Produced Water Discharge and Reinjection

• Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2005
• Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Regulations 2011

The Regulations have been designed to encourage operators to continue to reduce the quantities of hydrocarbons discharged during the course of offshore operations. The Regulations update the definition of oil, introduce a permitting system for oil discharges and strengthen the powers to inspect and investigate oil discharges. The issue of permits under these Regulations is the mechanism used to implement OSPAR Recommendation 2001/1 (see below).

The Regulations also introduced a Dispersed Oil in Produced Water Trading Scheme. However, this has now been revoked (see Pending Legislation).

The Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 have introduced a number of changes to the Regulations. This includes a new definition of "offshore installation" which encompasses all pipelines - some of which were not previously covered by the OPPC Regulations. The amending OPPC Regulations also include the concept of "release" to cover all unintentional emissions of oil that occur through accidental spills / leaks or non-operational discharges. Intentional emissions are now clarified as discharges. See Pending Legislation for a description of key changes to the legislation.

• Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (FEPA)

Export of produced water to another field for reinjection will require a licence under FEPA.

• Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic 1992 (OSPAR Convention)
• PARCOM Recommendation 86/1 of a 40 mg/l Emission Standard for Platforms
• OSPAR Recommendation 2001/1 for the Management of Produced Water from Offshore Installations as amended by OSPAR Recommendation 2006/4

Recommendations by OSPAR in June 2001 that came into effect immediately stipulated that every offshore platform had to comply with a 30 mg/l monthly average dispersed oil in water discharge by 2006. Additionally, each OSPAR member, the UK is a member, had to achieve a 15% reduction in oil tonnage discharged in produced water by end 2006 (when compared with year 2000 discharges). The reduction in discharges could be achieved by a reduction of the volume of produced water discharge (e.g. by reinjection) and/or a reduction of concentrations of oil and other substances in produced water.

• EU Regulation 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer

These Regulations allow for exemptions on halon use for essential purposes. Essential purposes currently include limited use of oil in water analysis. The use of Freon is now banned under EU Regulation 2037/2000. Apart from the use of tetrachloroethylene (which is an approved method) testing of produced water by other methods will need to be agreed with DECC.

• Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters 1998
• EC Directive 2003/35/EC providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment and amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC (Public Participation Directive)

The Public Participation Directive implements the second part of the Aarhus Convention. The Directive requires an increase in the already high level of public participation in the process by which regulators consider environmental implications for offshore activities.

• DECC Guidance on the OPPC Regulations (March 2011)

Note: revisions to these new guidance notes are not yet incorporated in this website, and will be included at the next quarterly review.

• DECC Guidance Notes on the Sampling and Analysis of Produced Water v2.1
• Summary of Changes in Guidance Notes between v2 and v2.1

OPPC Permit

Permit required under the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2005 for both overboard discharge and reinjection of produced water.

For production operations, a Life Permit (see OPPC Summary Table) can be applied for that covers all routine oil to sea discharges/reinjection operations, including:

• Produced water (discharge and reinjection);
• Displacement water;
• Produced sand and scale discharges;
• Hazardous and non-Hazardous drains .

Note: For platforms that routinely use PWRI, a contingency discharge permit can be obtained to cover PWRI downtime events. Contingency discharge schedules will have similar monitoring/reporting requirements as for routine overboard discharges.

FEPA Licence - export to another field for reinjection

For export of produced water for reinjection at another field, a FEPA licence will be required.

The requirements for a FEPA licence do not apply for produced water from satellite subsea tie-backs to a host installation for subsequent treatment and reinjection. The requirements for a FEPA licence also do not apply if produced fluids are shipped to another installation for separation and then subsequent produced water treatment and reinjection, and an exemption will be issued

OPPC Permit

Applications for a permit under the OPPC Regulations must be made by application form, which is available for download from DECC website.

Guidance Notes on the OPPC Regulations and Permit Application are available for download from DECC website.

