scholarly journals Towards Transparency in Oil Spill Management in Africa: Nigeria As A Case Study

Author(s):  
Abraham O. *Ekperusi ◽  
Omesiri H. Ekperusi

ABSTRACT (684687) Oil spill is an inevitable occurrence in the production, transportation and processing of crude oil. Either in drilling platforms, oil tankers and interstate pipelines, oil spill incidence can occur, no matter the safeguard and precautionary practices in the oil and gas industry. Despite significant improvement over the years in oil spill prevention, preparedness, response, and restoration, oil spill management remains one of the most controversial issues across the world. In many developing countries including Nigeria, the management of oil spill is poorly coordinated, complicated and lacks transparency between the oil industry, spill contractors, regulators, environmental agencies, affected communities and other interested parties. From decision making to mobilization, post-impact assessment, spill response and mitigative approaches, there is a high level of laxity, mistrust, opacity and deliberate misinformation in dealing with oil spill issues. These practices in the oil industry is supported by a weak institutional and regulatory framework which affects the management of oil spill. Such lapses are creating a delicate system leading to the degradation of the natural environment, threatening ecological life support systems for biodiversity and indigenous people. There is a need for a comprehensive overhaul in oil spill practices and to adopt global best practices for oil spill management in developing regions of the world including Nigeria.

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-21
Author(s):  
Alvaro Souza Junior

ABSTRACT In April 2002, the Brazilian National Environment Council (CONAMA) enacted Resolution 293, which defines the contents and requirements for oil spill response plans for ports, terminals, pipelines and oil platforms. CONAMA Resolution 293 was undoubtedly a landmark in the history of Brazilian planning and preparedness for oil spill accidents as long as it provided a technically consistent reference for elaboration of oil spill response plans based on the identification of spill sources, vulnerability analysis of potentially affected areas, and adequate response organization, procedures and resources. A clause of the Resolution required its review in 5 years after entering into force. To accomplish this requirement, the Ministry of Environment (MMA) opened a public hearing process to collect comments and suggestions for changes. One main contributor in this hearing process was the Brazilian Petroleum and Gas Institute (IBP), which represents the oil and gas industry. IBP created an internal workgroup which discussed proposals for changes in CONAMA Resolution 293 that were subsequently sent to MMA. After the public hearing process, MMA invited a number of institutions to join a workgroup to discuss the received comments and proposed changes. In general, these institutions were mostly the same which participated in the CONAMA Resolution 293 workgroup five years before: IBAMA (federal environmental agency), Maritime Authority, Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Mines and Energy, AN? (oil & gas activities regulatory agency), IBP and some state environmental agencies. Proposed changes to CONAMA Resolution 293 were sent from the workgroup to one of the CONAMA technical chambers, which approved the proposal with minor amendments. The aim of this paper is to present and discuss the relevant changes in this regulation that will affect facility oil spill response plans in Brazil.


Author(s):  
Ramiz M. Aliguliyev ◽  
Rashid G. Alakbarov ◽  
Shalala F. Tahirzada

The application of the fast-growing information and communications technologies (ICT) in the industry has led to an increase in the quality of industrial processes. Through the application of Internet of Things (IoT) considered as a new technological concept in the oil and gas industry, it is possible to provide a high level of security by detecting previously the errors, the faults in real-time, to minimize the costs of production processes such as exploration, search, monitoring in the oil industry, to achieve the optimization of the activity to ensure highly productive performance. The application of IoT in the industry can lead to collect an exponential volume of data and, consequently, to some challenges in the analysis phase. Taking these into account, the article deals with the research on IoT technologies and the application of industrial processes to improve the quality of production processes in the oil and gas industry. In this paper, multi-layered analysis architecture for processing big data in the oil & gas industry is proposed.


