![Solaris Water Midstream](/sites/default/files/styles/hart_news_article_image_640/public/image/2019/03/3-brackish-water-pond.jpg?itok=aj5yoKgZ)
Solaris Water Midstream’s brackish water sourcing pond is located in Loving County, Texas. (Source: Solaris Water Midstream)
Editor's note: A version of this article originally appeared in E&P magazine. Subscribe here.
With the market for water management technology, handling and solutions expected to grow from about $8 billion in 2019 to more than $10.5 billion in 2026 by various estimates, service companies and midstream water providers are vying to supply the infrastructure, processes and equipment to meet operators’ needs for water treatment and transportation.
Midstream water companies are installing both permanent and temporary pipelines throughout unconventional shale plays in efforts to reduce the number of trucks hauling water. The number of water treatment facilities and water hubs is growing in shale plays with limited surface water availability.
With increased seismicity in several areas, such as the Scoop/Stack and Mississippi Lime in Oklahoma and the Permian Basin, companies are placing more emphasis on managing saltwater disposal wells while maintaining the disposal capacity needed by the industry.
The Permian Basin is one of the basins facing a shortage of surface water. Service companies and water midstream companies emphasize the reuse of produced and flowback water as a major solution.
The following companies are representative of some of the key players in water management and their approach to meeting oil and gas industry demand.
Aquatech Energy Services
With a total water system for sustainable upstream oil and gas water treatment solutions that are based on end use for the water, Aquatech Energy Services (AES), a division of Aquatech International, has been providing services on a turnkey basis to operators of both unconventional shale and conventional wells to manage, treat for reuse, and dispose of drilling, flowback and produced water.
The company also uses biocides and disinfectants to treat source and produced water for sulfate-reducing bacteria, reduction of H2S and prevention of biofilm formation within storage tank batteries. Source, flowback and produced water are treated for iron and manganese to reduce hardness-bearing compounds, such as barium, calcium and magnesium, and to reduce sulfates.
The AES team has extensive field experience, mostly in the Marcellus Shale play. The aim of the company is to develop solutions that ensure consistent water composition with minimal contaminants for predictable production characteristics in hydraulic fracturing and also minimal downhole scaling. For example, its MoVap mobile distillation system is designed for removal of total dissolved solids to produce ultraclean water, which will help reduce wastewater volume.
The AES treatment processes are based on technology from Aquatech International. Business options range from short-term to long-term contracts operating at well pads using mobile treatment units or at central facilities using fixed modular treatment units, according to the company’s website.
Its systems include the MoSuite system for producing reusable and sustainable water sources for multiple well pads as well as for reducing the volume of freshwater. The MoTreat mobile pre-treatment system removes total suspended solids and also can treat for hardness, bacteria and select precipitation of metals. AES operates multiple merchant central water treatment facilities serving producers for treating and disposing of wastewater from E&P activities.
Aqua Terra Water Management
Aqua Terra Water Management partnered with De Nora Water Technologies to provide a one-stop shop for produced water management. The company combined its disposal and pipeline transportation infrastructure with De Nora’s water treatment technologies to create a fixed-facility recycling option.
“By leveraging Aqua Terra’s extensive existing infrastructure and vast experience in disposal facilities with De Nora’s technologies, the market now has an efficient and inexpensive solution for the transportation, disposal and recycling of their produced water,” a July 9, 2018, press release stated.
“De Nora has always prided itself on having the environment at the core of its business values,” said Bryan Brownlie, managing director at De Nora Water Technologies Texas LLC. “Working together with Aqua Terra provides a sound solution for mass recycling in some of the most water-challenged areas in the U.S., including the Permian Basin.”
De Nora is a designer of safe and sustainable water disinfection and oxidation, filtration and electrochlorination solutions.
Aqua Terra’s goal is to provide solutions by providing expertise and strategies that meet regulatory and environmental requirements, according to the press release.
Aqua Terra CEO Cory Hall said, “When the drought hit in 2011, the use of freshwater became a serious issue throughout the Permian Basin. As the fracking processes become more advanced, our team has looked at and evaluated many different recycling techniques. Through our research, we have concluded De Nora’s process is best in class, which allows us to offer our customers a reasonably priced, effective substitute for freshwater for their fracking operations.”
According to the press release, “Recent recycling conducted by Aqua Terra Water Management utilizing De Nora’s process at Aqua Terra’s Jaker facility resulted in 98% reduction of iron, 100% bacteria kill, 100% removal of H2S and an 80%-plus reduction in total suspended solids, capable of producing excellent quality frac fluid with one unit able to treat 100,000 barrels per day.”
Baker Hughes, a GE company
Baker Hughes, a GE company, Well Chemical Services help protect the integrity of wells while maximizing production before, during and after fracturing operations. Customized solutions are designed to avoid fracturing water challenges with superior water analysis and treatment while improving productivity with a customized flow assurance program.
