Environmental management Ideas In Oil & Gas Company?

Answer 1

Several of the multi-national oil companies are acutely aware of environmental issues that surround their business. Both BP and Shell are the two LARGEST manufacturers of solar panels in the world. Shell is the largest manufacturer of bio-diesel in the world. BP has made actual progress in reducing carbon emissions from BP operations. Both BP and Shell have corporate targets for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from their operations.
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=4533&contentId=7015199
Solar from BP and Shell:
http://www.bp.com/modularhome.do?categoryId=4260
http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=shellsolar

Shell biodiesel:
http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=royal-en&FC2=/royal-en/html/iwgen/what_we_do/oil_products/zzz_lhn.html&FC3=/royal-en/html/iwgen/what_we_do/oil_products/biofuels_0316.html

Shell Oil, in partnership with Iogen, has some of the most advanced technology for making ethanol from cellulose, which has the potential to make corn-based ethanol obsolete.
http://www.iogen.ca/cellulose_ethanol/benefits/index.html

All that said, there are many things the oil industry still needs to do to be more environmentally friendly, and many changes in political attitudes that would help facilitate this. One of the worst practices of the oil industry, that has in recent decades been reduced considerably is what is known as gas flaring. In many remote areas where oil wells produce both oil and natural gas there is no market for natural gas and thus no pipelines to dispose of it. It is sometimes burnt in these areas with a flare. Many oil companies have ended this practice by reinjecting the natural gas, in effect saving it for a later day when there might be a market. This practice also extends the life of the petroleum reservoir by maintaining pressure in the reservoir to push the oil out. Sadly, it isn't always used and some flares are so large they are visible in satellite photos at night.

One other big problem that the public and politicians have little comprehension of is that when oil drilling is prohibited in areas where there are high standards of environmental regulation, this lost production is offset by different oil producers in areas of the world where there is no environmental regulation. Much of Russia is an example of this. An oil company operating in the US has to respond and report to authorities for an oil spill as small as a few gallons, while Russian companies will spill hundreds of thousands of gallons and do nothing. Likewise, oil spills in Venezuela by the government oil company (which is a major supplier of US oil) remain a large problem. By forcing oil production to come from countries with little or no environmental regulation, the amount of environmental impact is actually increased.

Another area where the oil industry is on the forefront of environmental sustainability is in research into carbon sequestration. Many old oil fields and old wells have the potential to be used to store carbon dioxide from atmospheric sources in a contained environment. BP began storing about 1 million tons of CO2 per year in Algeria in 2004. This carbon dioxide has value to the oil companies, since it can be used for tertiary recovery of oil, and could potentially become a raw material for methanol production.

Even small efforts are made in some oil companies. One major oil company announced a few years ago that they were no longer purchasing expanded-foam coffee cups for their employees to use, and instead issued ceramic coffee mugs to thousands of employees. Any company could do this- not just an oil company. Likewise, any one of us can be more responsible stewards of the environment.

Refinery emissions are another major problem of the oil industry. The two cities in the US with the worst air pollution problems are Los Angeles and Houston, and oil refineries in both of those cities are significant sources of emissions. Reduced emissions are possible, with redesign and refitting of refineries. Interestingly, Los Angeles refineries have been able to reduce emissions almost 80% compared to Houston's less regulated refiners. Of course, the same type of Catch-22 problem exists for refining, as regulations increase the cost of production, refiners in unregulated areas can become competitive and can ship refined products, while environmental standards where the fuel is refined do not exist.

Another way that the oil industry could reduce air pollution is to install those vapor-capture gasoline pumps in all gasoline stations. These eliminate tons of hydrocarbon vapor emissions that come from automobile gasoline tanks. They are required in some states, but most still do not require it.

To summarize, here are the actions that many oil companies are taking, and others still need to consider:
1. Elimination of emissions and pollutants from drilling operations (safe drill mud disposal, spill detection and cleanup, proper disposal and treatment of produced water, and elimination of flaring). Further, reducing the footprint of both drilling pads and production equipment in the field can and will reduce environmental impact.
2. Elimination of emissions from refining operations and shipping and transfer operations (refinery updates, double hull tankers, electric power to ships while in harbor)
3. Reduction of waste in office operations (reduced energy lighting, green buildings, etc.)
4. Reduction of emissions from retail products (vapor-recovery, used oil recycling, etc)
5. Education of employees, consumers, and suppliers about environmental sustainability of operations.
6. Development of alternative fuels and alternative plastics. Many of the oil companies see this as a business oportunity, instead of some sort of adverse competition. They can see far enough into the future to realize the oil industry will undergo major changes in the next 50 years, and plan to be around when their major product is no longer petroleum.

