Summary
Produced water is the largest byproduct stream associated with oil and gas
production. Within the United States, nearly 1 million oil or gas wells are
producing hydrocarbons with various volumes of produced water. In the past,
several estimates of the annual volume of produced water have been made, but
none are highly accurate, nor are they current. This paper describes a study
conducted by Argonne National Laboratory for the US Department of Energy (DOE)
in 2009 to develop accurate estimates of produced-water volumes for 2007. The
estimates were developed through contacts with regulatory-agency
representatives from each of the 31 states that produce oil and gas, as well as
several federal agencies that oversee onshore and offshore production on
federal lands. A few states maintained detailed records of produced-water
volumes, many provided estimates from underground injection records, and a few
do not maintain accurate records for estimation. For those states, estimates
were developed using various extrapolation methods. Where possible, the
produced-water volumes are provided separately for different hydrocarbon types
(i.e., crude oil, conventional gas, coalbed methane, tight-shale gas). This
allows calculations of water/hydrocarbon ratios for different states and
different hydrocarbon types.
In addition to providing a recent accurate volume estimate, the paper
discusses the ways in which the produced water is managed in the different
states and in the US offshore. While much of the onshore produced water is
reinjected for enhanced recovery or disposal and much of the offshore produced
water is discharged to the ocean, various other methods are used also. The
Argonne study and this paper provide the most-complete and -recent picture of
produced-water management in the United States.
© 2011. Society of Petroleum Engineers
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History
- Original manuscript received:
10 November 2010
- Meeting paper published:
13 April 2010
- Revised manuscript received:
4 February 2011
- Manuscript approved:
19 February 2011
- Published online:
24 May 2011
- Version of record:
10 August 2011
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