The H2prO SR water management service uses a mobile system with proven filtration technology to remove suspended solids from produced and flowback water. It returns up to 99.9% of the water for reuse in hydraulic fracturing and other oilfield operations. The operator can conserve freshwater, reduce transportation and disposal costs, and ensure regulatory compliance, the company stated on its website.
The mobile H2prO SR service is more flexible, providing an economic solution compared to permanently installed equipment. Each filtration unit can treat up to 10,000 bbl/d of water and is simple to set up. It has a low energy consumption rate, which lowers overall operating expenses. Each unit has a small footprint and requires no special permits to transport, so the units can be deployed quickly to meet any time schedule, the website said.
The H2prO HD well chemical service uses environmentally preferred chemistry to treat produced and flowback water in tanks, reserve pits, impoundments and ponds. Using proven chlorine dioxide technology, the service neutralizes microorganisms, H2S, iron sulfide, phenols, mercaptans and polymers in the surface water. The water can be reused for downhole operations with no threat of corrosion and equipment plugging, according to the website.
The H2prO HD service has a fast chemical reaction time, concentrated solutions and high chlorine dioxide generation rates. A single, mobile unit treats up to 200,000 bbl/d of water. The H2prO HD well chemical service includes pre- and post-water testing to ensure conformance to water quality standards, the company’s website stated.
Basic Energy Services
Basic Energy Services’ network of fresh and brine water stations, particularly in the Permian Basin where surface water is generally not available, is used to supply water necessary for drilling and completion of oil and natural gas wells.
The company’s water logistics segment provides oilfield fluid supply, transportation, storage and disposal services required in workover, completion and remedial projects as well as in daily producing well operations, according to Basic’s website.
With service locations positioned in major basins to support a wide range of drilling programs, Basic provides trucking and water hauling expertise through 1,000 trucks manned by experienced, trained drivers. In addition to water treatment services for recycling water, the company also offers rental of portable frac tanks and test tanks for storing fluid at the well site.
The company’s water logistics assets include specialized tank trucks, portable storage tanks, water wells, frac tanks, test tanks and saltwater disposal (SWD) wells.
Basic provides fluid services through fluid supply, transportation and storage services using a fleet of more than 800 fluid service trucks supported by portable storage tanks, water wells and disposal facilities, the company said.
For water recycling, Basic provides efficient and environmentally responsible water recycling services featuring the chlorine dioxide process, the website noted. Basic’s Water Recycling Services group provides environmentally friendly water treatment services that efficiently recycle water, reducing the number of trucks needed for offsite disposal while
increasing productivity. The Water Recycling Services group complements the Pumping Services and Fluid Services water hauling and SWD services, providing a complete range of options for water management needs, according to the website.
As part of its commitment to the environment, Basic uses a fleet of LNG-powered trucks primarily for water hauling, the company noted.
![Basic Energy Services water management](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Basic-_1122443.jpg)
Blackbuck Resources
With operations across New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma, Blackbuck Resources LLC (BBR) designs, builds and operates water infrastructure and provides water-related services to the oil and gas industry.
The company’s infrastructure division provides produced water gathering and disposal systems while the energy services division offers treatment of produced water for reuse as well as transfer services.
BBR also boasts the only full-service pond management offering, utilizing an advanced aeration system and remote water quality monitoring alongside physical sampling and corrective remediation, according to the company.
On July 12, 2018, Xedia Process Solutions announced it was acquired by Blackbuck Resources LLC. BBR will be led primarily by the prior Xedia management team and will be supported by an equity commitment from Cresta Energy Capital. With Xedia’s water treatment experience and technology, BBR has a “competitive advantage” in providing E&P companies with “a one-stop shop” for water treatment, transfer, storage and disposal, a press release stated.
Xedia functions as a wholly owned subsidiary of BBR, offering its water treatment products to E&P operators globally, while BBR provides Permian Basin E&P operators with treatment services and water infrastructure.
In the press release, former Xedia and current BBR CEO Justin Love said BBR will continue to improve and expand its ability to tackle the energy sector’s toughest water challenges by leveraging a growing team and pool of expertise and its existing footprint as a technology-enabled treatment service company.
Cudd Energy Services
To deliver custom-engineered systems to address water management challenges in oilfield operations, Cudd Energy Services’ Water Management Solutions (WMS) group provides water treatment, water recycling, biocide services and well remediation. These systems offer a cost-effective method for managing onsite fluid supply, treatment and pit circulation, according to the company’s website.
The WMS technology is designed to provide flexibility in setup configurations while improving personnel safety and operational efficiencies. These systems allow easy mobilization, rapid rigup capabilities and seamless integration with a variety of remote control and automated features, the website noted.
The company’s personnel plan and implement its systems to improve operational efficiencies and mitigate risks. WMS provides the optimal treatment plan and configuration to meet water needs safely and efficiently.
The water treatment system consists of a contained, mobile unit that restores produced water for reuse in oilfield applications by eliminating bacteria from fresh, produced and recycled water sources. The system reduces solids content, removes hydrocarbons, breaks down emulsions, accelerates iron removal and destroys H2S in produced water, according to the website.
