As drilling activity accelerates across the Middle East, operators are facing increasing pressure to boost production, reduce emissions and control costs. According to Aslaksen, processing drilling waste at source can help address those competing priorities by reducing transport requirements, lowering emissions, minimizing operational bottlenecks and recovering valuable base fluid for reuse.

“Operators today have found themselves in the middle of a growing energy trilemma: increase capacity, reduce environmental impact, and keep tighter control over costs,” he said.

“One of the biggest shifts I have seen is operators coming to terms with the fact that drilling waste management can help address all three, when it is treated as part of drilling performance rather than something dealt with after the waste has been generated.”

According to Aslaksen, processing waste at the wellsite can reduce logistics requirements, emissions, costs and operational bottlenecks, while enabling the recovery and reuse of valuable base fluids.

Improving environmental performance

As offshore operators face increasing pressure to improve environmental performance, Aslaksen said drilling waste management can have an outsized impact when it is integrated into the broader drilling operation rather than treated as a separate disposal process.

He added that it is playing "a much bigger role than its typical share of a drilling budget might suggest.”

According to Aslaksen, traditional waste-handling methods require repeated lifting, storage, transport and onshore processing, adding emissions, vessel activity and operational risk. 

“Processing waste at source cuts out many of those steps,” he said. 

He also noted that TWMA's UAE projects have cut transport requirements, reduced emissions and enabled the recovery and reuse of valuable drilling fluids.

"Since 2014, TWMA has processed more than 600,000 tonnes of drilling waste at source across multiple UAE fields, eliminating more than 70,000 kilometers of transport, reducing emissions by around 50% and recovering approximately $78 million worth of base fluid for reuse. Total savings are in excess of $200 million," he said.

Waste management planning

Aslaksen emphasized the importance of planning for the long term and ensuring the right processing capacity, infrastructure and people are in place.

"Drilling programs are getting bigger and more demanding because countries need to meet higher domestic demand and respond to the tighter global supply," he added.

"The last thing operators need is another bottleneck. They need to be clear from the outset what volumes they are likely to generate, how quickly those volumes could move through the operation and whether the existing waste management infrastructure has sufficient capacity and flexibility to keep up."

Looking ahead, Aslaksen believes the biggest advances in drilling waste management will come not from entirely new technologies but from broader adoption of at-source processing and more efficient operating practices.

“One of the biggest opportunities in my opinion is quite simple, don’t touch it twice," he said. "Process waste at source wherever you can.”

According to Aslaksen, operators are increasingly questioning traditional approaches that require waste to be repeatedly handled, transported and processed onshore. He said processing waste at the wellsite can reduce handling, vessel activity, operational risk and emissions while giving operators greater control over the waste stream.

“The bigger change will be applying proven technology differently and doing that more consistently across drilling programs where it can have the greatest impact,” he said.

He added that there is also a growing demand for digital technologies that give operators better visibility over drilling waste operations in real time. 

"Customers want to be able to monitor performance remotely, identify issues earlier and make better operational decisions," he explained.

The Middle East's investment 

The Middle East is experiencing some of the world's highest levels of drilling activity, with operators increasing investment in both offshore and onshore developments.

"Few regions are drilling at the scale we are seeing in the Middle East," he added.

According to Aslaksen, waste management infrastructure is becoming a critical enabler of that growth, particularly as countries such as the UAE raise standards for drilling waste handling and treatment.

He said the UAE's approach combines increased drilling activity with investment in processing capacity and supporting infrastructure, helping ensure waste management does not become a constraint on project execution. Aslaksen added that similar strategies are likely to be adopted more widely across the region and eventually in other offshore markets as drilling activity expands.

"The opportunity is in the infrastructure around the technology. Offshore waste management has to work as a complete system, from the rig through processing, recovery and reuse, backed by the people and facilities to keep it moving," he added.

Regulatory frameworks evolving

Regulatory requirements continue to vary by region, but Aslaksen said operators are increasingly converging around higher standards for environmental performance and waste treatment as regulations tighten in key offshore markets.

“So yes, operator expectations are aligning,” he added.

According to Aslaksen, stricter requirements in regions including Southeast Asia, West Africa and the GCC are driving greater emphasis on treatment standards, consistency and environmental performance. He said operators are increasingly seeking waste management strategies that can meet a higher baseline regardless of where they are drilling.