TABLE OF CONTENTS Standards for the disposal or produced water to surface waters both onshore and offshore are developed by governmental regulatory authorities. Table 9-1 summarizes offshore disposal standards for several countries. The standards are current as of this writing.
| Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil | 30mg/l All facilities |
| Argentina and Venezuela | 15 mg/l New facilities |
| Indonesia | 25 mg/l Grandfathered facilities |
| Malaysia, Middle East | 30mg/l All facilities |
| Nigeria, Angola, Cameroon, Ivory Coast | 50 mg/l All facilities |
| North Sea, Australia | 30 mg/l All facilities |
| Thailand | 50 mg/l All facilities |
| USA | 29mg/l OCS water |
| Zero discharge inland water |
In addition to placing limits on the oil content, regulatory agencies generally specify an analytical method for determining the oil content. A number of analytical methods are available, and they produce different amounts of oil measured and reported for the same sample. Analytical methods are discussed in Appendices A-C.
Produced water toxicity is regulated only in the United States, where a government permit is necessary to limit the toxicity of produced water discharged into the waters.
Disposal of produced water into freshwater streams and rivers is generally prohibited except for the very limited cases where the effluent is low in salinity. Some oil-field brines might kill freshwater fish and vegetation due to high salt content.
Regulatory agencies generally require that produced water from onshore operations be disposed of by subsurface injection, although there are limited exceptions. In addition to requiring subsurface disposal, regulatory agencies regulate...
