Environmental Impact of Oil and Gas in Bangladesh

This assignment examines the environmental consequences associated with oil and gas operations in Bangladesh. It delves into various aspects, including air and water pollution, habitat disruption, and greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis considers the Brahmaputra River ecosystem's vulnerability and potential impacts on biodiversity. Students are tasked with evaluating existing regulations and guidelines, identifying best practices for sustainable development, and proposing mitigation measures to minimize environmental damage.

Sustainability Auditing Simulation report in the oil & gas
sector: As a consultancy firm a study on the environmental
impacts of Magurcherra Gas field explosion on its
environment to provide various advice level to clientele
MSc Oil & Gas Trade Management OGT702_Sustainability in the Oil & Gas
Sector
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Contents
Introductory summary.......................................................................................
Detailed overview of Magurcherra field.............................................................
Methodology used for collection of data by company.......................................
Results and recommendations for sustainability...............................................
Summary...........................................................................................................
References
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Introductory summary
The main focus of this report is to analyze the environmental impacts of
Magurcherra gas field explosion with the help of meteorological,
environmental and socio-economic studies to provide various advice level to
clientele as a consultancy firm. By conducting these studies varied outcomes
are achieved and accordingly recommendations are made by the experts in
respect to protecting environment. Major activities which can be considered
in this perspective are the seismicactivities such as exploration, drilling and
production.In the case of Magurcherra gas field, there are environmental
damages on air, water and land which are caused due to unplanned way of
working and explosion. These are the details which have been gathered after
the discussed with the focus group of people, surveys and the sample testing
of the areas and it was observed that there was pollution related to the noise
of the equipment was almost of low level but the pollution in the air was
occurred considerably. It was observed that polluted air consists of CO2, dust,
NOX, SPM and SOX in it which caused huge problems for the people. There
was the observation of contamination of water due to the leakage of the oil
and grease, paints, chemicals and etc. (Spence, 2011). Below is the image of
the areas which are taken under the consideration for this report:
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(Source: Silvestre and Gimenes, 2017)
Detailed overview of the case: Magurcherra
Magurcherra is located in Bangladesh which where gas plant has blown out.
Bangladesh has the river which is Brahmaputra and largest delta of India is make in that country
only (The Brahmaputra, 2017). Because of this, it has more water resources. From assessment, it
has been assessed that such country is filled up with natural resources such as gas to the
significant level. It has impacted the economic and environmental development
of nation. By having accomplishment of standards objectives specifically
environment sustainability can be attained by oil and gas companies
operated in Bangladesh to a great extent. Moreover, now higher and legal
authorities of every country including Bangladesh have introduced some
rules that company needs to follow for the purpose of environment
sustainability. Hence, companies which are performing their operations in
Bangladesh are obliged to follow specific rules for making environment
pollution free. It has been presumed by company that all of equipment was
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destroyed with the exception of some items that were positioned at an area
approximately one kilometer from the rig site (Muralidharan and
Senthilkumar, 2016).The main camp located away from the drilling location
escaped complete destruction, but two building were damaged. The ware-
house was completely destroyed which was within the fenced area of the
drill site.Sustainable development of the country like Bangladesh requires
key concern towards their environmental factors and issues which they are
facing.Moreover, in Bangladesh activities related to oil and gas increased
with the higher pace as compared to before years. This in turn indicates that
there is the higher requirement for taking strategic actions that contribute in
sustainable environment. Magurcherra gas field which caught fire during the
late 1990’s and the gas field was kept ablaze for the next three which
contributed in destruction of the vast tea plantation in the nearby areas and
also the betel nut plantations.Exact location of the Mangurcherra is Manubazar, South
Tripura, Bengal, India.In the petroleum sector generally there are major kind of
activities which are involved are the seismic activities, drilling work and the
exploration and production which give effects to the nearby areas of the
petroleum sector (Sengupta, 2016). The site is dependent on the kind of
geological formation and the drilling fluid from these areas in continuously
circulated through the drill pipe and the back of the surface of the equipment
to maintain the hydrostatic pressure of the underground surface. In such
kind of condition the drilling work is to be done on the surfaces which are
appropriate for drilling.
