Environmental Best Practices in Groundwater Protection for the Oil and Gas Industry in the Middle East

摘要

Protection of groundwater resources in the Middle East, particularly in Arabian Peninsula countries, is of vital importance as the region’s aquifers supply a majority of water use, are essentially non-renewable due to the arid climate, and if impacted, can pose risks to human health and the environment. This paper presents environmental best practices and lessons learned related to development and implementation of a groundwater protection program within Saudi Aramco’s areas of operation. Five environmental best practice elements or “tenets” of groundwater protection are presented and discussed: Prevent, Monitor, Assess & Evaluate, Mitigate, and continually Improve. In the Prevent element, issues such as use of vulnerability assessment tools, engineering controls, inspection protocols and implementation of source identification and control programs are presented. The Monitor element discussion focuses on establishing a groundwater monitoring network, field investigative methods such as soil vapor surveys, monitoring well installation protocols, sampling best practices, and laboratory analytical testing requirements. The Assess & Evaluate element looks at best practices in risk-based assessments, site specific groundwater characterization, and the importance of conceptual site models to develop appropriate mitigation or “corrective action” scenarios. The Mitigate element presents best-practice remedial technologies suitable for the oil and gas industry, the importance of pilot-testing the selected remedial methods prior to full-scale implantation, and use of appropriate contracting mechanisms in selecting remediation contrac- tors. Finally, the Improve element presents Saudi Aramco’s use of applied research to enhance ongoing technical improvements to groundwater protection, including developing technologies such as measuring carbon dioxide in soil vapor and ultraviolet fluorescence in groundwater to evaluate groundwater impacts. Experience, benefits and lessons learned that can be applied by the Middle East Oil and Gas Industry are presented in the paper.