Abstract
Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) is an important tool in assisting
Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA). EEM in the offshore petroleum industry has
been conducted worldwide, but traditional approaches have struggled to keep
apace as exploration and production activities move to frontier regions, such
as increasingly deeper waters and Arctic regions. This paper proposes the use
of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for environmental monitoring of
offshore facilities as a means of improving and expanding the overall
monitoring program. The paper provides a review of technical and procedural
issues involved in this application of AUV technology, including the current
status of offshore oil and gas EEM, a review of available AUVs and a survey of
developments in in situ sensors.
Introduction
Offshore petroleum industry operations affect the marine environment in a
variety of ways: high sound levels from seismic surveys that affect marine
animals; exposure of marine organisms to drilling mud, produced water
discharges and accidentally spilled oils; and the physical alteration of
habitat due to the construction of submarine structures. The potential risks to
the environment posed by offshore oil and gas operations support the need for
effective Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) around the project development
areas.
EEM is a central component of environmental protection and management
strategies designed to minimize the consequences of anthropogenic
activities(1). It is a very important tool in assisting
Environmental Risk Assessment (ERA) which is seen from many studies that link
EEM and ERA together(2, 3). EEM is required by regulations governing
industry activities offshore, and by government agencies in relation to
cumulative impact assessment studies(4).
The United States started the use of environmental monitoring programs in 1973.
The Mineral Management Services (MMS) is currently responsible for managing oil
and gas activities on the outer continental shelf (OCS). In the early stages of
EEM programs, MMS monitored the effects of petroleum exploration activities on
the George's Bank, Middle Atlantic OCS and the Gulf of Mexico. Early monitoring
programs mainly focused on the effects of drilling wastes on benthic
communities through a variety of sampling methods, such as camera transects,
crab traps, bottom trawls and box corers. The MMS has also monitored the
effects of petroleum development and production activities in the Gulf of
Mexico, Santa Maria and Western Santa Barbara Channels off California, and in
the Alaska Beaufort Sea. Trace metals and hydrocarbons in the water column,
sediments, pore waters and biological tissues are collected and analyzed.
In Canada, both government agencies and operators have carried out EEM. For
example, Petro-Canada collected sediment samples from 49 stations and water
samples from 24 stations in an area located in the vicinity of the Terra Nova
Oil Field during 2000 to 2001. Analyses of samples included hydrocarbon
concentration, metal concentration, particle size and the presence of sulphur,
sulphide and ammonia(5). Fisheries and Oceans Canada also conducts
annual EEM missions at the Hibernia, Terra Nova and Thebaud fields off the east
coast of Canada. Both sediment and water samples are collected and the
biodiversity of benthic organisms are studied using underwater photography.
© 2009. Petroleum Society of Canada (now Society of Petroleum Engineers)
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History
- Original manuscript received:
26 March 2007
- Meeting paper published:
12 June 2007
- Revised manuscript received:
2 March 2009
- Manuscript approved:
3 April 2009
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