Drilling waste management using zero discharge technology with Drill Cutting Re-injection (DCRI) method for environmental preservation

Abstract

The energy requirement level in Indonesia is quite high. The increasing oil and gas upstream industries to fulfil energy requirement in the future is highly connected with the escalation of wastes, especially drilling wastes. Drilling is one of the main operations in upstream oil and gas industries, which can harm the environment with its various types of wastes. The drilling process produces millions of barrels of wastes each year. However, with the industries being rapidly developed to fulfil national energy requirement, environmental-related regulations for drilling activities have been firmly tightened. Drilling and drilling mud system technology is more sophisticated and the majority of oil drilling companies are starting to adopt environmentally friendly drilling options. The objective of writing this article is to acknowledge the method of drilling waste processing by considering environmentally friendly aspect. Drill Cutting Re-Injection (DCRI) is one of the developing environmentally friendly processing techniques with zero discharge in oil and gas industries. With the utilization of the DCRI process, the companies can produce positive outcomes such as low environmental impact, low safety risks, low transportation problems, and economically cleaning responsibility.