Journal of Environmental Protection, 2014, 5, 1603-1610 Published Online December 2014 in SciRes. http://www.scirp.org/journal/jep http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2014.517151 How to cite this paper: Feyzullayev, A.A. and Ibragimov, V.B. (2014) Environmental Consequences of Long-Term Develop- ment of Petroleum Fields, Absheron p-la, Azerbaijan, Case History. Journal of Environmental Protection, 5, 1603-1610. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep.2014.517151 Environmental Consequences of Long-Term Development of Petroleum Fields, Absheron p-la, Azerbaijan, Case History Akper A. Feyzullayev, Vagif B. Ibragimov Geology Institute of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, Baku, Azerbaijan Email: afeyzullaev@gia.ab.az Received 28 September 2014; revised 23 October 2014; accepted 15 November 2014 Copyright © 2014 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Abstract In this paper the overview of a level of study of the deformation processes on long-term petroleum field development and ecological consequences accompanying them is given. In more details these processes are considered for the oldest Absheron petroleum bearing region (Absheron p-la, Azerbaijan) where fields are strongly depleted and the pressure drop reaches 80% from initial values. Ecological consequences of this phenomenon are the following: development in area of pe- troleum fields Balakhany-Sabunchi-Ramany, Surakhany, Garachukhur, Bibi-Eybat intensive pro- cess of ground subsiding (up to 47 mm/year) and flooding, frequent incidences of curved bore- holes, breaks in oil, gas, and water pipelines, and sudden kicks of water and sand, occurrence of the induced seismicity (Surakhany earthquake in 1937 with magnitude 6). With purpose of fore- casting of geodynamic processes creation on petroleum production complexes of system of the environmental control is recommended. Keywords Petroleum Field, Development, Ground Subsiding, Flooding, Induced Seismicity, Absheron p-la, Azerbaijan 1. Introduction As is known large amounts of oil, gas and associate water are extracted from the subsoil when carrying out long term hydrocarbon field development. This results in the significant pressure decline in the reservoirs which, ac- cording to different estimates, is 50% - 80% below hydrostatic pressure [1]. Such pressures are classified as ab- normally low reservoir pressures (АLRP) [2].