Wireline Magazine Autumn 2020 Issue 49

Waste not

With environmental rules tightening and companies keen to take charge of their carbon footprint, RGS Nordic believes a holistic approach to water management could drive change in the North Sea

W hile the offshore industry is primarily concerned with the management of hydrocarbons, water is often a close-run second place. The UKCS generated almost 200 million cubic metres of produced water in 2018 (representing around 70% of total well stream fluids), and while much of this can be safely treated on site and released to sea or reinjected into hydrocarbon reservoirs, a sizable proportion requires further treatment to be made safe. Typically, produced water may contain dispersed oils, treatment chemicals, heavy metals, salts and other organic and inorganic compounds. As such, thorough treatment processes are necessary to ensure compliance with environmental regulations - some of which will require specialist facilities. The need for such remediation in the North Sea is set to growas the basinmatures, both asmorewater is required to support output from ageing reservoirs and as older facilities are decommissioned. As such new solutions and a more collaborative approach may be needed.

Employing around 300 people, OGUK member RGS Nordic is an environmental company working across the Scandinavian soil, construction and water sectors. Its main site at Stigsnæs, south west of Copenhagen, includes a recycling facility and specialised water treatment infrastructure. Although similar to a municipal facility in its function, its bacterial cultures and processes are tuned to tackle industrial and oil and gas needs, being able to treat high salt content, chemical oxygen demand (COD) content and hydrocarbons in general. Supported by another aggregation facility in Mongstad, Norway, RGS serves clients across the Nordic region, but is looking increasingly outwards to new partners in the North Sea. As Director of Water Solutions Jonathan Cope explained to Wireline : “We see water treatment in the oil and gas sector very much as a North Sea basin challenge.” With new hubs planned in the Netherlands and UK, its goal is to become a “one-stop shop” for water services across the region.

2 8 | w ire lin e | A u t u m n 2 02 0