Injection technology for sustainable environmental protection in the petroleum industry

Abstract

Since the petroleum industry is considered to be one of the main environmental polluters, increased attention is put on environmental protection during petroleum activities. During exploration, well stimulation and oil and gas production a certain amount of waste is produced. By using injection technology petroleum industry waste is injected into suitable underground geological formations, from where it originated and it is safely removed from the human biosphere. With the injection technology the liquid, solid and gaseous wastes are deposited simultaneously and safely into the selected formation. Compared to the injection technology, surface disposal of petroleum industry waste is much more expensive and more environmentally intensive. For the last two years the same technology has also been used in Croatia. At this moment, petroleum industry waste in Croatia is injected at just one oil field, but there are several projects that consider wells and geological structures suitable for disposal of this kind of waste. With the negative publicity regarding environmental impact in the past, and considering the new set of environmental laws and standards, the waste injection technology could be the solution for the petroleum industry on how to achieve sustainable waste management and diminish its impact on environmental balance that is predicted to be even greater. Furthermore, implementation of injection technology could also be the solution for the greenhouse gas problem.