A number of discharge streams will require permits under the OPPC Regulations (see OPPC Summary Table). It is possible to submit one oil discharge permit application to cover a number of separate discharge streams containing oil. In fact, this method is actively encouraged by DECC. For example an installation's oil discharge permit could include separate schedules for drainage discharges, produced water discharges and periodic discharges such as sand and scale.

Information required on the application form includes:

• Installation/facility details including any tie-backs;
• Description of sources and types of hydrocarbons;
• Description of any process/treatment system and any improvement programmes;
• Estimated maximum and average production of the discharge stream and hydrocarbon content;
• Details of method used to measure the volume discharged and details of discharge stream sampling facilities; and
• Details of discharge facilities.

There is no public notice requirement or statutory consultation. However, DECC may take advice from third parties for example if the discharge is close to land or close to a relevant site under the Habitats Regulations, or where a sensitive fish spawning area is present.

A permit to discharge oily discharges from a producing facility is likely to be issued as a Life Permit. Non-routine or one-off discharges will be issued as a time limited Term Permit.

FEPA Licence - export to another field for reinjection

A web based application form for a FEPA Licence for export of produced water to another field for reinjection can be downloaded from DECC Website along with Guidance Notes.

In addition to routine administrative information, you must provide a method statement detailing where the wastes originate, how you propose to transport them to the disposal site, whether you intend to undertake any additional pre-treatment prior to reinjection and how you propose to undertake the reinjection operation. The latter should include a technical case to support the safe injection and containment of any disposed material. You must additionally provide an assessment of the alternative means of disposal to demonstrate that offsite reinjection is the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO).

Where disposal by reinjection will be at a site operated by a 3rd party, additional considerations will be required for any transhipment of wastes and the appropriate authority should be contacted to discuss the proposals prior to any formal application.

Applications that may have the potential to affect a designated European Site will also be subject to the provisions of the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats &c) Regulations 2007 (including sites proposed for designation).

OPPC Permit

Application under the new OPPC Regulations to be submitted electronically by email to offshore.inspectorate@decc.gsi.gov.uk.

DECC plan to incorporate this application system into DECC UK Oil Portal, once this is in place, all applications will be made via this system.

FEPA Licence - export to another field for reinjection

For off-site injection operations in offshore waters adjacent to Scotland (i.e. excluding Scottish controlled waters), contact the Environmental Management Team, DECC Licensing and Consent Unit (LCU-OED), Atholl House, 86/88 Guild Street, Aberdeen AB11 6AR (emt@decc.gsi.gov.uk).

For off-site injection operations in English and Welsh waters (both near-shore and offshore waters), contact the Marine Consents and Environment Unit, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL (marine.consents@mceu.gsi.gov.uk).

Off-site injection is unlikely to take place in Scottish controlled waters (within three miles of the territorial seas baseline), where the FEPA Part II licensing authority is the Environmental Protection Group, FRS Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, 375 Victoria Road, Torry, Aberdeen AB11 9DB (enquiries@marlab.ac.uk).

OPPC Permit

Applications must be submitted at least 28 days before the permit is required.

FEPA Licence - export to another field for reinjection

Applications normally take eight to ten weeks to process, but may take longer.

The definition of oil has been updated under the OPPC Regulations and is defined as "oil means any liquid hydrocarbon or substitute liquid hydrocarbon, including dissolved or dispersed hydrocarbons or substitute hydrocarbons that are not normally found in the liquid phase at standard temperature and pressure, whether obtained from plants or animals, or mineral deposits, or by synthesis". This definition is designed to capture all produced hydrocarbons, including condensate, and all uses of oil in the course of offshore exploration and production activities.

However, the OPPC Regulations do not apply to hydrocarbons or substitute hydrocarbons that are designated as chemicals for the purpose of the Offshore Chemicals Regulations 2002.

Discharges of produced water may only take place from those locations and at the depths specified in the schedule attached to the OPPC permit.

Monitoring requirements will depend on the total hydrocarbon discharge from an installation per year and whether overboard discharge/reinjection, and will be detailed in the permit when issued. Likely sampling and measurement/calculation requirements are as summarised in the OPPC Sampling Requirements Table.