Compartmental units are housed on individual trailers that can be rapidly mobilized to centralized pits, tank batteries and water collection/treatment facilities. Produced water may be transported to the treatment area or extracted from tank batteries or existing pits, the website stated.
The biocide treatment system treats produced water, surface water, surface vessels and wells for bacterial control. The biocide treatment system also includes oxidizing treatments to control iron sulfide, eliminate H2S, remove biomass and biofilm, break emulsions and control other oxidizable species.
This system uses Petro-Flo Microbiocide, a fasting-acting biocide that effectively controls all types of bacteria. WMS performs onsite water testing to determine the optimal dosage to treat the particular water source.
De Nora Water Technologies Texas LLC
De Nora offers energy-saving products and water treatment solutions, serving many industries with diverse applications. With technologies and processes for the filtration, oxidation and disinfection of water and wastewater, De Nora has been addressing the offshore and onshore water treatment needs of the oil and gas industry for decades, from proven solutions in biofouling control, sewage treatment and membrane filtration on offshore drilling platforms to onshore frac water disinfection, produced water recycling and oil refinery process water treatment. De Nora offers a comprehensive portfolio of proven water treatment solutions for the oil and gas market’s water challenges.
Bryan Brownlie, managing director at De Nora Water Technologies Texas, said, “By working with our oil and gas partners, we’ve demonstrated that we can produce results with market-beating economics, not just for produced water recycling, but also for frac water disinfection—without the safety risks inherent to the use of chlorine dioxide in an enclosed trailer.”
DistributionNOW
For fully customized modular design, DistributionNOW (DNOW) U.S. Process Solutions, which includes Power Service, Odessa Pumps and Total Valve Solutions, can provide customized skid package engineering, design, fabrication and installation services for water management needs. The packages have integration technology so that a unit can operate completely automated.
For offshore and onshore oil and gas operations, the company provides saltwater disposal (SWD), waterflood, water transfer and custom-engineered packages. Its filtration systems are available for fresh and produced water transfer skids, custom SWD packages, chemical injection skids and waterflood packages, according to the company’s website.
Pumps are offered from several manufacturers, including Schlumberger’s Reda HPS horizontal surface pumps, NOV/Moyno positive displacement and progressive cavity pumps as well as Griswold and Flowserve ANSI B73.1 pumps. Equipment is selected for the best fit for the application.
For 60 years Power Service has designed, engineered and fabricated SWD and waterflood packages.
With multiple packaging options, DNOW Process Solutions can customize the operator’s facility whether it is an open unit with a small reciprocating pump or a large facility with multiple horizontal multistage pumps. Control logic allows modulation of the facility’s flow. An operator can inject into multiple wells at varying pressures from a single injection pump and can adjust to surges in incoming rates, the website stated. The packages can be designed for injection rates up to 60,000 bbl/d and pressures up to 5,000 psig, stated the website.
Whether by pipeline or truck, the company’s extensive knowledge of hydraulics, fabrication and automation ensures that the operator’s facility will provide reliability.
Dow Water & Process Solutions
With a wide range of water treatment technologies, Dow Water & Process Solutions offers the technical expertise to treat water produced by shale gas and oil extraction via hydraulic fracturing techniques, according to the company’s website.
Dow specializes in removing the organic compounds and harmful metals from flowback and produced waters before reuse or discharge. The company’s ion exchange and DOWEX OPTIPORE polymeric adsorbent technologies are used to remove the metals and organic compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.
The company’s TEQUATIC PLUS fine particle filter is a new technology that can be used to help filter difficult-to-treat waters with high total suspended solids. The filter proved successful in applications such as produced water disposal wells by reducing the maintenance and consumables costs compared to traditional technologies such as cartridge and bag filters, the website stated.
Operators are finding opportunities by applying an integrated approach that uses advanced technologies for oil and gas. For example, BNN Energy helped an operator reduce water sourcing costs and environmental impact by integrating TEQUATIC PLUS Filters into its system. The operator has since increased the volume of recycled produced water to almost 100% and expects to save about $2/bbl of water, reducing operating costs by about 60% (results may vary depending on specific operating conditions), according to the website.
With its DOW FILMTEC reverse osmosis and nanofiltration elements, operators can manage shale gas-produced water. Another nanofiltration membrane is Dow’s FILMTEC SR90 Elements, which are designed to selectively remove sulfate from seawater used for waterflood injection operations in offshore oil production, helping prevent barium and strontium sulfate scale precipitation. This nanofiltration membrane operates efficiently at lower pressures and removes all particles greater than 0.001 μ, which results in injection water free of silica and bacteria, the website stated.
Evonik
Evonik develops advanced chemistries that enhance production, protect assets and increase value throughout the hydrocarbon life cycle.
