Volatile liquid hydrocarbons around a production platform in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico [Dissolved from crude oil into discharge brine, environmental effects, gas chromatographic analysis of seawater]

A study was made of the surface sea water around an oil production platform in an oil field in the Gulf of Mexico to examine the discharge and subsequent dilution of the volatile liquid hydrocarbons present in production brine discharges. The results show that more than 80 per cent of these compounds in the brine and surface layers consist of aromatic compounds, with benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene predominating. Rapid dilution was indicated by the fact that at distances 3 km from the platform, the concentrations were reduced fourfold.