Using technology to reduce impacts

Chemical Engineer Unit, Naperville Centre, Illinois, USA

Research and development of new technology helps us find ways to reduce the environmental impact of providing energy

As well as supporting research into ways to address issues such as the growing demand for natural resources, we carry out nearer-term collaborative projects that focus on operational priorities.

Upstream technology development

Exploration and Production environmental technology programme, for example, examines environmental risks linked to upstream activities such as access, seismic surveys, drilling and operations. One of the programme’s projects, which is jointly funded with British Gas and led by a team at the University of Nottingham, UK, aims to develop more energy-efficient and cost-effective methods for managing the challenge of waste offshore, especially for oil-based drill cuttings.

Downstream technology development

In Refining and Marketing, technology research seeks to minimize environmental impacts from our own operations and from the use of our products. We are supporting, for example, independent research by Purdue University Calumet Water Institute and the Argonne National Laboratory into emerging technologies for improving wastewater treatment options from refining.

The project, triggered by plans for modernizing the Whiting refinery in the US to enable increased processing of Canadian heavy crude oil, has included screening new technologies for removing ammonia and total suspended solids from wastewater, and is also examining novel approaches to treating heavy metal discharges. The technologies under assessment are likely to have wider application at other refineries facing similar challenges.

We also participate in many joint industry technology projects, such as those overseen by the Global Petroleum Industry Research Institute. Projects cover diverse themes, such as produced water, monitoring technologies, or research to understand how offshore sounds affect marine mammels. We hope this will provide new data to inform regulatory approaches, develop mitigation technologies and improve the planning of new offshore exploration projects.