PERACLEAN 15 from the Active Oxygens Division is an ecofriendly, Environmental Protection Agency-approved antimicrobial used to treat flowback and produced water. Unlike nonoxidizing biocides, it acts rapidly to destroy acid-producing and sulfate-reducing bacteria. It also can oxidize reduced sulfur species (e.g., sulfide). PERACLEAN 15 leaves no toxic residue, as the product decomposes to water, oxygen and CO2.
Evonik polyoxycarboxylates and DEGAPAS products are aqueous polymer solutions with excellent dispersing properties. These anionic polymers, free of nitrogen and phosphorous, interrupt inorganic crystal growth and are perfect antiscalants/dispersants. They are optimized to prevent scaling based on calcium, magnesium, iron or manganese salts.
VISIOMER methacrylate monomers provide excellent building blocks for high-molecular-weight cationic flocculants for water treatment. A new application area is extended-release scale inhibition.
The Technical Applications Product Line offers a comprehensive series of cationic and nonionic surfactants. The ADOGEN, TOMADOL and TOMAMINE lines include fatty amines, etheramines, amphoterics, alcohol ethoxylates and amine quaternaries. These products are ideal for emulsifying and stabilizing the components of oilfield formulations, such as drilling fluids, stimulation fluids and corrosion inhibitors.
Evonik signed an agreement in November 2018 to acquire PeroxyChem, which manufactures peracetic acid and hydrogen peroxide. The transaction is scheduled to be completed by mid-2019. For the oil and gas market, PeroxyChem offers hydraulic fracturing biocides and viscosity breakers, oil sands processing and EOR.
![Evonik](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Evonik%20offshore%20platform.jpg)
Evoqua Water Technologies
Evoqua Water Technologies offers water treatment solutions for both onshore and offshore oil and gas industry operations.
With more than 40 years of experience in delivering projects to the offshore market, Evoqua understands the strict regulations and requirements with which the industry needs to comply.
To protect the lifetime of equipment, “Chloropac systems can save oil producers over 5% of lost production by reducing biofouling of heating and cooling systems,” according to the company’s website. “These systems are used by 75% of leading operators to keep their field assets working efficiently.”
Evoqua is also the preferred provider for BOP fluid management systems to some of the largest offshore drillers in the industry, according to the company. Evoqua provides an Offshore Rig Water Solutions line of standard products for the management of critical fluids for its BOP systems.
Over the last five years, the company has deployed dozens of systems for continuous operation in the toughest environments, the website stated.
In addition to more than 100 years of experience in water treatment and purification, Evoqua has more than a decade of experience developing high-purity water treatment specifically for BOP applications, gaining a thorough understanding of the drilling rig environment as well as the industry’s rigorous standards and certification processes.
Fountain Quail Energy Services
Fountain Quail Energy Services seeks to help operators reduce water management costs by integrating the company’s industry expertise with exclusive treating and recycling systems.
The company’s water treating and recycling systems—SCOUT, ROVER, MAVREX and NOMAD—are technologies being used by operators in all shale plays, having assisted in cutting water-specific operating costs by at least 30% and up to 80%.
Fountain Quail’s highly mobile SCOUT system targets suspended solids, oil, iron and bacteria.
The ROVER technology targets the same contaminants as the SCOUT, but each ROVER system is semi-mobile and capable of recycling greater than 30,000 bbl/d to 105,000 bbl/d of clean brine, depending on location. Fountain Quail will customize a ROVER solution for long-term projects.
The MAVREX system utilizes variable feedback controlled chlorine dioxide technology and is effective across a broad range of bacteria and biofilms. Chlorine dioxide is less corrosive than bleach or ozone and has less of an impact on frac chemistry than peracetic acid.
The NOMAD technology employs the most energy-efficient thermal evaporator available in the market. The skid-mounted system made by Fountain Quail engineers is capable of generating 2,000 bbl/d of distilled, surface-discharge quality freshwater.
Fountain Quail owns, operates and is developing an expanding portfolio of Class II saltwater disposal wells that serve the Marcellus and Utica shale plays.
Fountain Quail’s MAG Tank is a modular, aboveground containment solution that provides operators with a flexible, customizable footprint, multiple capacities and a solution that significantly reduces truck traffic.
![Fountain Quail water management](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Fountain%20Quail%20Scout%20filtration.png)
Goodnight Midstream
By building, owning and operating produced water infrastructure in the prime oil shale fields in the U.S., Goodnight Midstream has a leading position in the Bakken Formation, a rapidly expanding footprint in the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale, and an emerging presence in the Powder River Basin, according to the company.
According to a November 2018 press release, Goodnight Midstream announced it expanded its revolving credit facility to $420 million from $320 million to fund continued strategic growth initiatives in the Permian, Bakken and Eagle Ford shales as well as support working capital requirements.
In 2018 Goodnight Midstream completed and is now operating 15 new saltwater disposal (SWD) facilities across the basins in which it operates. The company expects to complete construction on five additional facilities in early 2019.
