Drilling Waste Sub-surface Re-Injection: Worldwide and in CIS

rill cuttings, waste mud, brine, oily drains, pits residuals, etc. is generated. This waste is required to be disposed in a responsible and environmentally friendly manner. Over the years, environmental regulations governing the disposal of such waste have tightened and each day regulatory agencies are demanding more stringent policies, especially for remote and environmentally sensitive areas. As a solution for drilling waste management in expanding offshore operations, in early 1990’s, a process of sub-surface disposal via high pressure injecting above the disposal formation’s fracture gradient emerged. While the technique was called differently in different countries and literature – Waste Injection (WI), Cuttings Re-Injection (CRI), DCI (Drill Cuttings Injections), SFI (Slurry Fracture Injection) – the common essence has been creating hydraulic fractures in the selected disposal formation to accommodate solids and while liquids leaked-off into formation. This paper describes the technology in brief and reviews history of its emerging and global implementation as well as discusses risks and historical failures. The second part of the paper is devoted to WI projects in CIS region and sub-surface assurance practices applied by M-I SWACO.