Environmental & Social Review Summary
Project Number
7610
Company Name
Aminex PLC
Date ESRS Disclosed
Feb 5, 2010
Country
Tunisia
Region
Africa
Last Updated Date
Sep 30, 2022
Environmental Category
B - Limited
Status
Completed
Previous Events
Approved : Oct 1, 1996
Signed : Nov 5, 1996
Invested : Nov 18, 1996
Sector
Oil and Gas Production (Includes Development)
Industry
Metals and Mining
Department
Infra-WBG Dir. Minerals & Metals
Project Description
Environmental Review Summary (ERS)
Project Name Tunisia and Russia - Aminex
Region Central Asia, Middle East, and North Africa
Sector Oil & Gas
Project No. 007610
1. Aminex is a small, independent U.K. oil and gas company with two proposed projects: one in Tunisia and the other in Russia. The Tunisia project involves the recovery of 3 to 5 million barrels of oil from the existing offshore El Biban field. The Russia project involves the recovery of up to 40 million barrels of oil in the existing onshore Kirtayel field. The El Biban field is a small field with existing wells which will be put into production for the first time, whereas the Kirtayel field is already in production. This is a category B project according to IFC''s environmental review procedure because a limited number of specific impacts may result which can be avoided or mitigated by adhering to generally recognized environmental performance standards, guidelines or design criteria. Key environmental and occupational health and safety issues that were of particular concern during IFC’s environmental review of this project included: gas flaring; disposal of drilling muds and cuttings; disposal of produced water and other liquid effluents; effects of pipeline construction on fishing (especially in Tunisia); oil spill contingency response planning; and environmental performance of the existing operations (in Russia).
Tunisia: El Biban Field
2. Aminex proposes to construct and operate an offshore oil production well, pipeline and onshore treatment and storage plant near Zarzis, Tunisia. An existing offshore well will be reentered, sidetracked to an optimum location and a horizontal section drilled within the Zebbag reservoir. The well will then be completed as an oil producer. All production fluids will be transported ashore via a buried 18 km pipeline to the existing coastal oil terminal near Zarzis for processing and storage. Oil from the El Biban and the nearby onshore Ezzaouia and Robbana fields will be combined for loading at the port of Zarzis. Oil from the El Biban well will replace oil from the Ezzaouia field, which is near depletion. Thus, no significant increase in transportation of oil is expected from the port.
3. In developing its plan for exploiting oil reserves at El Biban, Aminex reviewed a number of alternatives taking into account technical, economic and environmental considerations. Details of the alternatives considered and the justification for selection of key project components were considered in an environmental impact assessment prepared in accordance with Tunisian environmental laws and regulations. This document was the primary source of information for IFC''s environmental review of the proposed investment. The key findings of IFC''s environmental review are summarized below.
4. Aminex’s preferred option is to re-enter the existing El Biban #3 well and sidetrack to an optimum location for recovery of reservoir fluids. This alternative produces the smallest quantity of cuttings that must be discharged, keeps the offshore activity in an area that already is occupied by a wellhead, and therefore has the least impact on the marine environment. The company also proposes to process, store, and ship the produced oil from an existing oil terminal at Zarzis.
5. Drilling will be undertaken by a specialist rig which can operate in shallow waters (7-8 m depth). The rig will have cuttings cleaning equipment and all the required means for managing liquid and solid wastes. Modeling of the discharge of the cuttings indicates that the area of seabed that will be impacted by deposits of cuttings more than 1 mm thick will be less than 70 m in radius. Because an existing well is to be re-entered, only a small quantity of cuttings will be generated. Overall, cuttings discharge is likely to have only a minor localized effect on the benthic environment in terms of smothering of habitat because of the low volume.
6. Aminex has chosen to exclusively use water-based muds as the drilling fluid. Further mitigation of the impacts of drilling fluids discharge will be achieved by recycling and re-using of fluids. Barites and other mud additives will be selected on the basis of their low toxicity and trace metal content (especially regarding cadmium and mercury). Whole muds will not be discharged at El Biban. Should the need arise for whole mud disposal then this will take place at an offshore location designated by the Tunisian environmental authority (ANPE) after the drilling rig has demobilized from the El Biban drill site. Modern drilling muds contain low levels of heavy metals, either below or within the ranges in natural deep marine sediments. The ambient concentration of metals in sediments in the El Biban area is higher than in deep marine sediments, due to terrigenous inputs as well the influence of coastal discharges.