In the Permian Basin, Goodnight Midstream recently completed and is operating two high-pressure, trans-basin systems, the Llano and the Rattlesnake pipelines, serving several long-term contractual customers. This infrastructure will transport the increasing amount of water expected out of the Delaware Basin to the depleted fields of the Central Basin Platform.
For SWD, Goodnight Midstream is able to create tailored, long-term solutions for its customers. The company now owns and manages a network of more than 45 gathering and disposal facilities connected to more than 420 miles of produced water pipelines on redundant systems, offering greater than 99% uptime for its customers, according to the company.
GR Energy Services
GR Energy Services offers operators technology-driven water management solutions using a unique horizontal pumping system (HPS) that drives gains for saltwater disposal, injection and water management. The versatile system provides advantages to inject or transfer at higher volumes and pressures and to reduce operating costs by eliminating common issues faced by water logistics managers.
The Flex Flow water management system integrates field-proven multistage centrifugal pumps with variable speed drives, surface controls and automated reporting capabilities to lower the total cost of operations. The trailer-mounted systems can be deployed very quickly as cost-effective options for early commissions, step-rate tests or replacement of equipment under repair.
The Flex Flow HPS can be monitored remotely to make adjustments that optimize system efficiency. Digital, cellular and satellite enabled, the programmable logic controller can report to mobile devices and computers with multiple notification options. The system requires little maintenance, so uptime is optimized and service callouts are kept to a minimum.
GR performance advisers can tailor both permanent and trailer-mounted Flex Flow HPS systems to a wide range of operating conditions with flow rates up to 100,000 bbl/d of fluid. Surface facilities engineers using Flex Flow systems have documented lower maintenance and repair costs, longer runlife and greater operating flexibility and efficiency, according to the company.
![GR Energy Services](/sites/default/files/inline-images/GR%20Water%20Management.jpg)
Gradiant Energy Services
Gradiant Energy Services offers custom-engineered solutions and technologies for oil and gas operators seeking safe, reliable, economic, environmental and efficient treatment, reuse and recycling of flowback and produced water.
Gradiant’s Selective Chemical Extraction (SCE) is a mobile water treatment process that provides reusable clean brine as hydraulic fracturing fluid. By cleaning water only to the needed level—and not beyond—the SCE process enables the reuse of treated produced water for operations, according to the company’s website.
The company can transform the most difficult water makeup into the highest quality freshwater with its Carrier Gas Extraction (CGE) technology.
“Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT], CGE desalinates oilfield wastewaters to produce extremely freshwater (less than 500 ppm and even lower in many cases) and a highly concentrated brine solution that can be utilized for drilling, workovers and completions,” the website noted. “CGE reduces the high transportation costs of produced water by treating the wastewater on site, producing freshwater and saturated brine.”
CGE also can be used to generate a concentrated, 10-lb brine that can be used for drilling, workover and completions applications.
Gradiant’s Free Radical Disinfection technology “provides high-volume disinfection treatment to control bacteria and treat water for storage pit maintenance, on-the-fly disinfection prior to hydraulic fracturing operations and pre-saltwater disposal injection” and also reduces H2S in water, according to the website.
The company’s Carrier Gas Concentration (CGC) technology, developed at MIT, “is ideal for E&P operators in remote areas that have disposal constraints, high trucking and disposal costs or the need to enhance evaporation rates in ponds and pits,” the website stated. “The CGC process involves evaporating water and concentrating dissolved solids in the wastewater stream via a multistage bubble column humidifier.”
Gravity Oilfield Services
As increased drilling activity and high-intensity well completions drive the need for high volume water sourcing, transport and disposal, Gravity Oilfield Services provides infrastructure and logistical expertise to be the single-source supplier on which operators can rely.
With decades of expertise, deep resources, a large fleet of vehicles and high-performance equipment, Gravity has an expansive footprint in the major oil and gas producing basins, particularly in the Permian Basin. Its network of fluid logistics assets and infrastructure includes fresh and brackish water production and storage pits, long-life delivery, produced water gathering, freshwater sourcing pipelines, fluid hauling trucks and saltwater disposal (SWD) wells.
Gravity operates more than 125 miles of permanent pipeline infrastructure capable of managing water needs throughout the life cycle of a well along with an extensive fleet of fluid service trucks and containment solutions. There is also an extensive inventory of more than 5,000 fracturing and mud tanks for every fluid containment need.
The company has an extensive network of strategically located SWD wells in the Permian Basin and Williston Basin. Gravity has several water-sourcing agreements with operators in the Permian Basin and is taking additional commitments.
In June 2018, Gravity acquired McKenzie Energy Partners LLC. McKenzie provides contracted midstream-based water management solutions for some of the most active operators in the Bakken Shale play through a network of produced water gathering pipelines and water disposal wells situated on core acreage dedications, according to the acquisition press release.
![Gravity Oilfield Services](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Gravity%20FV87.png)
H2O Midstream LLC
H2O Midstream partners with producers, land owners and other stakeholders to improve the efficiency, reliability and safety of water operations while lowering costs across the value chain.
