As a result of the oil price decline in the mid-80s, the gas and oil industry was compelled to carry out increased abandonment activities, which were moreover complicated by not exactly ecological requirement. A reoriented ecological movement, new scientific knowledge, improved measuring techniques and the justified call for soil protection have also led to more stringent standards concerning the abandonment of wells and facilities. Independently of this, tighter environmental legislation, a high degree of awareness among the public and entre- preneurial responsibility have set standards leading to the creation of new technologies, so that accepted solu- tions have been made possible in the rather vague legislative environment. It is shown how abandonment starts with the safe plugging of wells, by which a permanent sealing of the individual horizons against groundwater-containing near-surface layers is to be ensured. The subsequent dis- mantling of structures, removal of flow lines and pipelines and recultivation of used sites calf for technical and economic solutions for soil remediation and the treatment of components for reuse or scrapping, which must be both verifiable and capable of being audited. Contaminated soils or components polluted in various ways must be examined before remediation in order to identify the best-suited specific cleaning or disposal method. Legal and ecological requirements, planning and analytical preparations as well as remediation measures to be applied, alternatives thereto and the final documentation are indicated. Special emphasis is laid on recycling and the prevention of waste production. In spite of economically attractive new developments it is made clear that taking abandonment into account already in the design phase of new facilities can be a decisive cost-cutting factor.
Compared with many other countries represented at this conference, oil production in Germany is only low. Nevertheless, Germany is one of the oldest oil producing countries; the first well was drilled in 1859, the same year as Colonel Drake's famous well in Pennsylvania. Oil production reached its peak in 1967, when about 8 million tons/yr were produced. In 1995, pro- duction had declined to some 3 million tons/yr. When in the mid-1980s it became obvious that the oil price would remain at a low level for quite some time, gas and oil companies were forced to shut down wells and fields that could no longer be pro- duced economically. The major problem for the industry today is therefore restoration of abandoned fields and wells. Since 1993, oil field restoration and recultivation activity among oil producing companies in Germany has been at an all-time high. BEB's figures are shown in Fig. 1. Some 600 w
