A review of the potential risks associated with mercury in subsea oil and gas pipelines in Australia
Francesca Gissi
A * , Darren Koppel B C , Alexandra Boyd A , Fenny Kho C , Rebecca von Hellfeld D E , Stuart Higgins C , Simon Apte F and Tom Cresswell A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia.
B Australian Institute of Marine Science, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
C Curtin University Oil and Gas Innovation Centre, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
D National Decommissioning Centre, Newburgh, Ellon AB41 6AA, UK.
E School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, AB24 3UL, Aberdeen, UK.
F Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation Land and Water, Lucas Heights, NSW 2234, Australia.
Environmental Chemistry 19(4) 210-227 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN22048
Submitted: 5 May 2022 Accepted: 17 August 2022 Published: 1 November 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Environmental context. The oil and gas industry has a significant liability in decommissioning offshore infrastructure. Following decommissioning, subsea pipelines could be left on the seabed to provide artificial reefs. Mercury is a contaminant of concern which could remain within pipelines. There are gaps in our knowledge on how mercury moves through the marine environment. We review the current science and identify future research needs to understand potential impacts from mercury in subsea pipelines which will better inform decommissioning activities globally.
Abstract. In the coming years, the oil and gas industry will have a significant liability in decommissioning offshore infrastructure such as subsea pipelines. The policies around decommissioning vary depending on regional policies and laws. In Australia, the ‘base case’ for decommissioning is removal of all property and the plugging and abandonment of wells in line with the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (OPGGS) Act 2006. Options other than complete removal may be considered where the titleholder can demonstrate that the alternative decommissioning activity delivers equal or better environmental outcomes compared to complete removal and meets all requirements under the OPGGS Act and regulations. Recent research has demonstrated that decommissioning in situ can have significant environmental benefits by forming artificial reefs, increasing marine biodiversity, and providing a potential fishery location. An issue, which has been given less attention, is around contaminants remaining within decommissioned infrastructure and their potential risks to the marine environment. Mercury is a contaminant of concern known to be present in some oil and gas pipelines, but the potential long-term impacts on marine ecosystems are poorly understood. We present a synthesis of information on mercury cycling in the marine environment including key drivers of methylation in sediments and ocean waters, existing models to predict methylmercury concentrations in sediments, and toxicological effects to marine biota. We discuss the applicability of existing water and sediment quality guidelines, and the associated risk assessment frameworks to decommissioning offshore infrastructure contaminated with mercury. Globally, research is needed to provide a comprehensive risk assessment framework for offshore infrastructure decommissioning. We recommend future areas of research to improve our understanding of the potential risks associated with mercury in subsea oil and gas pipelines.
Keywords: decommissionineg, marine, methylmercury, offshore infrastructure, petroleum, risk assessment, sediments, toxicity.
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