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Natural Gas and Oil Program
National Energy Technology Laboratory
Office of Fossil Energy
Oil and Gas EnvironmentalEffective Environmental Protection
Interstate Oil and Gas Compact CommisionDate
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Oil and Gas Environmental SolutionsFocus Areas: 1997 - 2002
Injection Wells Area of Review Variances
Waste Disposal Naturally Occurring Radioactive
Material (NORM) Synthetic Muds Salt Caverns
Air Quality Remediation
Environmentally Acceptable End-Points
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Waste DisposalNaturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM)
Issue National attention to NORM caused environmental
and public safety concerns EPA proposed new rules to control Disposal costs were highAccomplishments Conducted exposure studies that demonstrated that
risks were low Developed model regulations for States Developed treatment and disposal technologiesBenefits• Provided guidelines to protect workers and the environment.• Reduced disposal costs by 50%• Avoided a national “one-size-fits-all” regulation
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Soil RemediationEnvironmentally Acceptable End-points
Issues How Clean is “Clean”? Regulations based on detection limits Conventional remediation very costly
Accomplishments Determined bio-availability of common oil field contaminants Developed risk-based clean-up standards Developed standards for intrinsic bio-remediation Developed low-cost organic remediation technologies
Benefits• ‘Early Exit’ criteria adopted by EPA/States • Reduced clean-up costs by 60%
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Air Quality
Issues Air quality models over-estimate effects of oil and
gas New “Visibility” standards based on incomplete
science Air quality Issues limiting production
Accomplishments Used air-sampling blimp to determine oil and
gas impacts Provided air chemistry studies to better predict
regional haze Provided air-chemistry study to demonstrate
permit limits in SE Wyoming not neededBenefits• Allowed 150% increase in wells in SE Wyoming • New modeling approaches adopted by EPA and western States
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Oil and Gas Environmental SolutionsFocus Areas 2003 -2006
Federal Lands Access Technology Development Science-based Stipulations Air Quality Reduce Permitting Times
Produced Water Treatment Technologies Beneficial Use
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Federal Lands AccessIssues
Complicated regulations and standards increase E&P costs and often delay permitting
Seasonal and spatial restrictions limit field development
Conflicts between land uses reduce acreage available for oil and gas production
About 40% of oil and gas resources on Federal lands is effectively off-limits
68% of all oil and gas reserves are on Federal Lands
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Federal Lands Access NETL Approach
Provide technologies to lower the cost of compliance and improve protection
Provide sound science for decision-makers
Provide data-management and decision-making tools to speed permitting decisions
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Joint DOE/BLM Projects in Rocky Mountains
Studies on Environmental Impacts• CBNG studies on water, vegetation, soils and erosion issues
(Ongoing)
Studies of wildlife breeding habits and land use• Effects of oil and gas on nesting raptors (Ongoing)• Sage grouse study used to determine impacts of natural gas
drilling activities in Wyoming (Completed 2005)
Benefits• Science based protection standards will ensure the wildlife,
water and soils are better protected without unnecessary costs
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Environmentally Friendly Drilling SystemsTexas Engineering and Experiment Station
Goal Incorporate current and emerging clean
drilling technologies into a viable system for E&P and demonstrate the system to obtain no or low impact
Accomplishments Identified critical drilling rig parameters to
be the basis of platform design, access design and waste management operations
Benefits Will develop a suit of low impact
technologies and approaches that will allow drilling in sensitive environments without harming the environment
Pecos Research Testing Area
Anadarko Platform on the North Slope in 2005
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Objectives Speed permitting of oil and gas development on Federal lands by: Providing on-line access to both resource data and environmental data Developing on-line permitting for Federal lands
Accomplishments Established data-sharing MOU between States and BLM Developed beta-test on-line permitting site for Colorado at http://oil-
gas.state.co.us Developed pilot program for electronic permitting for applications to drill
Benefits More and better data available for regulators and industry Reduced workload for regulators Faster, cheaper permits for industry
Improved Access to Federal Lands Through Interagency Data Sharing
Ground Water Protection Research Foundation
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Distributed Generation Power Units at Marginal Oil Well Sites
