ADCO has always been seeking continual improvement to minimise the impact of its drilling operations on the environment and to conserve the desert for future generations. One of the main challenges is proper management of the fluids & solids generated by drilling oil & gas wells.

This paper presents the complete solutions adopted to handle the generated waste streams with the improvements in rigs design ("zero" discharge) and the execution of three recent plants:

  1. Reconditioning & recycling plant for drilling Oil-Based Mud (OBM).

  2. Indirect thermal desorption treatment plant for OBM drill cuttings with 100% recycling of recovered materials which are converted to usable products (i.e., diesel fuel, irrigation water and interlocking blocks).

  3. Two dedicated deep disposal wells for waste mud.

The outcome of the joint efforts of Drilling & HSE Divisions confirms that all hazardous wastes are being managed with true applications of 3R (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) to maximise hydrocarbon recovery without noticeable impact on the environment.

The new waste management plants are centrally located in the major oil producing fields, thereby reducing hauling distance. These improvements translate in ADCO to minimum disposal and overall costs saving while ensuring compliance with or even exceeding, local environmental regulations.

Such global approach of this scale is a first in the Middle East Region and is setting a new benchmark of environmental standards for others to follow.

Keywords:
oily cutting, tank, adco, drilling division, injection, society of petroleum engineers, obm, cutting, reuse, recycling
Subjects:
Drilling Fluids and Materials, Environment, Waste management
Copyright 2004, Society of Petroleum Engineers
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