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The Little Mistake That Can Hurt Your Operation and the 5 Things You Can Do About It OIL & GAS

Oil and gas - Service by Radiation Professionals

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The Little Mistake That Can Hurt Your Operation and the 5 Things You Can Do About It

OIL & GAS

The Little Mistake That Can Hurt Your Operation and the 5 Things You Can Do About It

OIL & GAS

Before We Get Started, Some Background Information

The geologic formations that contain oil and gas deposits also contain naturally-occurring radionuclides, which are referred to as "NORM" (Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Materials):

•Uranium (and its decay products)•Thorium (and its decay products)•Radium (and its decay products)•Lead-210.

OIL & GAS

OIL & GASGeologists have recognized their

presence since the early 1930s and use it as a method for finding

deposits.

Much of the petroleum in the earth's crust was created at the site of ancient seas by the decay of sea life. As a result, petroleum deposits often occur in aquifers containing brine (salt water). Radionuclides, along with other minerals that are dissolved in brine, precipitate (separate and settle) out forming various wastes at the surface:

Mineral scales inside pipesSludge'sContaminated equipment or componentsProduced waters.

OIL & GASBecause the extraction process

concentrates the naturally occurring radionuclides and exposes them to

the surface environment and human contact,

these wastes are classified as NORM.

OIL & GASRISK VS. MANAGEMENT

We won't get into the risks of radiation too much, if you are an

insider you are likely aware of them already. They are well documented:

•Exposure risks to workers•Exposure risks to surrounding community•Risk of moving contaminated waste material•Financial risk of contaminated metal and equipment•Social and PR risk•Legal and regulatory risk•Decline in productivity, plus many more.

If these are managed well then the risks are minimal. In fact, most incidents we hear about came about because of poor management or operation.

OIL & GASDATA CAN HURT YOU OR HELP YOURISK VS. MANAGEMENT

To manage an operation well, you need to make good decisions. To make good decisions you need the best

available information. To get the best information it starts with accurate and reliable data.

We have outlined 5 things you can do today to get more reliable and accurate data in regards to NORM.

OIL & GASLOOK IN THE RIGHT PLACES

Ensure you are looking in the right places. A good place to start is;

•Separator Vessels•Around Pipes•Filters•Flow Interrupts•Ponds and Sludge

Make sure you look in these places regularly

OIL & GASUSE THE RIGHT TOOL

One of the mistakes we see is people thinking that a radiation detector is just a detector. Not all radiation detectors are

created equal.

There are many different categories of radiation detectors for a multitude of

different purposes. So if you are conducting environmental monitoring,

NORM identification, gauge compliance or contamination monitoring, get the right

tool designed for that job.

OIL & GASCOLLECT ENOUGH DATA

You need to know how long to measure for your instrument, to enable you to achieve a

meaningful results.

As monitoring precision in radiation is tightly linked to counting statistics, monitor

too little and the uncertainties on your measurements may exceed the magnitude of the actual measurement. This renders

your data meaningless. Along with incorrect instrument choice, this is one of the leading

causes of invalid data.

Rule of Thumb: The longer the measurement the greater the precision

OIL & GASDO A BASELINE SURVEY

Have your radiation levels changed compared to last year?

How can you prove that?

The answer is simple; you need to show what your levels were a year ago as well.

To show that you don’t have NORM or a contaminated site, you need to know what

the levels were when you started.

OIL & GASSTAY COMPLIANT

Keep up to date with your regulatory requirements.

There is a good chance you have an RMP for your site. You need to stay on top of it

and the requirements set out and committed to in this plan.

As with most risks, it is better to manage it and stay on a plan rather than try to pull it

together later.

OIL & GASFIND A PARTNER

When choosing a company to be your client partner, look for;

•Someone who has the complete offering for the life cycle management of the project

•A professional team with a history of working closely with regulators

•A company that is committed to ensuring you get the best information to fulfill you requirements.

Join our radiation safety management course at radiationprofessionals.comLevel 1, 46 Hill Street, East Perth WA 6004 Local

Phone :08 9325 9948 Int. +61 (7) 3112 5116