OREANDA-NEWS. September 28, 2011. TNK-BP has commenced preparations to implement a pilot project to utilize drill cuttings at the Uvat group of fields in West Siberia. Gennady Kayumov, Head of the Health, Safety and Environmental Protection Section of LLC TNK-Uvat , said that drill cuttings will be injected into deep horizons, reported the press-centre of TNK-BP.

At the request of TNK-Uvat, Perm State University conducted a feasibility study to find an optimal solution to the drill cuttings disposal problem. The oilmen considered several ways of handling drill cuttings, including capsulation, solidification, and injection into rock beds. Experts agree that injection of drill cuttings back into horizons is the most optimal and efficient way of their disposal at Uvat.

Specialists of TNK-Uvat consider the injection as the most ecofriendly way to utilize drill cuttings. “We have to understand that there are practically no building materials in the Uvat project,” said Gennady Kayumov. “We purchase loamy materials and transport dredge sand over 200 km, which is very costly for us. Construction pits to store drill cuttings requires additional natural resources. For this reason injecting drill cuttings into rock beds is the most acceptable solution for TNK-Uvat.”

Maria Martynchuk, Head of the Tyumen Region Branch of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor), reminded that the technology of injection of drill cuttings into formations is extensively used in other countries but is still new for Russia. TNK-Uvat’s documents related to the technology of drill cuttings injection into subsurface formations will be sent to Rosprirodnadzor in Moscow for review. Additionally, the company is preparing documents to obtain a subsoil use license for the injection of drill cuttings.