Samples should be analysed as per current DECC standards (see Performance Standards). DECC Guidance on the Sampling and Analysis of Produced Water and Other Hydrocarbon Discharges is available on DECC website.

For installations discharging produced water to sea containing > 100 tonnes of dispersed oils per annum, operators will be expected to investigate the installation of on-line oil in water analysers, to replace manual sampling.

DECC Guidance on the Sampling and Analysis of Produced Water and Other Hydrocarbon Discharges is available on DECC website.

Volumes of produced water being discharged had to be metered under the requirements of the Produced Water Trading Scheme. Metering uncertainty must be within +/- 10%.

The Produced Water Trading Scheme has been revoked (see Pending Legislation for details). Metering requirements will however remain in place.

Quarterly samples of produced water must be collected and returned to shore for analysis of NORM.

Four samples to be taken on an annual basis at approximately equal time periods. Samples to be taken from the produced water discharge points as detailed in the OPPC Permit. Analysis to be undertaken by high resolution gamma spectrometry for Ra-226, Ra-228 and Pb-210. Both suspended solids and dissolved activity to be measured. Activity concentration in Bq/l to be multiplied by produced water discharge volume to give total discharge.

A sampling/analysis protocol is in the process of being developed and will be issued to operators.

From January 2007 the preferred method for oil in water analysis is the GC / FID method. This may not be suitable for use on all offshore installations and a join industry project (JIP) has been established to investigate how the new GC / FID method is implemented. Other oil in water analysis methods will have to be calibrated against the GC / FID method to ensure results are comparable.

OSPAR GC-FID will be applied at all oil and gas facilities where oil in water figures are reported to DECC. Facilities may still use DECC IR method but it will require correlation with the GC-FID method.

There are two ways that operators can accommodate the above:

• Install GC equipment offshore to meet new requirements.
• Continue to use IR method but send all samples onshore to a recognised laboratory for correlation against the GC-FID reference method.

DECC Guidance on the Sampling and Analysis of Produced Water and Other Hydrocarbon Discharges is available on DECC website.

For the purposes of the Produced Water Trading Scheme DECC has issued a written statement confirming that for the purposes of trading, operators will analyse produced water samples using the new GC-FID reference test method and report results against allocations issued (against original IR results). This system will be place for 2007-2009.

The following records must be maintained by the laboratory and retained for 2 years:

• Date and time of sampling;
• Hydrocarbon concentration of each sample (mg/l);and
• Name of person undertaking each sample analysis.
• The following records must be retained on the offshore installation for 2 years and reported to DECC:
• Date and time of sampling;
• Hydrocarbon concentration of each sample (mg/l);
• Volume of produced water discharged/reinjected between each sample;
• Total volume of produced water discharged/reinjected each calendar month;
• Total weight of dispersed oil discharged/reinjected each calendar month (tonnes);
• Monthly average dispersed oil concentration (mg/l)*;
• Total weight of dispersed oil discharged/reinjected each calendar year (tonnes);
• Total volume of produced water discharged/reinjected over the calendar year; and
• Average dispersed oil concentration over the calendar year (mg/l)*.

* Not required for produced water reinjection streams.

Arrangements must be in place to ensure the accuracy and correctness of records. Where records are maintained solely in electronic form, secure systems shall be provided so that all changes are recorded and the original entries are not deleted. Where hard copies only are maintained, the person in charge of the operation shall sign a true copy of the records for the time period over which they have responsibility.

Results of any additional analysis (i.e. aliphatics, aromatics, heavy metals etc) undertaken bi-annually or during contingency discharges should be reported via EEMS within 2 months of the mid-year and 2 months of the year end.

Discharge volume measurement or calculation method validation should be reported to DECC annually.

NORM/OSPAR analysis - reporting of activity and total quantities discharged (see Sampling and Analysis).

Hydrocarbon concentrations, produced water discharge/reinjection volumes, total weight of dispersed oil discharged/reinjected and results of any additional analysis (including NORM) are to be reported via the EEMS reporting system using the EEMS oil in water spreadsheet, which can be downloaded from the EEMS website.