Author(s):  
Angus Bowie

Double Block and Bleed is a term often used in the oil and gas industry to define a level of isolation sufficient to perform maintenance activities. The true definition relates to incumbent valves providing two proven levels of isolation against the outboard pressure to permit breaching of containment in the isolated pipe. This paper assesses how temporary isolation devices can provide equivalent isolation where incumbent valves do not exist at appropriate locations in the system. It reviews the different interpretations of Double Block and Bleed used within the industry and compares how different isolation devices are assessed in relation to the level of isolation they provide. It will reference several examples from around the world of where temporary isolation devices have been used to replace valves and perform repairs in trunk pipelines without depressurising the whole pipeline. It will also cover examples of isolating live process pipe to perform maintenance activities outside plant shutdown.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nouf AlJabri ◽  
Nan Shi

Abstract Nanoemulsions (NEs) are kinetically stable emulsions with droplet size on the order of 100 nm. Many unique properties of NEs, such as stability and rheology, have attracted considerable attention in the oil industry. Here, we review applications and studies of NEs for major upstream operations, highlighting useful properties of NEs, synthesis to render these properties, and techniques to characterize them. We identify specific challenges associated with large-scale applications of NEs and directions for future studies. We first summarize useful and unique properties of NEs, mostly arising from the small droplet size. Then, we compare different methods to prepare NEs based on the magnitude of input energy, i.e., low-energy and high-energy methods. In addition, we review techniques to characterize properties of NEs, such as droplet size, volume fraction of the dispersed phase, and viscosity. Furthermore, we discuss specific applications of NEs in four areas of upstream operations, i.e., enhanced oil recovery, drilling/completion, flow assurance, and stimulation. Finally, we identify challenges to economically tailor NEs with desired properties for large-scale upstream applications and propose possible solutions to some of these challenges. NEs are kinetically stable due to their small droplet size (submicron to 100 nm). Within this size range, the rate of major destabilizing mechanisms, such as coalescence, flocculation, and Ostwald ripening, is considerably slowed down. In addition, small droplet size yields large surface-to-volume ratio, optical transparency, high diffusivity, and controllable rheology. Similar to applications in other fields (food industry, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc.), the oil and gas industry can also benefit from these useful properties of NEs. Proposed functions of NEs include delivering chemicals, conditioning wellbore/reservoir conditions, and improve chemical compatibility. Therefore, we envision NEs as a versatile technology that can be applied in a variety of upstream operations. Upstream operations often target a wide range of physical and chemical conditions and are operated at different time scales. More importantly, these operations typically consume a large amount of materials. These facts not only suggest efforts to rationally engineer properties of NEs in upstream applications, but also manifest the importance to economically optimize such efforts for large-scale operations. We summarize studies and applications of NEs in upstream operations in the oil and gas industry. We review useful properties of NEs that benefit upstream applications as well as techniques to synthesize and characterize NEs. More importantly, we identify challenges and opportunities in engineering NEs for large-scale operations in different upstream applications. This work not only focuses on scientific aspects of synthesizing NEs with desired properties but also emphasizes engineering and economic consideration that is important in the oil industry.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armstrong Lee Agbaji

