Controlling Carbon Emissions in Nigeria's Oil and Gas Industry: Challenges and Opportunities

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Igbatayo ◽  
Peter B. Imoudu
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sani Damamisau Mohammed

Purpose Carbon emissions from gas flaring in the Nigerian oil and gas industry are both a national and international problem. Nigerian government policies to eliminate the problem 1960-2016 yielded little or no results. The Kyoto Protocol (KP) provides Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as an international market-based mechanism to reducing global carbon emissions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to analytically highlight the potentials of CDM in eliminating carbon emissions in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Design/methodology/approach This paper reviewed the historical background of Kyoto protocol, Nigerian Government policies to eliminating gas flaring in its oil and gas industry 1960-2016 and CDM projects in the industry. The effectiveness of the policies and CDM projects towards ending this problem were descriptively analysed. Findings Government policies towards eliminating gas flaring with its attendant carbon emissions appeared not to be yielding the desired results. However, projects registered under CDM in the industry looks effective in ending the problem. Research limitations/implications Therefore, the success recorded by CDM projects has the policy implication of encouraging Nigeria to engage on establishing more CDM projects that ostensibly proved effective in reducing CO2 emissions through gas flaring reductions in its oil and gas industry. Apparent effectiveness of studied CDM should provide a way forward for the country in eliminating gas flaring in its oil and gas industry which is also a global menace. Nigeria could achieve this by providing all needed facilitation to realising more CDM investments. Practical implications CDM as a policy has proved effective in eliminating gas flaring in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The government should adopt this international policy to achieve more gas flaring reductions. Social implications Social problems of respiratory diseases, water pollution and food shortage among others due to gas flaring are persisting in oil and gas producing areas as government policies failed to end the problem. CDM projects in the industry have proved effective in eliminating the problem, thus improving the social welfare of the people and ensuring sustainable development. Originality/value The paper analysed the effectiveness of Nigerian Government policies and an international market-based mechanism towards ending gas flaring in its oil and gas industry.


2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Polson

At the APPEA 2017 Conference in Perth, Bernadette Cullinane and Susan Gourvenec drew our attention to the looming challenge for Australia’s oil and gas industry in decommissioning its aging assets (Cullinane and Gourvenec 2017). While Cullinane and Gourvenec’s paper focussed on the experience challenge for the Australian industry, this paper will drill down to explore the funding and financial challenges and opportunities for decommissioning in the decades ahead. In approaching the decommissioning of their assets, oil and gas companies must consider a broad range of stakeholders, beyond their immediate shareholders and board members. As we have seen in the development of new projects, Australian Government, environmental organisations and community groups, all have increasingly significant impact. These stakeholders have been considered and managed with (at best) varying degrees of effectiveness in the recent past. This impact will continue to grow for decommissioning of existing assets. However, right now, with few decommissioning projects in play, the industry has a limited window of opportunity to set the agenda for how, when and under what kind of funding arrangements and financial structures decommissioning can take place. By getting ahead of the game and establishing best practices from the outset, the industry can demonstrate to Australian Government, environmental organisations and community groups a level of commitment and accountability that will allow us to move ahead on decommissioning, with reduced outside interference. The window of opportunity is closing. The time to act is now.


2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 347
Author(s):  
Simon Molyneux

The petroleum (oil, gas and LNG) business environment in 2020 was adverse. Two factors disrupted the foundations of the global oil and gas industry. First, the COVID-19 global pandemic caused an unprecedented reduction of demand that combined with high levels of production resulted in oversupply of oil, gas and LNG. This gap between supply and demand resulted in a collapse in commodity prices, reduced revenues and cancelling or deferral of investment. Second, societal awareness of the impact of climate change on planet Earth increased. Pressure to reduce carbon emissions and a concomitant societal-shift against carbon-emissions intensive petroleum-based forms of energy generation intensified. Many major players in the petroleum industry re-framed their strategies to focus on energy supply in general and in some cases plan to cease their exploration, development and production activities in the coming decades. In Australia, in part global factors manifested in the deferral of investment decisions on three LNG investments. The Australian Government signalled that gas developments would be a critical part of Australia’s post-COVID recovery and that management of abandonment and decommissioning liabilities would be a factor in the approval of transactions leading to a change in ownership. This paper will describe each of the factors faced by the industry in 2020 and frame the issues facing the petroleum industry in 2021 and beyond.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Nakatsuka ◽  
Basile Marco ◽  
Sumil Thapa ◽  
Alexander Ventura ◽  
Osvaldo Pascolini ◽  
...  

