Environmental considerations within the abandonment of oil/gas production fields

摘要

Well and field abandonment is now becoming an important consideration for many operators on land and in offshore locations. Typically, a well or field is abandoned because it has fallen below its economic limity. Economic forces are not alone in dictating well or field abandonment; among others, state regulatories and environmental reasons have to be mentioned. The cost of the currently employed techniques for treating saline waters and oily production muds and sludges and for plugging and abandonment are prohibitively high. The reuse of contaminated equipment or fields requires decontamination at high costs. The technology decontaminating mercury scale and NORM will be discussed in particular.