Drilling on the surface of the areas it requires mud and the water is huge
amount. The mud which is returned during the time of drilling have been
spilled in the pits and recycled. When the mud is got collected in the pits
then due to the natural process of evaporation cause water to get out of the
mud which let us with clay in large quantities. Estimated of around five
thousand cubic meter is stored at one time (Ashok, Mathew and Rejeesh,
2016). The drilling work requires huge amount of water and if the water is
contaminated with pathogens then it is required to be treated. Pathogens are
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one kind of Bactria which is contamination of water which helps to clean water resources up to
higher level. At the Bangladesh place, the government applies this method because it supports to
clean water.Large quantities of fluids are required to let on the ground or in to
the nearby streams.
The effluent which comes out during the process is disposed off and this is
quite dangerous to the environment and the neighboring areas. Particularly
in the areas which are off shores have higher effects because there is no
other alternative but to dispose those effluents in to the sea water. SoEIA1
has made to every implementer and planner of the petroleum project that
they should take care of the environmental issues and consequences of the
kind of work which is to be conducted under the project. For the EIA there
are six main components which are needed to be measured: identification of
the impact, basics, prediction and assessment of impacts, description of the
affected environment, documentation to be done according to the guidelines
given and selection of the action proposed and documentation of the data.
The major purpose to share this data is have keen over the issues which are
important in the matter of oil and gas related projects which include:
1) Assessment of the socio – economic effects of the project.
2) Assessment of the type of land which is used and the pattern of land
use.
3) Identification of the impacts of the environment of this project.
This documentation of all the above discussed points will help the EIA to find
out the effects of the projects. There is also a very important thing that is to
be considered is that is any kind of problem is present during the
assessment and identification time then there should be some mitigation
plan for all of the problems so that impacts of project could be reduced
(Silvestre and Gimenes, 2017).
1 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
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Methodology used for collection of data
The method which has been used for this purpose is the checklist method in
which the questionnaires have been asked and the opinion has been taken
from different experts to clarify the answers. There are about 50 experts who
are considered for this report who are related to the oil and gas industry and
their answers are evaluated. Calculation of the fuel emission rate from the
power plant is done with the help of emission factor and fuel consumption
rate (Guldhe and et.al., 2017).
Theme 1: Stating the extent to which activities performed by oil &
gas companies may result into pollution in the air.
Particulars Views of
respondent
s
% of
respondents
To some
extent
10 20%
To the
moderate
extent
18 36%
To the
large extent
22 44%
Total 50 100%
To some extent To the moderate
extent To the large
extent
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
% of respondents
% of respondents
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Theme 2: From the following factors which one imposes risk and
hazard in terms of oil and gas value chain
Particula
rs
Views of
responde
nts
% of
responde
nts
Coastal
and
marine
ecology
20 40%
Change in
the climate
18 36%
Revenue
transparen
cy
12 24%
Total 50 100%
Coastal and
marine ecology Change in the
climate Revenue
transparency
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
% of respondents
% of respondents
Theme 3: Do you agree that by following rules and regulations oil & gas
companies can make contribution in environment sustainability
Particular
s
Views of
respondents
% of
respondents
Agree 12 24%
Strongly
agree
20 40%
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Neutral 10 20%
Disagree 5 10%
Strongly
disagree
3 6%
Total 50 100%
Agree Strongly
agree Neutral Disagree Strongly
disagree
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
% of respondents
% of respondents
Theme 4: From the following lists, which developmental resource is highly influenced from oil
& gas activities.
