Water management
This paper presents an approach to the identification, selection, and implementation of initiatives for sustainable water management, withdrawal reduction, and water valorization.
Disposal wells remain the lowest-cost solution for produced water, but concerns over seismicity and long-term sustainability are accelerating interest in alternatives.
This article addresses the challenges of managing water-soluble organics (WSOs) in offshore produced water. It provides a brief discussion of the chemistry, along with strategies and technologies that can be used to manage WSO levels in produced water, thus facilitating compliance with regulatory overboard water-quality guidelines.
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Approaches to integrated investigative testing and root cause identification are discussed to prevent solid emulsions from stabilizing to impair flowlines and other field infrastructure. -
A number of ongoing industry research projects are developing nanoparticles that work at the reservoir level and for fluid treatment. Though they may be a few years away from finalization, these efforts highlight nanotechnology’s increasingly sophisticated and growing application scope.
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One of Oklahoma’s top government officials announced recently that it could be many more months before the full scope of the state’s regulatory response plan for induced seismicity is proven effective.
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Considering the current downturn in crude prices, there is a renewed interest in recycling produced water for reuse in hydraulic fracturing in the development of unconventional resource plays.
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If crude prices, rig counts, and tight oil production demonstrate a stronger upward trend in the months to come, US shale operators may find themselves with more produced water than they bargained for.
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Geophysicists from Stanford University have compiled a map of new maximum horizontal stress orientations in Texas and surrounding areas, potentially giving operators new information for avoiding seismic activity in their hydraulic fracturing operations.
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The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality recently concluded that hydraulic fracturing operations were not the likely cause of well water contamination in a small town.
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Sourcing water for large multifracture stimulations in west Texas is a well-known constraint on oil and gas activities in the area. A 6-month pilot operation demonstrated that produced-water reuse is technically feasible and can be a cost-effective solution.
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This paper summarizes the benefits of using a bipolymer crosslinking system in environments where water quality cannot be guaranteed. It also demonstrates the yielded cost savings per well that are achievable when reusing 100% produced or flowback water for hydraulic fracturing.
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Water production normally increases as fields mature, and two main ways exist to deal with the produced water. One is to dispose of the produced water into dedicated disposal wells. The other is to reinject the produced water for pressure maintenance or sweep efficiency.
