Drill Cuttings Newsletter - Issue 2 (Nov 99)

Welcome to the autumn newsletter for the UK Offshore Operators Association’s Drill Cuttings Initiative. The Industry’s investigations into the options for dealing with the legacy of seabed drill cuttings continue apace, with the £1 million R&D phase scheduled for completion early next year. Recent progress has been overseen by a new chairman, Ian Silk, decommissioning manager at Shell UK. Ian replaces the Initiative’s founding chairman Eric Faulds, who retired in September. UKOOA would like to thank Eric for his invaluable contribution and wishes him well in his retirement.

R&D Programme Update

The 15 research and development contracts announced at the end of August are now well underway, involving scientists and academics in over 20 organisations throughout the UK, Norway, Germany, Hong Kong and Holland.

Data is being gathered, literature reviewed and in-field video footage analysed from sources all over the world. There have been workshops, a video conference and interviews with production and service companies to investigate drilling histories as well as the various methods and technologies which could be employed to treat the old drill cuttings. Representatives from all participating R&D groups also met to promote the flow of information between research projects, with good results. For example, samples taken last month from one of the sponsors’ fields by the Centre for Coastal and Marine Sciences and the Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory for their work with BMT on contaminant leaching are also being studied by ERT as part of its research on cuttings toxicity. In addition, information gathered at a workshop for subsea contractors to help identify and quantify in situ disturbance of cuttings is also being used in the development of a mathematical model of cuttings dispersal following disturbance.

The first reports are already in and have been sent to the panel of independent scientists specially formed to assess the findings. All 15 research projects will be reviewed in this way and input from stakeholders sought before the final report, with recommendations for activities in phase two, is published early next year.

New Scientific Review Group Members

Two new members have been appointed to the independent scientific review group formed in August to ensure the transparency and integrity of the research findings on behalf of stakeholders. They are Professor Jürgen Rullkötter of the Institut Chemie und Biologie des Meeres at the University of Oldenburg, and Torgeir Bakke of the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, Oslo.

The appointments were made by the group’s chairman, Professor John Shepherd MA PhD, CMath, FIMA, FRS, Director of the Earth Modelling Initiative at the Southampton Oceanography Centre. The other members are Professor William Dover FIMechE, CEng, FINDT, University College London; Dr Brian McCartney BSc, PhD, FIEE, CEng, a visiting Professor at the University of Liverpool; Professor Bruce Sellwood BSc, Dphil, FGS, CGeol, Professor of Applied Sedimentology at the University of Reading; and Dr Hans Temmink, an Associate Professor in the toxicology department at the Agricultural University Wageningen.

Stakeholder Dialogue in February 2000

A second stakeholder dialogue session is planned for 2 February 2000. The event will once again be organised by the independent UK charity, the Environment Council, which hopes to reconvene the 40 delegates from Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK who attended the first seminar almost a year ago. Invitations will be sent out once arrangements have been fully confirmed. The session will provide a forum for discussion on the outcome of the R&D programme and the views expressed will help shape the next stage of work.

UKOOA Drill Cuttings Web Pages

Details of the R&D Programme, the Scientific Review Group and the Stakeholder Dialogue are on the UKOOA Drill Cuttings Web Pages, via www.oilandgas.org.uk. Your contribution to the initiative is important and we value your comments and suggestions.

For further information, please email Trisha O’Reilly at UKOOA on toreilly@ukooa.co.uk or call her on 0171 802 2422.

10/11/99