Answer 2

Firstly, lets understand this. Oil and Gas companies are in this business to make a profit, pure and simple, case closed. Environmental management ideas need to be based on converting an oil company to research and invest in environmentally friendly technology that will continue to make them a profit. Right now, some oil company's make about 50 billion dollars per QUARTER in profit, and there is just no way they are going to give that money up without a fight. Why should they invest in a different form of energy when the one they are already in is making such huge profits? However, as long as there is free enterprise, there will be no environmental management ideas forthcoming from any oil or gas company, UNLESS that technology can be shown to provide a worthwhile profit.

Answer 3

Your question is unclear, so I'll just tell you what I know. Well, some of it.

As others have said, oil and gas companies are both constrained and driven to excel by the bottom line.

But all of them have entire environmental affairs departments dedicated (in many areas by law) to mitigating their environmental impact--though not necessarily the impact of their products down the line.

What people seem to forget is that these guys (and the majority of them, alas, are guys) have kids with whom they go fishing, like to breathe, and are way more environmentally aware than the average well-educated Joe.

They honestly don't sit around trying to think up more devious ways to destroy the planet. But they do, as has been pointed out, have to answer to the stockholders.

I've seen these guys sit on panels where their thoughts and ideas were some of the most forward-thinking, viable, and environmentally friendly of anyone's. Yet they were repeatedly shouted down by some representative of an NGO.

I think the most important ideas I've heard from them have to do with transparency--letting the public know more, rather than less, about how their companies work. Because in order to fix the problems, they have to work together with governments, environmentalist organizations and all the other stakeholders. And as long as they *appear* to be fat old capitalists "harrumphing" in smoke-filled rooms, all that will happen is stricter legislation (which is almost invariably years behind technology) and a lot of people wringing their hands and whining, and neither of those has done a lot to fix things so far.

Answer 4

Some oil companies, such as BP and Chevron are already investing in renewable energy technologies and the oil industry is beginning to realize the hard truth that oil is becoming more expensive to pump out of the ground. Oil and gas companies are driven by the same fundamental economic considerations that all other businesses are, when their products are more expensive, fewer people buy them, they lose economies of scale and their profits are reduced. Oil companies that fail to invest in new sources of energy will gradually fade into obscurity over the next few decades no matter what the government does, because oil and gas will eventually become so expensive that renewable alternatives will be more cost effective for their would-be customers.

Answer 5

The majority of oil and gas companies are just like the majority of companies in any other competitive industry. They try to obey all the laws that apply to them. They would be remiss in their duty to the stock holders if they spent all of the profits on environmental items when their competitors did not. If you want them to do more with environmental issues get the government to set new standards and they will comply.

As to some comments on oil company profits, you do not compare any company's profit simply in terms of gross profit. You must look at the company's profits in terms of how much income they have and the profit is as a percent of income. If you would do this, you would find that oil company profits are no higher that the majority of companies in other industries. Their profit when it is quoted simply as a stand alone number is large because they sell a lot of gasoline, about 9 MILLION barrels a day!

Answer 6

Ecology does need not management or control. Those wonderful ideas on petroil and gasoline are for entrepreneurs to feel conforted with owed money and workers to feel they are covered with insurance and are sure appreciated when they are damp in oil and shouted at most days (specially with international companies). Environment has it alright, what gets covered in oil get circulated in two years, the best idea on oil is to pump and transform it on the spot, it is easy to see this is a hard and expensive process, but with a dullvey or bruzo processor it comes handy to cover the whole process and sell it at a cost-renewable price, lets say 0.75 soles per gallon. Labor and machines are not that expensive and even though millions are mentioned, a good exploit costs no more than 100000 soles. That is accurate and actually profitable except for governments, yet I dont care for them, they only charge and live on our money. Some even go into war for religion. That is sure not right.

Answer 7

The oil and gas companies do nothing to save the environment, quite the contrary, they have been given free reign to do as they please by our current administration, many of whom are rich because of the oil industry. George Bush is an oil baron, as is his father, and many in the current administration were picked from the oil industry. Remember, the laws regarding the oil companies that are passed now will affect how much the shareholders in the oil companies makes as far as profits are concerned, in the future. So, is it any surprise that our oil baron president has passed laws that allow the oil companies to do anything they please to make record profits now, and in the future. Remember, the more money the oil companies make, the richer Bush becomes. Gee, I wonder if that's why the president gives them free reign? Besides, the oil companies have contributed millions to Bush's campaigns, buddying up to the oil baron president. I wonder why?

Answer 8

O&G companies can minimise the impact of their operations with responsible environment management techniques

read below to what BP is doing

http://www.bp.com/subsection.do?categoryId=9007562&contentId=7014528

Answer 9

Reduce leakage. Extract as many fractions as possible. Dispose of flues safely.

Answer 10

Get the government off their backs. The will become more efficient on their own.