Lisa Henthorne, Chief Technology Officer and Buddy Boysen, Engineering & Technology Director, are participating in the 2019 Produced Water Society (PWS) – Permian Basin conference to gather valuable insight on the future of produced water management in the Permian Basin. As a company that develops effective water treatment technologies associated with oil and gas production, we must assess the progress made in the industry so far and then focus on what’s coming next. Being informed and inspired allows us to provide innovative solutions to help operators find the hidden value of their produced and flowback water. We also believe that knowledge sharing within the industry is a crucial component of advancing these treatment technologies. So please see below for Lisa and Buddy’s Top 5 take-aways from the PWS Permian Basin conference so far.
5 Produced Water Take-Aways
- The industry is laser-focused on the goal of making operations sustainable at the $40-$50/bbl of oil price range. However, significant optimization is required throughout operations but especially in the water treatment sector as water usage continues to rise.
- Alternative methods for produced water management are required. SWD permits are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain – especially in New Mexico where regulatory under-staffing is an issue.
- The industry is evaluating these alternate options for injection for final produced water disposal. One consideration presented by keynote speaker, Gabe Collins of the Baker Institute at Rice University is the evaluation of pipeline to discharge directly into the ocean. Anticipated costes were int eh range of $0.8- $1.0/bbl.
- We see water treatment companies working with major operators now progressing to full scale water reuse. Some have been successful in delivering 4.5 MM bbls of their annual goal of 10MM bbls of water for reuse.
- Irrigative reuse in Texas has been permitted. In Pecos, Texas, produced water reuse was approved for cotton watering in 2015.
Contact us today if you would like to learn more about our findings or if you have interest in seeing Buddy’s presentation about biological growth, which we talked about in last week’s news post. We look forward to sharing more as we continue to attend conferences and gain more insight into the future of produced water.