Abstract Historically, the oil and gas industry has been slow and extremely cautious to adopt emerging technologies. But in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the industry has broken from tradition. It has not only embraced AI; it is leading the pack. AI has not only changed what it now means to work in the oil industry, it has changed how companies create, capture, and deliver value. Thanks, or no thanks to automation, traditional oil industry skills and talents are now being threatened, and in most cases, rendered obsolete. Oil and gas industry day-to-day work is progressively gravitating towards software and algorithms, and today’s workers are resigning themselves to the fact that computers and robots will one day "take over" and do much of their work. The adoption of AI and how it might affect career prospects is currently causing a lot of anxiety among industry professionals. This paper details how artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics has redefined what it now means to work in the oil industry, as well as the new challenges and responsibilities that the AI revolution presents. It takes a deep-dive into human-robot interaction, and underscores what AI can, and cannot do. It also identifies several traditional oilfield positions that have become endangered by automation, addresses the premonitions of professionals in these endangered roles, and lays out a roadmap on how to survive and thrive in a digitally transformed world. The future of work is evolving, and new technologies are changing how talent is acquired, developed, and retained. That robots will someday "take our jobs" is not an impossible possibility. It is more of a reality than an exaggeration. Automation in the oil industry has achieved outcomes that go beyond human capabilities. In fact, the odds are overwhelming that AI that functions at a comparable level to humans will soon become ubiquitous in the industry. The big question is: How long will it take? The oil industry of the future will not need large office complexes or a large workforce. Most of the work will be automated. Drilling rigs, production platforms, refineries, and petrochemical plants will not go away, but how work is done at these locations will be totally different. While the industry will never entirely lose its human touch, AI will be the foundation of the workforce of the future. How we react to the AI revolution today will shape the industry for generations to come. What should we do when AI changes our job functions and workforce? Should we be training AI, or should we be training humans?


1986 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 1687-1696 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Claude Roegiers

The petroleum industry offers a broad spectrum of problems that falls within the domain of expertise of mechanical engineers. These problems range from the design of well production equipment to the evaluation of formation responses to production and stimulation. This paper briefly describes various aspects and related difficulties with which the oil industry has to deal, from the time the well is spudded until the field is abandoned. It attempts to delineate the problems, to outline the approaches presently used, and to discuss areas where additional research is needed. Areas of current research activity also are described; whenever appropriate, typical or pertinent case histories are used to illustrate a point.


Author(s):  
Х. Р. Асхабов ◽  
Р. И. Ахъядов ◽  
Ю. Х. Тарамов ◽  
А. А. Эльмурзаев

В современное время нефтегазовая отрасль обладает большим потенциалом для развития экономики, благодаря чему ее регулированию уделяется внимание на международном уровне. К примеру, стоит упомянуть Организацию стран - экспортеров нефти, которая была создана нефтедобывающими странами в целях контроля квот добычи на нефть. Актуальность публикации заключается в том, что на сегодняшний день нефтяная отрасль продолжает оказывать значительное влияние на экономику стран, чье устойчивое развитие определяется успешным развитием нефтяной промышленности. Рассмотреть, проанализировать и обозначить, на наш взгляд, перспективы эффективного развития отраслей нефтяной промышленности Российской Федерации, по сравнению с развитием нефтяной промышленности гигантов данной отрасли - Саудовской Аравии и Соединенных Штатов Америки, явилось целью исследования в данной статье. In modern times, the oil and gas industry has great potential for the development of the economy, due to which its regulation is paid attention at the international level. For example, it is worth mentioning the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which was established by oil-producing countries to control oil production quotas. The relevance of the publication is that today the oil industry continues to have a significant impact on the economies of countries whose sustainable development is determined by the successful development of the oil industry. To consider, analyse and outline, in our opinion, the prospects for the effective development of the oil industries of the Russian Federation, in comparison with the development of the oil industry of the following giants of this industry of Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, was the purpose of the study in this article.


2020 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 13029
Author(s):  
Denis Ushakov ◽  
Oleg Patlasov

Paper analyzes the prospects of biofuels second and third generation in the structure of the global energy balance, demonstrates a sharp decline in oil and gas revenues in the Russian budget, describes advantages and disadvantages of biodiesel and bioethanol production. The connection between the growth of Russia’s export potential in terms of hydrocarbon products processing with EU standards implementation has been proved. The problems of the realization of programs on the oxygenate technologies development in the Union State of Russia-Belarus were revealed. The capacity of the market of 3-4 generations fuel with using non-food raw materials and various types of biomass was estimated. Was proved that at a high level of growth in business value and profitability of production there are incentives to organize deep processing in Russia’s hydrocarbon production. It is proved that the oil and gas industry in a creative economy should increase its science intensity and depth of raw materials processing, including ones in related industries.


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