Oklahoma’s Water and Energy Resources are Vital
Energy Watch By MARK A. STANBERRY
I attended the “Oklahoma Shale Cost-Effective Water Management Congress” Dec. 12–13, 2018, with the main focus on the Scoop and Stack Plays of Oklahoma. The conference has been designed to bring together regional operators and service providers from across the nation to share their knowledge and experiences on proven and effective ways to optimize water management strategies.
Topics at the conference were water solutions; strategies for driving capex, opex and design costs to effective levels; water recycling and reuse; cost-effectiveness of handling disposal; planning, designing, and installing water management systems; and water sourcing and availability.
Among the presenters scheduled to speak at the conference were Gage Hermann, and of Lagoon Water Solutions; Mike Moore, Hydrologist, Oklahoma Corporation Commission; David Gregory, technical services engineer, Flexsteel Pipeline Technologies; Shellie Chard-McClary, division director, Water Quality Management, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality; Michael Frow, petroleum engineer, Argentum Energy; and Mark Patton, president of Hydrozonix .
Findings from the conference:
The shale revolution has positioned the U.S. as the world’s leader in oil and gas. With that growth, it has made the oil and gas industry a major consumer of water. The industry’s water usage is low on a national level compared to many other industries. However, the water availability and locating the sources of water can be a major challenge to the oil and gas industry. As water volumes have increased to rise regarding fracs, not a lot of produced water reuse is taking place. There are the challenges of induced seismicity and disposal, and commercial water infrastructure.
Patton noted that reusing produced water in completions can reduce costs greatly. As he stated in the December issue of The American Oil and Gas Reporter, “We have seen operators complete wells using 100 percent produced water, but blends with 30-50 percent produced water and 50-70 percent freshwater are more common. More aggressive blends increase chloride levels which can cause incompatibility with traditional friction reducers, forcing the operator to use higher concentrations or switch to catonic friction reducers, which cost more. Operators need not worry that produced water fracs will be less effective than freshwater. Numerous studies show that even at 100 percent, produced water is as effective as freshwater and may even slightly improve production.”
Oklahoma’s water and energy development and infrastructure are vital. As has been the theme of the International Energy Policy Conference which I founded in 1992, we must “strive for energy efficiency and environmental preservation,” even more important today.
National Energy Talk ()- National Energy Talk, an energy advocate initiative, was launched July 31, 2017 in Elk City, Oklahoma. Meetings have been held in Tulsa, Edmond and Oklahoma City along with presentations in Houston, Denver and other cities. In 2019, will continue its efforts as a platform engaging a national energy dialogue. Go to Facebook: National Energy Talk to support/learn more about .
Mark A. Stansberry is chairman of The Group, an award-winning author and Energy Advocate.
Updated 01-16-2019
READER COMMENTS
