Gauteng Health Department introduces a devastating requirement at the eleventh hour:…New Web Hosting Pioneer Emerges, Offering Affordable Hosting Solutions Coupled with…The history of extractivism in the Pan Amazon shows that environmental damage has been commonplace, only now there are new demands from the parent companies that influence all service providers involved.
The petroleum industry has a long history of operational calamities, large and small, that has created an equally long history of efforts to manage the environmental and social liabilities that are an inherent outcome of their business model. This includes both corporate and governmental actions that seek to mitigate the impact of their day-to-day operations as well as to remediate damage caused by negligence, ageing infrastructure or acts of God.
The spatial footprint of the oil and gas industry in the Pan Amazon includes low-impact seismic surveys and moderate-impact exploratory wells. Serious long-term impacts are caused by leaks from production wells and pipelines. Data source: Codato et al. 2019. Petrobras anticipated these reforms because its executives have long aspired to build a global company able to compete with the super-majors. By 2000, the state-owned companies in the Andean republics had likewise implemented environmental and social criteria into their business practices; nonetheless, they are frequently involved in controversies because their executives are obligated to execute policies dictated by elected officials that run counter to the principles of sustainability.
The number and extent of seismic surveys reached its peak between 1990 and 2010 and has decreased over the past decade. Nonetheless, geophysical studies continue to be programmed by the governments of Ecuador and Brazil, a clear signal that they intend to expand operations over the medium term, because seismic data is used to locate exploration wells. Typically, this involves drilling between five and ten wells within a concession that spans between 100,000 and 300,000 hectares.
Unsuccessful wells are decommissioned and abandoned. If properly remediated, the drilling pad and mud pond will be reclaimed by the forest, but only if the compacted soil is scarified to promote natural regeneration. A successful exploration well will be converted into a production well, but will probably be capped until the development of a transportation system. In remote landscapes, this usually consists of some combination of road, barge or pipeline.