Particulars Views of
responde
nts
% of
responde
nts
Livestock 5 10%
Fisheries 7 14%
Local people
and the tea
garden
workers
10 20%
Livestock
feedings
10 20%
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Communicati
on and
transport
18 36%
Total 50 100%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
% of respondents
% of respondents
Magurcherra gas field baseline environmental condition
Magurcherra Gas field explosion
The fire was caught to the plant in 1997 and caused huge amount of
damages in terms of lives of the people and damage of the properties in the
nearby areas. Above 50 percent of the forest and around 250 hectares of
land of the nearby areas was damaged due to the destruction caused by the
explosion in the plant due to fire. Large part of the wild life area was
destroyed and the rest was displaced to the other places (Wan Ahmad, Brito
and Tavasszy, 2016). Around 30 hectares of land of tea plantation got
damaged which affected the lives of thousands of people working those
gardens (Yusuf and et.al., 2013). The damage which has been caused by this
destruction is given in the table below;
Type of
resources
damages
Components Preliminary assessment
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Natural
resources
-Natural forests
-Land (250 hectares )
-Wildlife
-Water logging and pollution
-Tea gardens
50 hectares totally damaged
90 hectares completely burnt
There is also the observation of partly
burnt areas.
Observation of the ashes and
condensates
Observation of the landslides and land
subsidence.
Observation of the displacement of the
wildlife animals to the other places.
About 30 hectares of tea gardens and
about 1 km of the rail lines got
damaged (Kingsley, 2016).
Development
al resources
-Infrastructure
-Livestock
-Fisheries
-Local people and the tea
garden workers
-Livestock feedings
-Communication and transport
About a km of medaled road and 2
culverts damaged
About 1 km of gas pipeline go
damaged
Around 3000 of people were affected
due to the loss of the jobs in tea
gardens
Transport and communication with the
people in those areas was totally
disrupted.
Human
interests
-Disruption of socio economic
factors
-Pollution in the air
-Population and the market
displacements
This was the total disaster of all the
socio economic factors in the area but
there was no air pollution observed and
there was no population and market
displacements is observed after the
process.
(Source: Kingsley, 2017)
Oil and gas value chain risks and hazards: The main purpose of this
section is to highlight the risks that are associated with value chain aspects
of oil and gas.
1) Coastal and marine ecology: Particularly in the arctic condition
there is problem in the coral and marine biodiversity and there are
problems in the cleaning up activities.
2) Change in the climate: This has huge impact over the global
warming.
3) Revenue transparency: particularly in the growing economies there
is a problem of corruption and bribery.
4) Health safety and environmental risk of major explosions, leaks or
spills.
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Regulations and best practices
1) For oil and gas operations permits, consents and licenses required
specifically which depend on jurisdiction framework in geographical
locations.
2) In the developing countries, best practice should be adhering to
international environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) will
be required.
3) WHO guidelines to be used for drinking water quality.
4) EX- im environmental procedures and guidelines to be used.
By keeping in mind all such rules and regulation undesirable aspects
associated with oil and gas practices can be avoided to a great extent.
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Results and recommendationsfor sustainability
Discussion of the Magurcherra gas field has been done with the 50 experts
who are related to the field of oil and gas in different manner. Environmental
Impact Assessment of the drilling and pipeline activities was predicted for
the Magurcherra Gas field in the exploration in the oil and gas sector. It can
be done through the means of continuous monitoring of the conditions
prevailed in nearby areas. Hence, by making assessment of such aspects
impact of drilling activities can be assessed in an effectual way. Following
are the details of the data which has been recovered and the
recommendations for mitigation of the problem:
Environmen
tal
components
Positive or
negative
impacts
Recommendation for Mitigation measures
Socio –
economic
factors
Negative
To avoid the over taxing of the infrastructure due to the
damage there should be providing of the temporary
housing facilities, eating and sanitary facilities to the
workers.
Use of land Negative
The acquiring of the land from the owners should be
done with the mutual consent of government and the
owner of the land. Compensation should be given to the
owners who lost their crops.
Fertility of
the soil Negative
Fertility of the soil can be improved when the top
damaged layer of the soil can be segregated and then
common fill should be done after trenching the sand.
.
Quality of
air
Impact of the
air was
negligible
For this there are no requirements of the mitigation
measures.
Quality of
the ground
water and
the surface
Negative
The water which portable at the site should be well
tested and there should be assurance that it should
meet the standards of the country for drinking purpose.
For the construction workers there should be proper
waste disposal plan which includes the sanitary facilities
and there should be proper disposal of the wastes
generated are the constructional site.
