The Minerals Management Service reports air emissions from oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico are not harming U.S. onshore air quality.
The 1990 Clean Air Act amendments required a study of the subject, which Systems Applications International conducted under a $5.8 million contract with MMS.
MMS said the study showed offshore activities do not play a significant role in violations of the ozone standard in the Houston and Beaumont areas of Texas and the Baton Rouge and Lake Charles areas in Louisiana.
Computer simulations showed that when the predicted 1 hr average ozone concentrations in the onshore areas exceeded the federal standard of 120 ppb, the contribution from OCS production emissions was less than 2 ppb. When the onshore concentrations were less than 120 ppb, the highest contribution from OCS emissions sources was 6-8 ppb.
MMSs emissions inventory covered offshore federal production, offshore state production, vessel traffic, onshore emission sources, and biogenic emission sources.
The emissions inventory showed oil and gas production on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf contributed about 5% of the total anthropogenic nitrogen oxide emissions and less than 2% of the total reactive hydrocarbon emissions in the study area. Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