7. On completion of drilling the well will be tested and tied back to the El Biban wellhead protector. Minimal facilities will be installed at the wellhead, mainly comprising a Christmas tree (i.e., a blowout preventer device) and pig launcher/receiver. In operation it will be unmanned and protected by navigational beacons and a 500-m radius exclusion zone to fisheries and navigation.
8. Fluids will be transported to shore via a buried 20-cm diameter pipeline. The pipeline will follow an optimal route which is yet to be determined by detailed seabed survey. The pipeline will be plowed into the seabed, eliminating the need for trenching and significantly reducing the quantity of resuspended material. Turbidity and smothering effects will therefore be minimized. The presence of pipelay vessels in the area between the El Biban #3 well and Zarzis may potentially disrupt fishing activity. However, the disruption will be brief and localized. Aminex''s contractor will coordinate and consult closely with local fishermen to ensure that their fishing efforts can be safely maximized despite the presence of pipelay vessels. During construction, a narrow strip of disturbance will occur in the large areas of seagrass beds and algal communities that characterize this area of coastline. The temporary loss of habitat will be very limited, and the amount of turbidity caused by pipeline construction will be similar to that caused by periodic storms in this shallow coastal area. In the long-term there will be no conflict with commercial fisheries since the pipeline will buried at a depth of 1-m, which will preclude any interaction with fishing gear.
9. Line test solution (methanol and rinseable gel) will be discharged offshore, to allow dilution and dispersal. The methanol and rinseable gel have very low toxicity to marine organisms. These chemicals are biodegradable and discharged at concentrations close to or below their respective 96 hr LC50 values (the concentration at which 50% of test organisms die after 96 hours of exposure). In reality, the discharge duration will be substantially less than 5 hrs and rapid dilution will be achieved. The exposure of organisms to a lethal concentration will therefore be largely avoided. Experience elsewhere demonstrates that there will be no significant or lasting effects on marine life and water quality.
10. Receiving and treatment facilities will be constructed within the existing Zarzis Oil terminal. These will comprise three-phase separation, tankage, further oily water treatment/separation for produced water, a produced water outfall and a flare. The facilities will be constructed within land occupied by the existing oil terminal. The landtake for the new facilities will have no significant impacts to land use or to ecological habitats. The operational facility will not generate substantially more road traffic and movements other than occur at the present time. There are no sensitive receptors in terms of noise or dust nuisance near the proposed construction site. The nearest residences are about 1 km distant.
11. Produced water will be treated for hydrocarbon removal to 40 ppm or less. Over the lifetime of field production, discharge of produced water will gradually increase to a maximum rate of approximately 0.5m3/min. It will be discharged to the nearshore zone below the low water mark well away from any environmentally sensitive seabed areas. The discharge will occur at a temperature of less than 50oC, but above ambient temperatures of 15-30oC. The temperature differential between the discharge and the receiving waters may result in a denuded area a few meters in radius around the produced water outfall. This zone of elevated temperature will be avoided by fish and other free-moving marine organisms. Sessile organisms and marine plans will not settle in this zone. In the context of its small size, the presence of this zone will not constitute a significant impact. The zone of effect due to the elevated salinity of the produced water will almost certainly be smaller than that due to the thermal element of the discharge, and will therefore be masked by it.
12. Separated gas initially will be flared off at the rate of approximately 3.24 MMSCFD. The gas will introduce NOx (nitrogen oxides) and trace SO2 (sulfur dioxide) to the atmosphere. By year six, the gas production from the field will have declined linearly to about 0.36 MMSCFD. In the unlikely event gas production exceeds 3.24 MMSCFD, Marathon plans to install a gas turbine at the Zarzis Oil Terminal and produce power as an interim stage of the long-term Sudelec project, which aims to use free gas to fuel a 36-MW gas turbine power plant once the oil reserves are depleted.
