IMPROVING PETROLEUM GOVERNANCE: CONTEMPORARY DISCUSSIONS ON GHANA’S PETROLEUM ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS - Part 2

Gaps in the Laws and Regulations and Corresponding Recommendations

2. Water Pollution

The key to protecting water quality in normal petroleum exploration and production activities is proper disposal of large volume wastes, such as produced water, drill cuttings, and spent drilling muds. (Produced water is water that comes to the surface with oil or gas, and it is the largest byproduct of petroleum exploration and development). The general regulatory approach of other oil-producing jurisdictions includes:

•       zero-discharge restrictions that require disposal of these large volume wastes in underground  injection disposal wells co-located in the well field being exploited;
• standards for the design and operation of underground injection disposal wells; and
• encouraging the use of less-toxic (e.g. water-based rather than oil-based) drilling fluids.

There are very few provisions in Ghana’s petroleum and environmental laws addressing disposal of large volume wastes from oil and gas activities. The Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1994 (Act 490) merely directs the Ministry of Environment to make regulations relating to the type, quantity, conditions, or concentration of substances that may be released into the environment. The only provisions in the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 2016 (Act 919) dealing with the disposal of large volume wastes from oil and gas activities are Sections 50 and 81 and are also very general in nature.

Also, the provisions in the Petroleum (Health, Safety and Environmental) Regulations 2017, (L.I. 2258) do not encourage petroleum operators to dispose of large volume wastes in a manner that is consistent with international best practices.  None of the provisions impose a zero-discharge restriction for oil and gas wells and the use of less-toxic aqueous (rather than non-aqueous) drilling fluids.

Recommendation

It is important that Ghana’s petroleum environmental laws provide clear parameters for disposing produced water and other wastes.  Ghana should consider adopting the following standards that are applicable to petroleum operations in the U.S.A, which target the primary sources of water pollution associated with petroleum exploration and development.

1.         Effluent standards for onshore wells, including the following zero-discharge restriction: “there shall be no discharge of waste water pollutants into navigable waters from any source associated with production, field exploration, drilling, well completion, or well treatment (i.e., produced water, drilling muds, drill cuttings, and produced sand)”  This standard represents the degree of effluent reduction attainable by the application of the best practicable control technology currently available.
2.       Effluent standards for offshore wells, including a numerical limit on the amount of oil and grease (29 milligrams/liter on a monthly average basis) contained in produced water that is discharged from offshore wells. Compliance with this provision would require the use of oil/water separators and oil recovery devices for treatment of produced water prior to its discharge.

My name is Kofi Anokye, a development enthusiast, and by the time I leave this world, it must be better than I found it. Brains, not natural resources, develop a nation!