The company owns and operates the Permian’s only truck-free, third-party produced water hub and pipeline network consisting of 1 MMbbl of storage and 265,000 bbl/d of permitted disposal capacity from 13 disposal wells, all interconnected via 150 miles of pipeline.
In addition, the company has removed more than 350,000 truckloads per year of produced water from Texas roads.
H2O Midstream owns and operates integrated water infrastructure, including gathering pipelines, storage, treatment, disposal and reuse facilities in the Permian Basin. The company continues to expand its existing system through additional infrastructure to serve the needs of multiple producers in the area.
H2O Midstream was selected by the University Lands (UL) management group to handle water across its 167,000 acres in the Delaware Basin. UL manages the surface and mineral interests of 2.1 million acres of land across 19 counties in West Texas for the benefit of the Permanent University Fund.
In partnership with Layne Water Midstream, a new University Lands Water Management LLC (ULWM) was formed to service UL’s produced and source water needs in the Delaware Basin.
H2O Midstream is funded via a private-equity commitment from EIV Capital and co-investments from several of EIV’s institutional partners collectively representing more than $70 billion in assets under management.
![H2O Midstream LLC](/sites/default/files/inline-images/H2O%20Hub-no-text.jpg)
Halliburton
Halliburton has the processes, tools and expertise to responsibly and cost effectively address all water challenges. With more than 1,500 consultants and 5,000 chemists, engineers and scientists, the company provides the upstream E&P industry with expertise and analysis to assist in a variety of water management challenges from surface to subsurface, according to the company’s website.
Halliburton’s use of conformance processes often can improve an operator’s profitability as a result of the following benefits: longer productive well life; reduced lifting costs; reduced environmental concerns and costs; minimized treatment and disposal of water; and reduced well maintenance costs. Halliburton’s EquiSeal Conformance service was specially developed to shut off water production in horizontal or highly deviated wells.
Halliburton can help minimize the use of freshwater in the oil field during drilling and completion of a well, fracturing or thermal operations. For stimulation, Halliburton’s Excelerate friction reducer portfolio was designed to perform exceptionally in produced water, across a broad range of salinity. Additionally, the polymers within the friction reducer portfolio were built with rapid hydration for quick performance and structured so operators can pump less material for reduced residue compared to competitive offerings.
![Halliburton water management](/sites/default/files/inline-images/HAL37947.jpg)
Hillstone Environmental
Founded in 2015, Hillstone Environmental operates in the Permian Basin, Williston Basin and Marcellus/Utica Shale play providing comprehensive water infrastructure solutions. These services include designing, building, owning and operating water pipeline to disposal as well as providing water treatment, recycling and reuse. The company’s fully integrated water midstream solution allows it to “maximize operating efficiency, reduce costs and reduce environmental footprint,” the company stated on its website. The company’s systems include 24/7 SCADA monitoring and leak detection.
Hillstone’s water pipeline and disposal system in Loving County, Texas, has a total throughput capacity of 480,000 bbl/d across an interconnected network of pipelines and disposal wells, according to the company. Hillstone’s interconnected system in Loving County allows the company to gather, transfer and dispose of produced water across its entire system and manage through spikes or unplanned outages, which the company said “gives customers certainty that their produced water will be disposed of reliably, safely and without interruption.”
The company also has treated more than 100 MMbbl of water in the Permian and Marcellus/Utica. Hillstone’s coagulization process involves using mobile treatment units, each with up to 20,000 bbl/d of treatment capacity, and the process integrates into existing client operations and can be done concurrently with drillout and flowback.
![Hillstone Environmental](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Cleveland%20Drone%202%20rev%203.jpg)
Hydrozonix
To reduce risk and operating cost by optimizing water quality and use throughout the frac water cycle, Hydrozonix offers consulting, technology and services, and works with oil and gas companies to design and implement comprehensive, cost-effective water management programs.
The company’s end-to-end approach includes assessment to ongoing operations and maintenance.
Hydrozonix water treatment technology uses mobile and permanent systems that are ozone-based and require no liquid chemicals as well as portable aeration systems that maintain the quality of stored flowback and produced water.
The company provides “advanced technologies separately or as part of its HzO Trio program, which can replace conventional chemical programs and provide more effective control of bacteria, iron and sulfide at a much lower cost,” according to the company’s website. Hydrozonix has saved operators 60% to 90% over the cost of liquid oxidizers.
The HzO Trio includes HYDRO3CIDE, an automated oxidation system for produced and flowback water; a portable Hydro-Air Aeration System that aerates and mixes water in storage pits and tanks to maintain water quality; and On-The-Fly oxidation systems that disinfect water and remove iron and sulfides without chemicals that can be incompatible with frac fluids.
“Operators that recycle with the HzO Trio combination achieved higher water quality for a fraction of the cost of chemical programs,” the company stated on its website. The HYDRO3CIDE platform includes a dashboard that monitors systems performance and water quality in real time on a PC or cellphone.
