-function robot arms. The museum had also arranged for REmida to run children’s craft activities using a variety of industrial off-cuts to make their own ROVs or hard-hat diving helmets. The Family Day was also intended to be a chance for SUT members and their families to catch up over a casual ‘sausage sizzle’, however, unfortunately the catering for lunch was not successful – we would like to apologise to members for this rare glitch in our planning and organisation.

All in all, the success of the day can be judged by the feedback from the kids – their enthusiasm and engagement with the Immerse exhibit was fantastic to see, something that could not have happened without the very generous support of the corporate members who sponsored the exhibit, including Woodside as Principal Partner and GE Oil and Gas as Major Partner, and also the very generous individuals and organisations who have loaned equipment for us to display. Whatever challenges and fields of endeavour our offshore and subsea industry is focused on in the future, it is clear that some of the bright minds who came along to the SUT Family Day may be making their mark in due course.

 

Emergency Response

 

5 October 2011 Aberdeen Branch Evening Meeting

Chairman Mark Richardson, Subsea Projects Manager, Apache

Sponsored by Apache

 

Report

 

Flyer

 

Presentations

The Roles and Responsibilities of Government and Industry Groups Involved in Emergency Response

Brian Tadeo – Apache North Sea

Brian’s presentation was an introduction to the policy and infrastructure in place to deal with an emergency on the UKCS. It provided a background of why the legislation has been shaped as it has followed by an overview of the responsibilities placed on operators and contractors and a look at the collaboration between government and industry to implement the processes and procedures to keep both the people and environment safe.

 

An Introduction to Oil Spill Response on the UKCS.

Tina Massoura – Apache North Sea

The presentation covered the emergency response system in place to deal with an oil spill on the UKCS, including the roles of operators and stakeholders and the oil spill capabilities available to respond to such event.

 

The ‘All Hazards’ Approach to Risk Management

Albert Duncan – Altor Risk

Altor’s presentation looked at the principle of Dynamic Uncertainty with the Ripple Effect showing how the different aspects of response cannot be addressed in isolation. The ripple effect can trigger responses that affect people, environment, media and security issues. This is compounded by triggering individual ripples in each of these areas causing an interlinking ripple effect.

 

Business Continuity Management in the Offshore Industry

Duncan Salmon – Pracius

Business continuity management is the holistic term for the management and governance process that identifies the business’ critical processes, the impacts on the business that the loss of them would cause and builds and maintains proper recovery strategies and plans to keep the company running at ‘Business At Usual’, despite the crisis it may be experiencing. It gives the business enough resilience to cope with a loss of people, property, critical suppliers or important technology. The on-going management and updating of these plans is kept up through training, exercises and plan reviews.

 

Integrity Monitoring of Flexible Structures

25 January 2012 North of England Branch evening meeting

Chairman Dr Jerry Baker, Chief Engineer, Head of Life Cycle Management, Atkins Solutions

 

Flyer

 

Overview

Oil and gas fields located in challenging environments have pushed the development of risers technologies and a number of technical challenges need to be evaluated at all stages. Assessing the integrity of subsea risers in operation is now becoming a necessity in order to improve safety, reliability and performance.

 

Presentations

Integrity Management of Flexible Pipe

Patrick Le Stanc, Department Manager, Technip Riser Integrity Management

Events detection and the follow up of service life parameters are presenting a huge interest for operators by allowing them to anticipate any adverse effect on the offshore and subsea facilities in order to maximise the safe service life. If necessary, appropriate action plan can then be scheduled in advance for maintaining the safe operation of the riser system. In order to implement such Integrity Management plans, qualification of monitoring or inspection systems must be anticipated together with the associated interpretation services. Various technologies can be used to support this approach (distributed measurements based on optical fibres, acoustic emission…). The presentation outlined some of the various technologies qualified and under development to support this approach.

 

Integrity Monitoring Systems

Dr Geoff Lyons, Director Systems Structures & Risers, BPP-TECH

This presentation provided an overview of BPP-TECH’s comprehensive experience in the field of integrity management of flexible structures and provide an insight into various new developments in integrity monitoring. In particular the presentation focused upon:

• Moorings (POSMON, CHAMON, OSCAR)
• Tensioned Risers (RMS)
• Flexible Risers (DRIFT)
• Umbilicals (FUMS)
• Pipelines (Fibre Optics)

 

Global Market Outlook

18 January 2012 Aberdeen Branch Breakfast Seminar

Chairman Alistair Birnie, Managing Director, Denmore Technologies Ltd

 

Flyer

 

Overview

Companies in Aberdeen have a long and distinguished record as participants in the global energy market. Our speakers looked ahead to the future of this market, particularly the subsea arena and the implications for both Operators and Contractors.

 

Presentations

Kader Dicko, Senior Analyst, Infield Systems Ltd

Long term market fundamentals of the offshore oil and gas industry are conducive for growth but the deteriorating health of the global economy (Eurozone crisis) will likely play a major role towards this process. If sustained over a longer period, the recent global economic weakening might possibly burst the current bubble surrounding the oil and gas industry, mostly if oil prices considerably weaken below the current US$100/barrel mark and the low business confidence of financial markets spread to the offshore market. The next few months will be crucial to gauge the impact of the global economy status on the offshore industry. The aim of this presentation was to illustrate the current state and medium term outlook of the global subsea and offshore construction market, whilst providing a macro view of different dynamics related to the offshore oil and gas industry.

 

Mike Beveridge, Managing Director, Simmons & Co

Mike presented an update on the capital and financing markets, talking through some major themes which are driving offshore and subsea activity both in the North Sea and Internationally.