Abstract Fouling of heat exchanger equipment through the formation and attachment of hard scale, microbially induced corrosion (MIC) products, or particulate erosion is a serious challenge to reliable production in the oil and gas industry. Exchangers which become fouled in this way perform 15-30% worse than their rated ability, requiring either constant intervention to clean away biofilms, continuous injection of biocides and corrosion inhibitors, or the regular plugging of tubes to prevent leaks, representing a significant operating expense and billions of dollars in lost production time. When an exchanger is unable to provide sufficient heat due to tube fouling, additional sources of heating must be utilized to make up for this deficit and to ensure that facility processes remain within design allowances. This need for supplemental heating is a significant source of carbon emissions in the industry and represents a significant obstacle towards decarbonization efforts. However, it also represents an economically attractive way to simultaneously lower emissions while also lowering a producer's cost per barrel. This work describes an alternate strategy to control and prevent fouling in heat exchangers, through the one-time application of an omniphobic (water- and oil-repelling) nano-surface treatment. Once applied to a heat exchanger, the extremely smooth and low-surface energy material greatly reduces the ability of MIC-causing bacteria to deposit and adhere to the surface. Because it imparts functionality to the surface itself, rather than simply function as a physical barrier, it enables long lasting protection which was validated under laboratory conditions in a pressurized autoclave, as well as two pilot demonstrations. Results from both the laboratory and field evaluations of the treatment's promise showed that treated surfaces showed a corrosion rate over 36-times lower when compared to untreated surfaces, while also completely arresting the formation of corrosion pitting, tube fouling, and erosion of the tube interior. These field-validated results were then applied to the observed heating deficit of a proposed deployment site, resulting in calculated carbon emissions savings of up to 17,000 Tons CO2 per year.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Herve

Abstract The oil and gas sector is facing a changing market with new pressures to which it must learn to adapt. One of the biggest changes in expectations is the increased focus being placed on carbon emissions. Many consumers, investors, and lawmakers see reforms to the oil and gas industry as one of the most important avenues toward reducing carbon emissions and curbing climate change, and accordingly, a large number of companies have already made ambitious pledges towards carbon neutrality. New technologies may offer the best avenue for oil and gas companies to reduce their carbon emissions and meet those neutrality goals. Digital technologies—and in particular, artificial intelligence—can aid in decarbonization even with relatively small investments, primarily by enabling large increases in efficiency and reducing unscheduled downtime and the need for flaring. This paper discusses how artificial intelligence-powered predictive maintenance can be applied to reduce carbon emissions, and a case study illustrating a real-world deployment of this technology.


RSC Advances ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (16) ◽  
pp. 9313-9322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunkai Fu ◽  
Jianjia Yu ◽  
Ning Liu

CO2 foam is regarded as a promising technology and widely used in the oil and gas industry, not only to improve oil production, but also to mitigate carbon emissions through their capture.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klemens Katterbauer ◽  
Alberto Marsala ◽  
Abdulaziz Al Qasim ◽  
Ali Yousif

Abstract Sustainability and reducing carbon footprint has attracted attention in the oil and gas industry to optimize recovery and increase efficiency. The 4th Industrial Revolution has made an enormous impact in the oil and gas industry and on analyzing carbon footprint reduction opportunities. This allows classification of various reservoir operations, installation of permanent sensors and robots on the field, and reduction of overall power consumption. We present an overview of new AI approaches for optimizing reservoir performance while reducing their carbon footprint. We will outline the significant carbon emissions contributors for field operations and how their impact will change throughout the production's lifecycle from a reservoir. Based on this analysis, we will outline via an AI-driven optimization framework areas of improvement to reduce the carbon footprint considering the uncertainty. We analyzed the framework's performance on a synthetic reservoir model with several producing wells, water, and CO2 injecting wells. Beneficial in reducing carbon emissions from the field is the reuse and injection of CO2 for enhancing hydrocarbon production from the reservoir. One hundred different scenarios were then investigated utilizing an innovative autoregressive network model to determine the impact of these components on the overall carbon emission of the field and determine its uncertainty. The conclusions from the analysis were then incorporated into a data-driven optimization routine to minimize carbon footprint while maximizing reservoir performance. The final optimization results of the showcase outlined the ability to reduce the carbon footprint significantly.


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