Life cycle assessment of Libyan crude oil

Petroleum products such as petrol and diesel are fossil fuels and have a high environmental impact. There is a demand to minimize these impacts especially in the upstream and midstream oil operations, i.e. exploration, production and refining processes, due to current and upcoming environmental regulations/policies and increased environmental consumer awareness. Thus, integration of the tools, methods and techniques for sustainability into products is becoming essential to comply with environmental regulations. The Libyan petroleum industry appears to be very slow in approaching modern concepts of approaches of sustainability including Life Cycle Assessment and studies. Therefore, this paper presents a novel environmental Life Cycle assessment of Libyan petroleum refining processes conducted with the support of Life Cycle Assessment methods and related tools including Software SimaPro. The refining processes from the Azzawya Oil refinery, are analyzed and used in the assessment and the data for the assessments was collected through fieldwork conducted in Feb 2013 in both El-Sharara oil field (Repsol Oil Company) and Azzawya Oil refinery in Libya. The results show that the first significant environmental impacts are associated with fossil fuels and the second major impacts are the respiratory inorganic impacts

Development of a sustainability management system for petroleum companies

Petroleum companies contribute to the largest proportion of environmental degradation in Libya. In support, the 2014 environmental performance index ranks Libya 120th out of 178 countries which suggest the country faces serious environmental degradation, unlike the developed countries. It is necessary to critically investigate the key environmental sustainability issues faced by the Libyan petroleum companies to develop a Sustainability Management System (SMS). The research aims to develop a SMS for the petroleum companies through critical investigations of sustainability-related impacts, issues, and barriers to the sustainability approaches, and to develop suggestions for reduction of the adverse effects. The mixed-methods approach involved a survey-based questionnaire and field visits for interviews (semi-structured) with a number of stakeholders. An Environmental Impact Assessment study (EIA) was also conducted as a case study in one of the field visits. Furthermore, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study to Libyan crude oil. The survey questionnaire was used to collect data from the workers. The interviews provide insight into the concerns, barriers, and challenges from the policy makers, environmentalists, and industrial professionals at a senior level. The use of life-cycle assessment (LCA) has further outlined the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the petroleum industry in Libya. Data analysis was performed through triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative approaches. The LCA results show that there are diverse environmental impacts caused by the Libyan petroleum industry, which require the implementation of an SMS to minimise these impacts. EIA results revealed high levels of environmental impacts mainly associated with air emissions such as GHGs and hazardous H2S along with oil spillages, at the upstream and downstream levels of production. Interviews and the survey confirmed that there are issues/obstacles associated with sustainability in the Libyan petroleum sector which limits the provision of quality and efficient services. The current approaches adopted by companies are neither matched with the developments in the sustainability field in other developed countries nor fit, with the managerial or governance processes. The proposed SMS, applicable in developing countries, proposes the incorporation of environmental factors to increase the scope of stakeholders’ participation in the process, as well as the environmental performance of petroleum companies

Analysis and evaluation of the environmental impacts of upstream petroleum operations

Sustainability is increasingly considered an essential business function, but in Libya, petroleum companies are slow to address operational issues that could reduce environmental concerns. This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of upstream petroleum operations. The methods adopted in the study are a literature review, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study and qualitative analyses from, fieldwork trials and 56 semi-structured interviews. The results of the study show that the main environmental impacts are aquatic, terrestrial or atmospheric, with the most significant pollutants linked to the latter category, mainly from engine exhausts, turbine emissions, gas flaring and venting. Major environmental degradations are identified in Libyan upstream operations and a number of recommendations formulated minimising their effect. Particular importance is placed on establishing strict sustainability policies and regulations, and the implementation of an environmental management system

Analysis of the barriers to environmental management systems implementation in the Libyan oil industry

Adhering to an Environmental Management System (EMS) is the start point in moving an organisation towards a sustainable future. The aim of this study is to identify the barriers for effective implementation of an EMS (ISO4001) in the Libyan oil sector, which would benefit in smoother implementation in future and as a result will lead to environmental sustainability to the oil sector and the country as a whole. To meet the aim, literature reviews and interviews were carried out, and a case study of Azzawya Oil Company in Libya was conducted. The results of the study show that the most significant barriers are those related to poor leadership and management, resources issues of financial, HR and technical were the second most significant barrier, and external political obstacles of organizational culture and negative attitudes were the third most significant barriers. It is recommended that awareness of environmental issues in the oil sector is raised through the provision of effective human resource management along with appropriate financial and technical means.</jats:p