Industry Overview
Since the late 1800’s, the oil and gas industry has struggled to find an economical solution to reducing and disposing of the waste by-products associated with oil and gas drilling activities. Oilfield waste consists primarily of oil-based and water-based drilling fluids (which contain oil, grease, chlorides and heavy metals), as well as cuttings, saltwater, work over and completion fluids, production pit sludges and the surrounding contaminated topsoil.
Significant incursions of drilling muds and drill bit cuttings over the ensuing two centuries have produced far reaching, and in some regions crippling, environmental concerns. The attempted reduction and eventual elimination of drilling debris, known as “mud cuttings”, has proven elusive which has resulted in critical-stage environmental impacts to population-sustaining farmland and water supplies for certain areas.
In recent years, rising global consumption and reduction of current reserves has led to an aggressive expansion in exploration and production. The mounting environmental concerns and associated liabilities pertaining to the disposal of toxic waste are an increasingly expensive burden to exploration and production companies.
Disposal, treatment and liability associated with muds and drill bit cuttings, estimated by Nopal management, can account for up to 25-40% of the operational costs of drilling and up to 10% of the overall cost. Despite the tremendous opportunity that exists to address this market, few noteworthy successes in treatment have resulted prior to the emergence of the Nopal Solution. 
The first step in managing hydrocarbon-contaminated waste resulting from drilling activity with currently available technology is to separate the solid cuttings or soil from the liquid content.
Once solid and liquid drilling wastes have been separated, companies can use a variety of technologies and practices to manage the wastes. For some applications, drilling wastes are solidified or stabilized prior to their ultimate management practice.
The management technologies and practices can be grouped into three major categories: waste minimization, recycle/reuse, and disposal.
The different waste management or disposal methods include:
- Bioremediation
- Burial
- Salt cavern
- Discharge
- Evaporation
- Injection
- Land farming
- Thermal treatment
The disposal costs vary extensively on the basis of the location of the disposal facility, the method used for disposing of the waste, the type of waste, and the extent of competition in the local or regional area.
Costs may be reported in different units—per barrel, per cubic yard, or per ton. The costs of offsite commercial disposal vary significantly, depending on the disposal method, the host state of disposal operations, and the degree of competition in the area.
Nopal is positioned as an environmental technology as well as an oil service company. Through its unique biological formula and start of the art process facility, Nopal’s mission is to treat and clean contaminated environments, making the globe a cleaner and a greener place.
The Nopal Solution is believed by management to be faster, cheaper, the best, and perhaps only, available short-term technology to remediate drilling waste solids to a non-detectable, non-leachable state. As an added advantage, the process recovers and recycles the hydrocarbons. Nopal plans to promote this technology worldwide.