IOGCCGoal • Demonstrate distributed generation using waste gas from oil
fields as a viable and environmentally clean solution to disposal, re-injection or abandonment of gas associated with oil production
Accomplishments• High-BTU and Medium-BTU projects both cost effectively
returned marginal fields to production using microturbines • The harsh-gas demo is bringing an oilfield back into
production by allowing compliance with air emission standards
• Ultra low-BTU demo is using new technology to burn previously incombustible gas
Benefits• Additional oil is being produced from marginal fields that
would otherwise be abandoned due to cost of compliance and operations. By turning a waste into a resource, both harmful air emissions and costs are reduced
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Produced WaterIssues
> 15 billion barrels of water is produced with oil and gas each year
Quality varies from low (hydrocarbons, salt, dissolved solids, etc) to very high
Costs are high to treat or dispose Surface discharge affects soils, vegetation, and streams Coal Bed Natural Gas Production (CBNG) is being limited
because of produced water concerns
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Produced Water NETL Approach
• Development of new water treatment technologies • Determine impacts of CBNG produced water impacts.• Provide sound science for regulatory decisions
• Benefits include: Improved environmental protection Lower operational cost of oil and gas production Provides water resource in semi-arid regions Provides wildlife and recreational benefits to the public
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Advanced Membrane Filtration Technology for Cost Effective Recovery of Fresh Water from Oil & Gas
Produced BrineTexas Engineering Experiment Station
Goal • Develop portable reverse osmosis
membrane filtration technology for produced water
Accomplishments• The desalination technology has
been commercialized through GeoPure Water Technologies.
• System installed at a location in Benbrook, Texas, is processing over 200 gallons per minute of feed water
Benefits• Reduces disposal costs by 75%
• Provides fresh water for land owner (possible source of revenue)
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Airborne Electromagnetic (AEM) Reconnaissance to Improve Produced Water Management in the
Powder River BasinNETLGoal
Determine movement and environmental impact of impoundment water
Accomplishments First time measurement of water
migration from impoundments Developed and demonstrated
computer analysis tool to optimize impoundment locations
Benefits Reduced costs Reduced ground water impacts
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Treating Produced Water for Beneficial Use with Synthesized Zeolite Membranes New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology
Goal • Create new, non-fouling zeolite membranes to efficiently treat high-TDS produced water for beneficial useAccomplishments• Synthesized high aluminum ZSM-5 membranes with enhanced water flux and ion rejection for concentrated solutions• An in-line oxidative regeneration process was developed for organic fouling removal; found that 90 percent of water flux can be recoveredBenefits High efficiency membranes with low maintenance costs will allow economic treatment of up to 2 million bbls of water/yr and make it available for use in the semi- arid west
Film of inter-grown crystals
Pore dia. ~ 0.55 nm
Cross-section
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Summary Where We Were: 1997 - 2002
Waste disposal technologies and regulations were costly and not well developed
Many remediation regulations were based on incomplete data and were not risk-based
Produced water treatment costs were high and very little produced water was put to beneficial use
Access to resources on Federal lands was slow and uncertain - restrictions were not science-based
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Summary Where We Are: 2007
Waste disposal technologies protect the environment and cost less
Most remediation regulations are risk-based and are based on sound data
Produced water treatment makes beneficial uses economic in some areas
Access to resources on Federal lands has increased and many stipulations are being reviewed based on research results
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Summary Where We Are: 2007 (Continued)
More unconventional resources are being targeted with a corresponding increase in environmental concerns
New challenges are arising each year
More land use conflicts are occurring due to the increased drilling activity especially in western states.
Environmental protection will be one of the biggest factors in oil shale development
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Summary Where We Can Go: 2007+
Complete new-generation membranes to reduce costs and increase available water
Continue to provide environmental science for environmentally sound development of Federal lands
Develop lower impact technologies to reduce or eliminate lasting environmental impacts
Provide technology and science to minimize the environmental impact of oil shale development
GAO - Technology Area: Oil and Gas Environmental, 08/28/2007
Questions?