Total Emissions from Flaring in Kuwait Oilfields

Abstract

Kuwait is a major oil producing country and its economy directly depends on its export of crude and refined products. Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is responsible for all exploration and production of crude oil in Kuwait. These activities result in the emission of gaseous pollutants to the atmosphere, particularly from the flaring of undesirable product and excess gases. For environmental and resource conservation reasons, KOC is required to minimize the amount of gas flared in order to control and reduce the emissions of major pollutants in the State of Kuwait and neighbors countries. In the present study the total emissions of primary pollutants associated from flaring activities from Kuwait oil field have been estimated. An inventory records the annual emissions of air pollutants: NO_X, SO₂, CO, CO₂, Methane and non-methane, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC): resulting from oil production operations in the Kuwait Oil Fields. The emissions are generated from various point sources and aggregated to have total pollutants load of ambient air. Emissions of flaring pollutants are associated with all operations in Oil fields, Gathering Centers (GC), Boaster Stations (BS), Tank areas and other oil production related activities. The objective of this work was to obtain an accurate estimation of the total flare emission from oil production activities thereby aiding the effective planning of mitigation strategies to control and reduce the pollution from crude related operation.