Wildlife and
fishes Negative
There should be selection of the alternative routes for
the work force so that the natural resources should be
avoided from hunting and the danger of the lives of the
workers. Propetection should be given to the water in
which fishes are present so that they can be protected
from the water pollution.
Historical
and
archeologic
al resources
Negative
There are very minor impacts that can be considered in
this perspective.
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(Source: Bigliani, 2013)
Along with this, business units which are operating in oil and gas sector
should lay emphasis on conducting research activity. By doing this, business
units can identify the eco-friendly to perform the activities. This in turn helps
companies in reducing the level of environmental pollution in an effectual
way. Moreover, according to Sustainable Communities Act (2007), business entity has
accountability to perform activities in such a manner which in turn may result into less
pollution.Hence, by following such Act firms of oil and gas sector including Magurcherra gas
field can make contribution in the sustainable business environment. Such strategy will prove to
be more beneficial from environmental perspective. For conducting research business
organization needs to incur £1200 which in turn helps in identifying the most effectual ways. In
addition to this, to prevent undesirable activities firm of oil and gas sector will provide personnel
with the all required protective equipment. Hence, by undertaking proper health and safety
measures firm can avoid accidents and undesirable practices at workplace. In addition to this, by
following the aspects of total quality management strategy and other standards Magurcherra gas
field can reduce the level of wastage to the significant level. For employing the system of TQM
business unit requires continuous monitoring of performance. Hence, to employ the quality
management tools and techniques business unit requires less funds.
In the above table the use of the negative and positives are done to classify
the magnitudes of the environmental factors with the relevant mitigation
measures. The impact on the socio economic, usage of the land, quality of
the ground water, wildlife and fishes is stated as the negative magnitudes
because they are the resources which are mostly affected during the oil and
gas sector. A very minor impact has been calculated in the air pollution and
the historical and archeological resources. The recommendations which are
stated above are according to the kind of conditions which may occur during
the time of construction. These are the most probable types of effects which
occur with the time.
Risks and hazards in the oil and gas value chain
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Environmental hazard. Along the oil and gas value chain, there are a lot of
environmental hazards that are bound to occur. To begin with exploration of
oil and gas causes soil erosion since land has to be cleared leaving it bare as
susceptible to erosion causing agents such as wind and water. Habitat is also
lost for animals that previously resided in the area. Gases emitted from the
oil and gas value chain pollute the air and results to things like acid rain and
ozone layer depletion. Water both ion the surface and underground is also
polluted (Barclays Bank, 2015).
Health and safety hazard and HSE management system
Oil and gas value chain brings about various safety and health hazards.
For instance: Activities related to the drilling of oil and gas aspect impose
risk of danger in front of individuals. Hence, health management system is
required to take strategic action or measure for avoiding undesirable
events. Further, operations in relation to oil and gas emit gases such as CO2
which are harmful to the health of those that inhale them. Wells and holes
are drilled in the ground and when left open, they become a safety hazard
since people can fall in. they could also be breeding grounds for disease-
causing organisms such as mosquitoes which is a health hazard. HSE
(Health, Safety, and Environment) management system refers to the
mechanism which employers put in place in order to reduce the risks which
result from injury at work as well as illnesses. Employers need to have an
effective HSE management system. Doing so reduces injuries and illnesses
which occur in the oil and gas value chain.
Risk reduction for hazards in the oil and gas value chain
Companies which deal with oil and gas have many risks such as volatile
commodity prices, pollution, and environmental pressures among others.
Among the ways of reducing risks in this value chain is ensuring they are
compliant with all regulations and policies put in place, have access to
information and at the right time, and have complete databases since they
help them to make the right decision. They should also have a continuous
monitoring and evaluation process which is real-time as it helps predict
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possible incidences and thus helps deal with them as they occur. Real-time
monitoring also helps to prevent failure as well as reduced productivity
(Bigliani, 2013).
How should oil companies go about hazard identification?
There are various steps companies should take so as to identify a hazard.