13. The presence and operation of a flare is unlikely to lead to negative perceptions of the area by local people. The nearest residences are 1 km away. The flare will be viewed as an extension to an existing industrial facility and as evidence of ongoing economic investment into the Port and Free Zone area. Views of the flare from the main tourist areas on the other side of the city will be limited by intervening topography, buildings, and distance. The El Biban development will only introduce some minor structures and possibly a flare to the Zarzis Oil Terminal site. There will be no significant effects on landscape character (essentially industrial development and reclaimed land), nor will any valuable landscape features be lost.
14. An oil spill risk analysis was prepared as part of the environmental impact assessment. In the case of the El Biban well, the risks of a blowout during drilling is lower than usual because the characteristics of the formation are already well understood. This is an additional advantage to Aminex’s preferred alternative of re-entering an existing well. Spill trajectory analyses indicate the most probable trajectory of spilled oil from the well site is to the south-southwest, with probable contact after 20 hrs with the sand bars separating Bahiret El Biban from the open sea. Bahiret El Biban is a lagoon with high value as fisheries and wildlife habitat. A key function of the design and operation of the El Biban project is to avoid spillage of oil and to rapidly mobilize contingency/response equipment should a spillage occur. In the unlikely event of an oil spill, Aminex will be able to respond rapidly because Marathon, which will be the field operator, already has spill response equipment in Zarzis and an oil spill contingency plan for the area. An oil spill contingency plan has been released to the World Bank''s Public Information Center along with this Environmental Review Summary in (July) 1996. The oil spill contingency plan is in the process of being updated to incorporate the El Biban production well in Marathon’s facilities that are covered by the plan.
Russia: Kirtayel Oilfield
15. The Kirtayel project involves an existing onshore oil field approximately 20 km south of Pechora in the Komi Republic, about 1200 km northeast of Moscow. The field is located within a semi-natural taiga forest area, i.e., a forested area that has not been significantly altered by forestry or agricultural activities.
16. The field was discovered and explored in the 1954-1969 period. Production began in 1989. Although a total of 48 wells have been drilled of which 20 originally were production wells, only 13 wells actually are producing oil at the present time from a total of 11 wellhead pads. Produced gas from the field is used to power heating boilers and is piped and sold to a local power station in Pechora. Currently, 40,000 to 50,000
m3 /day of gas is flared. There is no H2S in the associated gas.
17. The proposed development is planned in two phases - a workover and construction phase and an immediately subsequent development drilling and production phase. Short-term plans call for workovers on eight existing non-producing wells, the construction of a full field oil treatment facility, control room and associated works; for example, leak and hazard detection and fire protection systems. The new oil treatment facility will replace the “temporary” facility that has been operating since production began: it will incorporate three-phase separation, tankage, further oily water treatment, separation and reinjection for produced water, leak and hazard detection alarms and a new flare. The expansion of the work program into the development phase will result in a total of 33 new production and injection wells, distributed among, approximately, five new well pads, and the likely construction of a pressure support facility. Habitat loss is expected to be minimal, consisting primarily of the area lost to the new well pads, as the field is already in production and its characterized by long-term oil field activity.
18. An environmental audit was carried out on the existing field operations by a UK-based environmental consulting firm. The audit revealed that the primary concern regarding environmental performance of existing facilities is lack of sound environmental management. In terms of current practices, the issue of most concern is the occasional burning in open pits of waste oil following workover operations, and oily sludges from the sump at the storage tank area. Key issues that require improvements include: better handling and storage of diesel fuels; and alternatives to burning oil in open pits. Aminex intends that its own operations will be conducted to international standards of oil field practice and environmental management, and it is committed to a plan to implement the recommendations made by the environmental audit. With these improvements, the existing facilities as well as the proposed expansion program are expected to be in compliance with local laws and regulations as well as applicable World Bank environmental guidelines.
