Over the past year, some questions have been raised as to whether the onshore terminals have good enough capacity to receive and treat oily waste from the oil and gas activities on the Norwegian shelf. Based on this, the Climate and Pollution Agency (Klif) asked the Norwegian Oil Industry Association (OLF) to carry out an assessment of the volumes and types of oily waste that are expected to be shipped onshore from the Norwegian shelf in the next few years, as well as indicate how this can be handled in a satisfactory manner.
OLF commissioned DNV for the assignment, and DNV concludes in its report that capacity at the terminals is good.
“The oil industry has indicated that waste volumes will increase. The waste industry has listened, increasing its treatment capacity considerably in a matter of just two years,” says Egil Dragsund, environment manager in OLF.
DNV documents in the report ”Assessment of oily waste from the offshore petroleum activities ” that, in a national perspective, there are no capacity problems in relation to the different types of waste seen over an entire year.
“This does not exclude that some facilities may experience brief periods of capacity constraints if significant volumes of waste are received during a short period. But, overall, the terminals are well-equipped,” says Dragsund.
Three scenarios
Based on historical data, and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate’ s forecast for future drilling activity, DNV has developed a forecast for generation of drilling waste and disposal. Three scenarios are defined in the forecast – maximum, minimum, and the most realistic.
“The terminals have a capacity three times that of the maximum scenario DNV has arrived at. This must be considered robust,” says Dragsund.
Contacts:
Egil Dragsund, environment manager in OLF, mobile +47 970 26 956
Tom Gederø, communications manager in OLF, mobile +47 922 47 082