process crude oil. At present, the issue is how the industry has chosen to deal with the problem of oil sludge waste, which has been accumulating, at an alarming rate. To date, there is an estimated 10 billion tonnes of oil sludge waste on the planet, and this volume continues to grow every minute. None of the more traditional methods for waste disposal and treatment really works on oil sludge. There have been many attempts at providing a viable long-term solution for the industry to treat oil sludge. So far, the industry has only made small advances. In reality, this is not due to a lack of possible solutions or resources, but it is more down to a lack of will and desire by the industry to tackle this issue head on. The petroleum industry in its production, refining, transport and storage processes, generate oil residues, which have been stored in pits, marshes or open earth pools called tailings ponds which are nothing short of great lakes, causing a high degree of contamination, not only in the storage areas but also in nearby surrounding areas.