Environmental Management Of Drilling Operations In Bolivian Rain Forest
Authors: Goffart A. , Matesco S. , Rocher A. , Jacquet M. , Vidalie J.F. 
Published: December 2007

In early 1995, TOTAL OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION B.V. Sucursal BOLIVIA (TOTAL) started to prepare for a drilling campaign, in a dense primary rain forest valley in the Bolivian north-eastern Andean foothills.

YARIAPO X-1 exploratory well was drilled in a sparsely populated zone of very high biodiversity, within the boundaries of a National Park.

Site preparation started in June 1995, after an Environmental Impact Assessment. Several international and Bolivian technical experts and local NGO's worked together with TOTAL Operations team and headquarters Environment Department to design the project so as to minimize all negative environmental impacts and allow restoring the affected zone once the exploration operations had ceased.

Among the main points were : the helicopter option chosen instead of the forest road; the use of a wide range of site clearing and restoration techniques making use of local human and technical resources, the extensive application of soil conservation and ground cover minimization techniques resulting in a multi-level platform and in the implementation of a specific revegetation program ; the total control of drilling effluents by the use of a state-of-the-art drilling fluids management system.

This paper presents TOTAL's global approach for close cooperation with the National Oil Company (YPFB), local institutes, authorities and NGO's and describes the combined implementation of both local traditional and innovative techniques in forest and soil conservation, showing how an integrated environmental management can lead to an environmentally sound project.

Introduction

Total Oil and Gas Exploration B.V. Sucursal Bolivia (TOTAL) from October 1995 to February 1996 on behalf of the Madidi Association (Total, Texaco, Elf, Shell and Mobil), and under the terms of an operations contract with Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) drilled the Yariapo-X-1 exploratory well in the dense primary rain forest of the Bolivian north eastern Andean foothills.

Located in an area of high bio-diversity and within the boundaries of the Madidi National Park, this 14,300 ft well had to be designed and executed in order to minimize the negative impacts on the environment and to insure the restoration of the drilling site at the end of the operations.

This environmental concern led TOTAL to choose the helicopter as the unique way of transporting equipment and personnel to the drilling site and to implement an advanced environmental protection program throughout the execution of the project.

Madidi Block

The Madidi Block is located in the sub-Andean foothills north of La Paz and covers an area of approximately 1,500,000 hectares. Its separation from the Beni plain by a 1 200 m high steep mountain range makes its access particularly difficult and explains the quasi absence of roads. As a consequence, the forest covering the Madidi Block is still largely untouched.

This is particularly the case in the Tuitchi valley where the Yariapo well was located which can only be accessed by pirogue from the closest plain villages of Rurrenabaque and San Buenaventura located 50 km away.

In the Tuitchi valley, the only village is San Jose de Chupiamonas located 20 km upstream of Rurrenabaque where 200 Tacana Indians are living.

It is also to be noted that the Tuitchi valley is one of the main ecotourism centers in Bolivia, receiving each year around 8,000 visitors and that the economy of the village of Rurrenabaque (10,000 inhabitants) is largely dependent on this activity.