Step 1 is identifying incidences that may create hazards and next step is
identifying the hazards which may result from the identified incidences. Next
is safety assessment whereby consequences of each hazard are identified
and then control measures for each hazard are put in place.
Process analysis hazard
It refers to the method put in place so as to analyze and identify hazards that
may exists in workplaces. By so doing, it helps workers and employers to find
solutions and ways to avert these hazards so that they do not affect them
PHA methodologies
They include HAZOP, FTA, and FMEA as discussed below.
HAZOP (hazard and operability study)
This is a process hazard analysis method which entails review of equipment
used in oil and gas value chain to identify which is being used in an improper
way as it may create hazards. It is conducted by engineers from different
disciplines so as to evaluate all aspects of the equipment such as deviations
in pressure and flow. The team then determines the consequences that may
result from this hazards and checks whether the safeguards put in place are
adequate to handle the consequences (Kingsley, 2016).
FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis)
This is the method of process hazard analysis which focuses on identification
of the consequences which would result when operational hardware broke
down. It helps in the identification of failures which in most cases are difficult
to identify. It also helps to learn where the oil and gas value chain process is
likely to fail and prepares ways of averting the failure.
FTA (fault tree analysis)
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This is a method of process hazard analysis which deals with development of
a model to explain possible outcome which may result from a certain hazard
occurring. For instance, in the case when a pipe bursts while transporting oil,
this method helps to identify the probable outcomes and also the probable
cause of this hazard. Symbols and graphs are used to show the possible
events order that led to the hazard thus determining the cause as well as the
outcome. It allows to make sure that tree analysis allows to ensure about the
reason behind the blow. The working can be measured according to
standards which will allow to ensure that long term sustainability can be
advanced in order to meet key goals and objectives.
Ethical issues pertaining to corporate social responsibility within the
oil and gas sector
The ethical duty of a company is derived from the expectation that a
company will pay it taxes, be a great citizen, and even strive to do business
in ways that minimize the damage caused to the environment as well as the
community. CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) defines the kind of
relationship that exists between a company and the community. Among
some ethical issues within the gas and oil sector that pertain to corporate
social responsibility is reduction of pollution. Oil and gas companies owe it to
the community to reduce pollution to minimal possible levels. Safe and
health working condition is another ethical issue that pertains to corporate
social responsibility. The company should ensure that community members
and all employees working in the organization do so under safe and healthy
conditions, are well treated, and that they receive the right wages for the job
done. Improving community infrastructure is yet another way the gas and oil
companies can do ethical practice in relation to CSR (Spence, 2011).
Legal framework – ALARP
ALARP stands for as low as reasonably practicable. It determines the level at
which experts in risk management expect the risks in a certain workplace
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controlled. This happens through weighing the risks against the money which
is required to control it as well as time and trouble. Decision-making
techniques such as cost-benefit analysis are used to determine which risks
are ALARP especially for those which are complex. For example, if plant was
considered of ALARP plan then it might have possible that work standards
were advanced. By having an application of such aspects the risk factor can
be reduced in appropriate manner. Along with this, benefit in regard to cost
can also be advanced effectively in order to meet key goals and objectives.
Summary
It is clear from the study that the cumulative impact of the project is +220
which indicates that the project is environmentally feasible. During back
filling of trench the fertility of soil has been reduced and the water quality
has been deteriorated by spills and leaks of oil and grease, paints, solvents
and chemicals. The fish production of this area has been observed to be
affected by water pollution from oil and grease, chemicals and sanitary
wastes. Pollution related with noise found as temporary and minor but the air
is observed to be polluted by dust, SPM, SOX, NOX, and CO2 etc. Water used
by the construction force have to be tested to ensure that it meets the
quality standards of Bangladesh for drinking water, or it should be
chlorinated so that the tested chlorine residual is 0.2 mg/l or greater, after
10 min of contact time. Implementation of Waste Disposal Plan including,
proper sanitary facilities for the construction force and proper disposal of
solid waste generated by the construction activities. Soil erosion has to be
minimized with the measures for conserving soil during stream crossings and
during trenching activities.
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