Disposal of drilling waste in salt mines in China

A lot of drilling wastes are produced during oil/gas exploration and exploitation in China. Many countries have built and successfully run projects to dispose of wastes in salt mines, which fully demonstrates the feasibility and superiority of this technology. The application prospects of using salt mines to dispose of drilling wastes is comprehensively evaluated from many aspects. It is concluded that this technology has broad application prospects in China. The scientific and technical problems that need to be solved in order to successfully use this technology are systematically summarized, and some practical suggestions are put forward to improve relevant laws and policies. Considering the geological conditions of salt mines and the requirements of laws and regulations in China, a set of perfect and more advanced Chinese schemes has been proposed. [Display omitted] •The current state of waste disposal and five areas for drilling wastes disposal in salt mine are analyzed.•The application prospect of using salt mine to dispose of drilling waste in China has been deeply investigated.•The scientific and technical problems are summarized, and some practical suggestions are put forward.•A new Chinese approach for disposing of drilling waste in salt mine is put forward.