This year Hydrozonix is rolling out HYDROFLARE, a flare-gas fired evaporator, and HYDROPOD, a buoy that measures water quality in pits and tanks and sends data via cellular signal for real-time capture. “Together our systems provide a comprehensive program for low-cost produced water management from recycling to disposal,” the company said.
![Hydrozonix](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Hydro_395_R.jpg)
Keane Group
Since every system begins with the base water to be used on the job being tested, Keane Group offers recommended custom solutions that are cost-effective for the customer in terms of operations
and production.
The company’s ReLease ReUse produced water fluid systems are effective in all produced water scenarios, including 100% produced or flowback water. Where the cost of freshwater has an economical limitation, ReLease ReUse enables operators to continue operations with reduced cost and logistics associated with treating produced or flowback water, according to the company’s website.
Keane has systems for slickwater, linear gel and both borate- and zirconium-crosslinked gels, which allow operators to run produced water at any hardness, pH, mineralogy, temperature or salinity level.
Additionally, ReLease Speed is a full line of slickwater systems with friction reducers, which are economically customized for stimulation using either cationic or anionic freshwater solution. Options for high-brine applications also are available, the website stated.
The company also offers ReLease Dry, which is a dry friction reducer alternative that reduces spill risk.
Keane’s ReLease Linear fluid systems are natural or modified natural polymers used without crosslinkers that provide an economic fluid option without compromising viscosity characteristics. Polymers used include guar, carboxymethyl cellulose or cellulose gum, and carboxymethyl hydroxy propyl guar.
In the SPE-172811-MS paper’s abstract, Keane discussed its Stabilized Crosslinked Fracturing fluid systems, which were pumped in the Permian Basin, using borated produced water with levels of total dissolved solids exceeding 30,000 mg/l. The systems are designed to delay the crosslinking time when needed, utilizing the boron already present in the water. This frac fluid system approach has broken the code for recycled water and reduced disposal costs, according to the company’s website.
Key Energy Services
Saltwater disposal wells allow Key Energy Services to handle produced fluids responsibly and efficiently. Key operates more than 60 Class II disposal injection wells, where produced water is run through settling tanks prior to injection, according to the company’s website.
Key’s fluid management services include transportation of fluids used in the drilling and completion process as well as frac flowback and produced water from completed or producing wellbores.
For managing fluid levels within its tank systems, the company equipped its disposal wells with a computer-controlled system for receiving produced water. The facilities are designed to treat and filter water efficiently, therefore injecting the cleanest possible water into disposal wells.
Its 50-plus wells are permitted for a combined 15 MMbbl per month. The company has four permitted fresh and brine water facilities throughout the Permian Basin, each providing more than 1,500 bbl/d, the website noted.
“Significant growth in water volume per completed well is driving total freshwater and flowback water demand. Continued growth in water volumes employed on a per-well basis drive water transfer demand,” said Robert Drummond, Key president and CEO, in a March 2018 presentation.
Key’s energy production solutions and services are provided through its experienced crews, technical expertise, data analytics and fit-for-purpose equipment, according to the company’s website.
The company’s vacuum trucks transport nonhazardous fluid or waste to or from well operations. The materials commonly carried include freshwater, field saltwater, 10-lb brines, calcium chloride/bromide, water and oil-based muds and other drilling fluids.
Layne Water Midstream
As a full-cycle water midstream business, Layne Water Midstream (LWM) provides upstream oil and gas companies with water sourcing, disposal and recycling services in the Delaware and Midland basins.
LWM was founded as part of Layne Christensen Co., a 135-year-old global water management company. Today LWM operates a growing produced water management and disposal business in the Delaware Basin with existing pipelines, disposal assets and numerous in-process saltwater disposal (SWD) permits that are soon expected to provide more than 400,000 bbl/d of transportation and disposal capacity.
The company also operates an extensive source water business in the Delaware Basin with its 26-mile, 175,000-bbl/d Hermosa pipeline and access to source water in more than 90,000 acres in Reeves and Culberson counties in Texas, either owned by LWM or under long-term, exclusive lease arrangements.
LWM also operates water infrastructure assets in the Midland Basin, including more than 100,000-bbl/d source water assets in Martin County, Texas, and existing SWD permits.
The company’s business includes contracts with landowners for water midstream services on nearly 300,000 acres in the Permian Basin, including an exclusive long-term contract with the Texas General Land Office (covering 88,000 acres in Reeves and Culberson counties) and a preferred water services provider contract with University Lands (covering more than 160,000 acres in Ward, Winkler and Loving counties).
MYCELX Technologies Corp.
MYCELX Technologies Corp. provides advanced solutions for produced, process and wastewater challenges primarily in the oil and gas sector. The company’s polymer has oleophilic and hydrophobic characteristics and is designed to meet the industry’s toughest water treatment requirements.
