Waste minimization in the oil and gas industries

Recent legislative actions place an emphasis on waste minimization as opposed to traditional end-of-pipe waste management. This new philosophy, coupled with increasing waste disposal costs and associated liabilities, sets the stage for investigating waste minimization opportunities in all industries wastes generated by oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) and refuting activities are regulated as non-hazardous under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Potential reclassification of these wastes as hazardous would make minimization of these waste streams even more desirable. Oil and gas E&P activities generate a wide variety of wastes, although the bulk of the wastes (98%) consists of a single waste stream: produced water. Opportunities to minimize E&P wastes through point source reduction activities are limited by the extractive nature of the industry. Significant waste minimization is possible, however, through recycling. Recycling activities include underground injection of produced water, use of closed-loop drilling systems, reuse of produced water and drilling fluids in other oilfield activities, use of solid debris as construction fill, use of oily wastes as substitutes for road mix and asphalt, landspreading of produced sand for soil enhancement, and roadspreading of suitable aqueous wastes for dust suppression or deicing. Like the E&P wastes, wastes generated by oil and gas treatment and refining activities cannot be reduced substantially at the point source but can be reduced through recycling. For the most part, extensive recycling and reprocessing of many waste streams already occurs at most petroleum refineries. A variety of innovative waste treatment activities have been developed to minimize the toxicity or volume of oily wastes generated by both E&P and refining activities. These treatments include bioremediation, oxidation, biooxidation, incineration, and separation. Application of these treatment processes is still limited.