Effects of oil exploration on surface water quality – a review

Abstract

AbstractThe oil industry is a source of revenue and foreign exchange for an economy. Nevertheless, oil exploration is an inherent risk to the environment due to the pollution of water resources, especially surface water resources. The main waste is produced water, which is increasing around the world. As a consequence, water pollution resulting from normal oil drilling, refining, distribution, and accidents is the principal concern of oil exploration in the environment. Oil pollution is associated with ecological contaminants such as heavy metals and organic compounds which are the primary contaminant of surface water resources. Often this results in toxicity accretion in the food chain, and their non-biodegradable nature is of great concern to both human and aquatic life. Therefore, this review evaluates existing knowledge on the effect of oil exploration on surface water quality, hydraulic fracturing technique/chemicals, and composition of produced water. This review also recommends further research on the physicochemical characteristics, analysis of heavy metals in water/sediments, and characterization of hydro-chemical facies of surface water resources around oil exploration sites to enable effective policy development.