Also see Non-Compliance.

Produced water discharges and reinjection - Submit EEMS Oil in Water to the EEMS website by the 16th of each calendar month for each preceeding calendar month.

NORM analysis - submit via the EEMS system on a quarterly basis within 28 days of the end of each quarter.

In the event that the monthly average concentration of dispersed oil in produced water discharged exceeds 30 mg/l DECC must be informed within 2 working days of submission of the monthly returns using the OPPC non-compliance notification form, which can be downloaded from DECC website along with appropriate Guidance Notes.

In the event that the maximum concentration of dispersed oil in produced water discharged exceeds 100 mg/l DECC must be notified within 6 hours using the OPPC non-compliance notification form.

In addition, if at any time (even if permit conditions not breached) >1 tonne of oil is discharged within a 12 hour period or an unusual sheen is formed extending outwith the 500 m zone, then this must be reported to DECC via the PON1. The PON1 and Guidance Notes can be accessed on DECC website. These PON1 reports are classed as OPPC non-compliance reports and are primarily intended to ensure the regulators are aware of an event which may give rise to further pollution, to reports from third parties or to public concern. Whilst not classed by DECC in the same way as PON1s for spills, submission of the non-compliance PON1 report is every bit as vital to ensure compliance with the OPPC Regulations.

DECC, if of the opinion that the OPPC Regulations have been contravened, may issue an enforcement notice. This will specify the matters that constitute or are likely to constitute a contravention, steps required to rectify the matter and the time period within which these steps must be undertaken. If an enforcement notice is not addressed, DECC may take action itself and recover reasonable costs back from the operator.

If DECC is of the opinion that the operation of an offshore installation involves an imminent risk of serious pollution as a consequence of any discharge of oil, DECC may serve a prohibition notice. This will specify the pollution risk, the steps required to remove it and the time period, and may withdraw a permit wholly or in part until the prohibition notice is withdrawn.

Offences under the OPPC Regulations, include (but are not limited to) the following:

• discharge of oil to sea without a valid and appropriate permit being in place;
• failure to report an unpermitted discharge of oil;
• failure to comply with a prohibition or enforcement notice;
• failure to supply any information required under the terms of the permit; or
• wilfully obstructing a DECC inspector.

A person found guilty of an offence will on summary conviction be liable to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum.

Life Permits will be reviewed at a frequency stipulated in the permit schedule. The minimum frequency of review will be every three years.

Permit holders have an obligation to continually review their oil discharge permits to ensure that they adequately cover their discharges. If any changes are required for example to take account of a process modification or to add additional activities/discharge streams, permit holders must apply for an oil discharge permit variation. This must be prepared by amending the original application with any changes clearly highlighted. Variations will be dealt with by DECC as quickly as possible, but 28 days should be allowed for the assessment of any significant changes.

DECC has revoked the UK Dispersed Oil in Produced Water Trading Scheme. Dispersed oil in produced water continues to be regulatedunder the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Oil Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations 2005 and associated permit conditions. All permit conditions remain in force except those specifically associated with the trading scheme.

OSPAR is looking into a new Risk Based Approach in relation to the discharge of produced water. This approach is aimed at continue to meet the objectives of the OSPAR Recommendation 2001/01:

• Reduce the input of oil and other substances into the sea resulting from produced water from offshore installations, with the the ultimate aim of eliminating pollution from those sources;
• Ensure that an integrated approach is adoped, so that reduction in oil discharge is not achieved in a way that causes pollution in other areas and/or other environmental compartments; and
• Ensure that effort is made to give priority to actions related to the most harmful components of produced water.

This approach takes account of achievements made to date in reducing total oil to sea by 15% as well as take a more holistic approach rather than focussing solely on oil in produced water. OSPAR intend to have a draft measure prepared for adoption in 2010.

One of the OSPAR Recommendation 2001/01 goals is for zero harmful discharge by 2020.  Work is ongoing to identify a way forward on definition of "harmful" and regulatory requirements to meet the OSPAR goal.  Expectation is that there will be a more risk assessment statutory approach by 2010.