Oil and Gas Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Oil and Gas Management - Essay Example Based on a case study in Brazil, the Pantanal case is identified as a key point as to why the horizontal directional drilling can be the best alternative, as opposed to conventional drilling techniques (Pisupati, 2009, p.63). Methods of oil production in most cases determine the impacts on the surroundings and the possible consequences to those living in it. The most common methods available relate to the conventional methods of drilling and the much advanced method called the risk management plans to oil drilling. Petroleum produced in any other method that is not conventional is called unconventional. The most common types of unconventional ways include refining of extra heavy soils and oil sands using extremely heavy metal and high levels of energy. Besides these are the oil shale and thermal depolymerization (Patin, 2009, p.86). The former relates to extractions of shale gas from shale formations using current technology while the latter involves obtaining petroleum from waste pr oducts and decomposing sites. Another basic form of unconventional methods is the conversion of coal and gas using synthetic fuel techniques and advanced technology. Unconventional methods of drilling oil are still in their beginning phase and have come out of the need by the advanced nations to cater for the demand and balance it with the supply for continuous use. However, these methods have had their possible dangers especially to human health and the impacts to the environment (U.S. Geological Survey, 1996, p.3). Drilling Conventional or otherwise the traditional methods pose enormous losses and environmental impacts on the subjects. Firstly, they destroy the formation of the earth’s crust and core. The drilling of the well to create room for exerting pressure so as to extract the oil is by itself noise pollution and especially to the people living around the mining sites and more so to those undertaking the drilling works (Boesch and Rabalais, 2000, p.117). Potential env ironmental disasters arise in the sense that there are threats posed to the wildlife living nearby that has to flee to create room for the drilling process; displacement. This in turn threatens the survival of wildlife and especially with the availability of predators thus causing extinction of some species. Drilling requires broad land occupation and the possible environmental impacts would be release of harmful air into the environment, contamination of ground water from uncontrolled gas, fluids and spills and even uncontrolled waste discharges and leakages. Fluids and flow-backs contain radioactive materials which are hazardous to health and pollutants to the environmental (Shaw, Beven, Chappell and Lamb, 2010, p.243). Ground water if polluted with methane for instance leads to destruction of buildings and potassium chlorine cause salinity in drinking water. The wells once dug are left behind in the long run when the yield is below the targeted amounts or when the production cost s exceed the profits obtained. This poses a potential environmental threat again to the wildlife surrounding such vicinities with death should there be a fall out. The core of the earth is normally unstable, and the natural caused will always act to balance the pressure that mounts deep internally. When these oil wells are dug so deep, regions of imbalance are created within the crust and therefore these can lead to