U.S. produced water volumes and management practices in 2012
HERO ID
3229946
Reference Type
Technical Report
Year
2015
Language
English
| HERO ID | 3229946 |
|---|---|
| Year | 2015 |
| Title | U.S. produced water volumes and management practices in 2012 |
| Authoring Organization | Veil Environmental, LLC |
| Publisher Text | Ground Water Protection Council |
| City | Oklahoma City, OK |
| Abstract | Produced water is water found in the same formations as oil and gas. When the oil and gas flow to the surface, the produced water is brought to the surface with the hydrocarbons. Produced water contains some of the chemical characteristics of the formation from which it was produced and from the associated hydrocarbons. Produced water may originate as natural water in the formations holding oil and gas or can be water that was previously injected into those formations through activities designed to increase oil production from the formations such as water flooding or steam flooding operations. In some situations additional water from other formations adjacent to the hydrocarbon-bearing layers may become part of the produced water that comes to the surface. Most wells in unconventional oil and gas formations (e.g., shale, coal bed methane, tight gas sands) are stimulated using hydraulic fracturing, through which water is injected under pressure into the formation to create pathways allowing the oil or gas to be recovered in a costeffective manner. Immediately following hydraulic fracturing in the well (a frac job), some of the injected water returns to the surface and is known as flowback water. After a few weeks, the volume of water returning from a fractured well is greatly reduced. At this point, any remaining water coming to the surface from the well is called produced water. This study does not distinguish between volumes of flowback water and produced water generated from unconventional wells – all water returning to the surface from oil and gas wells is counted as produced water for the sake of volume estimates. |
| Url | http://www.veilenvironmental.com/publications/pw/final_report_CO_note.pdf |
| Is Certified Translation | No |
| Dupe Override | No |
| Is Public | Yes |
| Language Text | English |
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