19. Aminex has no jurisdiction in those areas that it does not operate, but it will encourage and support the Russian partner in the field to operate to international standards. Efforts will be made to identify and remove poor working practices and equipment that leads to pollution. During the workover and construction phase, Aminex will investigate the options for recycling, or temporary storage for later recycling, new waste oils and oily sludges with a view to assisting the Russian partner to permanently stop the previously accepted practice of burning oily wastes in open pits. Once the new oil treatment facility is operational, all oily wastes generated or contained in reserve pits or temporary storage will be considered for recycling, or environmentally sound disposal in compliance with local laws and regulations and World Bank environmental guidelines.
20. The presence of work crews and equipment in the field during the workover and construction phase will provide Aminex with an opportunity to readdress the main environmental concerns that arise from the present state of the oilfield. Aminex intends to commence discussions with its Russian partner to agree to a joint approach to remedial actions. Safer containment of potential oil spills and the limitation of surface and groundwater contamination can be achieved by the reinstatement of bunding around storage tanks and well pads. The use of plastic membranes in the area of the “temporary” facilities will minimize soil contamination during the remaining few months of its operation. Reserve pits can be fenced-off to minimize risks to field personnel and wildlife. The decommissioning of “temporary” facilities, reinstatement of contaminated soils, the recycling of the oily treatment water and surface run-off, improved storage of crude and diesel oils, waste materials management, general site clearance and husbandry will all be addressed with the Russian partner.
21. Environmental damage and habitat loss during the workover and construction phase is expected to be minimal. Construction of the new oil treatment facility will be restricted to an existing site within the oilfield. The landtake for the new facilities will have no significant impacts to land use or to ecological habitats. The operational facility will not generate substantially more road traffic and movements than occur at the present time. There are no sensitive receptors in terms of noise or dust nuisance near the proposed construction site. Construction crews will be housed in existing facilities at the settlement of Kozhva some 12 km from Kirtayel. Materials will be brought by rail to the rail siding at an existing warehouse at Kozhva and transported to the oilfield via an adjacent all-weather road. Workovers will be performed by Aminex crews on wells within the field confines. Test separators and new manifolds are planned for each Aminex pad. Aminex has expressed its intention to expand the installation of test separators and manifolds to wells operated by the Russian partner. Oily wastes from workovers and well testing will be retained for recycle. Waste water will be reinjected back into the Kirtayel main reservoir.
22. The project will result in approximately a threefold increase in the amount of produced gas. This additional production will be sold to the local power station in Pechora. The installation of new treatment facilities and a new flare is expected to reduce considerably the volume of gas currently being flared and the liquid hydrocarbon content of the flare gas. In the longer term, the produced gas may be injected for maintaining reservoir pressure. The continued presence of a flare is unlikely to disturb local residents at the nearest settlement of Kozhva. Produced water will be treated for removal of hydrocarbons and reinjected into the water bearing part of the main oil reservoir.
23. Aminex has chosen to use water-based drilling fluids for the later development phase. Prior to the commencement of drilling, Aminex will investigate the mitigation of the impact of drill pits, drill cutting and mud disposal and incorporate its preferred option into the work program.
24. Produced oil will be exported using the existing regional pipeline operated by the Russian state organization Transneft. A short length of new pipeline (500 meters) will be laid within the existing project area to link the new treatment facilities to the regional pipeline. Similarly, a short length of new pipeline will be required to carry produced gas to the existing export line that will convey the gas to Pechora for power generation.
25. The risk of a well blowout during workover or drilling is lower than usual because the field is partially developed and the current Russian operator measures wellhead and reservoir pressures on a regular basis. Aminex work commitments under the first phase include the reinstatement of water supply wells and the provision of a fire protection system. An emergency response plan that includes well control, oil treater and helicopter incidents is being prepared.
26. IFC will monitor ongoing compliance with World Bank environmental, health and safety policies and guidelines during the lifetime of the project by evaluating reports submitted annually to IFC by Aminex and by conducting periodic supervision.
27. Based on its review of available information regarding potential environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures, IFC concludes that Aminex’s proposed project will meet World Bank environmental, health and safety policies and guidelines and host country requirements.
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Environmental and Social Mitigation Measures
Broad Community Support
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