User:Mofarrah

Mofarrah

OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT A THREAT TO ENVIRONMENT Abstract There is a consensus that oil and gas development would have negative environmental impacts and that some potential impacts may cause serious environmental damage. Offshore oil & gas operations generate wastes during exploration, drilling, production and decommissioning phases, which pose threats to ecological community and human beings. While some impacts are local and short in duration, others affect larger areas and last longer. Exploration and development drilling operations generate rock cuttings and spend drilling fluids which are toxic in nature. In oil and gas sector, use of synthetic based drilling fluids (SBFs) due to its environmentally benign over water based fluids (WBFs).However, contamination of drilling waste stream through formation oil and presence of heavy metal (Barite) increases a concern over the ocean disposal. In production phase oil and gas generate produce water which contains various chemicals such as heavy metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), Benzene, Toluene and Xylene (BTX), volatile organic compounds, and radionuclide’s, is one of the most significant wastewater discharges in offshore oil industry. Environmental related problems associated with these chemicals have been reported extensively in literature. The aim of this paper is to identify different risk assessment components such as hazard identification, exposure assessment, does-response studies and risk characterization of benzene in systematic manner and integrating those components with risk communication and risk management information related to Polycyclic