Identification, Verification, and Compilation of Produced Water Management Practices for Conventional Oil and Gas Production Operations

Abstract

The project is titled 'Identification, Verification, and Compilation of Produced Water Management Practices for Conventional Oil and Gas Production Operations'. The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is the principal investigator and the IOGCC has partnered with ALL Consulting, Inc., headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in this project. State agencies that also have partnered in the project are the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation, the Kansas Oil and Gas Conservation Division, the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Conservation Division and the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. The objective is to characterize produced water quality and management practices for the handling, treating, and disposing of produced water from conventional oil and gas operations throughout the industry nationwide. Water produced from these operations varies greatly in quality and quantity and is often the single largest barrier to the economic viability of wells. The lack of data, coupled with renewed emphasis on domestic oil and gas development, has prompted many experts to speculate that the number of wells drilled over the next 20 years will approach 3 million, or near the number of current wells. This level of explorationmore » and development undoubtedly will draw the attention of environmental communities, focusing their concerns on produced water management based on perceived potential impacts to fresh water resources. Therefore, it is imperative that produced water management practices be performed in a manner that best minimizes environmental impacts. This is being accomplished by compiling current best management practices for produced water from conventional oil and gas operations and to develop an analysis tool based on a geographic information system (GIS) to assist in the understanding of watershed-issued permits. That would allow management costs to be kept in line with the specific projects and regions, which increases the productive life of wells and increases the ultimate recoverable reserves in the ground. A case study was conducted in Wyoming to validate the applicability of the GIS analysis tool for watershed evaluations under real world conditions. Results of the partnered research will continue to be shared utilizing proven methods, such as on the IGOCC Web site, preparing hard copies of the results, distribution of documented case studies, and development of reference and handbook components to accompany the interactive internet-based GIS watershed analysis tool. Additionally, there have been several technology transfer seminars and presentations. The goal is to maximize the recovery of our nation's energy reserves and to promote water conservation.« less