MYCELX permanently binds with oil and hydrocarbons through the process of molecular cohesion. The company’s engineered solutions offer superior hydrocarbon removal with a smaller footprint and a lower cost to treat.
As environmental regulations and operational challenges increase across the globe, the need for MYCELX’s water treatment expertise has been recognized by a growing group of industry leaders including Chevron, BP, Anadarko, Schlumberger, SABIC and SNF Floerger, according to the company.
The company will consistently deliver water to specifications chosen by the client and can ensure discharge of less than 1 ppm oil in water if required. The produced water can be safely discharged and meets regulatory standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, Saudi Arabian Royal Commission Environmental Regulations and Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources.
The company has designed standardized equipment for its patented media and can undertake primary, secondary and tertiary stages of water treatment for customers. By combining these coalescers, backwashable media vessels and polishers, MYCELX is able to create robust tailored solutions. Systems can handle variable flow rates from 25 gpm to 5,000 gpm.
A single MYCELX system can easily handle high flow rates of up to 120,000 bbl/d, and given its smaller footprint, it is possible to scale up easily to meet whatever flow is required. The flexibility of the company’s engineered systems make them ideal for a wide range of applications and deployments, particularly offshore drilling platforms.
MYCELX RE-GEN, which is the company’s backwashable media, offers the necessary step-change improvement in water treatment capability that is critical for companies focused on EOR and are hampered by conventional water treatment technology’s limitations.
Oilfield Water Logistics
In the midstream water infrastructure and services industry, Oilfield Water Logistics LLC (OWL) has a focus on pipeline gathering systems, produced water disposal and produced water reuse services.
OWL primarily operates in the Permian Basin, including both the Midland and Delaware basins.
The company has additional assets in the Rockies region, including the Powder River Basin, Wamsutter and Piceance, as well as in East Texas.
OWL owns and operates the largest produced water gathering system in the northern Delaware Basin and Lea County, N.M. OWL recently completed its Red Hills Water Gathering System pipeline expansion project, which extended its Lea County system into Loving County, Texas. The connection provides access to upward of four additional saltwater disposal wells and numerous new customer connections.
In the Rockies, OWL recently expanded its Thunder Basin facility in Converse County, Wyo., to meet the increasing water management demand in the Powder River Basin.
OWL’s extensive midstream water infrastructure networks offer E&P companies the opportunity to reduce water sourcing and disposal capex while providing redundant systems to effectively handle the industry’s growing water needs, according to the company’s website.
By building supply and gathering lines, as well as reuse infrastructure where appropriate, OWL’s customers are able to maximize efficiency and minimize water management costs.
OSP
OSP, a service and supply company, works with the global oil and gas industry to create solutions for the effects of water and its use. For water treatment, OSP provides microbial testing technology as well as oilfield chemicals, including microbial and scale inhibition products, and water-focused consulting services.
OSP’s 2K7 Bugstick is a solid stick biocide that enables delivery to inaccessible areas where microbes can proliferate, the company said. The company’s biocide is available in several formats and formulations depending on the application.
In 2011 the acquisition of Telomer Corp. expanded OSP’s oilfield chemical products to include scale inhibition, providing chemistries and finished formulations that effectively target scale issues.
In 2017 OSP expanded its service offerings to include microbial identification and evaluation, offering molecular testing, including DNA qPCR and 16S sequencing. “Understanding you can’t mitigate what you can’t measure,” OSP provides the technical services and technology, on site or in the laboratory, to target and test for microbial contamination to achieve microbial control, the company stated on its website. OSP targets, tests and treats microbial-related issues such as corrosion and souring.
Pentair
To provide petroleum producers, refiners and gas processors dramatically improved solids control and hydrocarbon recovery from process water streams, Pentair offers its hydrocarbon recovery technology (HRT) for produced water management, oil removal from wastewater and saltwater disposal.
HRT eliminates the need for expensive excess processing, chemical additives and storage tank capacity. Hydrocarbon recovery efficiencies of 99.98% are available through HRT, according to the company’s website. HRT’s design is scalable and modular for both new capital projects as well as placement in existing operating units.
Benefits to using HRT on process water systems include operational flexibility, reduction of lost energy, savings on chemical additives, lower maintenance costs associated with fouling, and elimination of excursions, the website noted.
Pentair recognizes that produced and flowback water streams must often be treated prior to disposal, reinjection or reuse, and that the capital and operating costs associated with most treatment systems can be very high.
The company provides high-performance filtration and separation systems for produced and flowback water streams that will lower operating and capital costs and add value. The company offers a broad array of secondary water treatment technologies that allow the reuse of produced-water streams for uses such as agricultural irrigation and boiler feed water, according to the website.
Pentair’s Pure Pack system is a portable solution for secondary and tertiary produced water and wastewater treatment, offers superior water quality with a smaller footprint and lower cost of ownership, the website stated. With oil content as high as 5% to 10% at the inlet, the Pure Pack can yield low ppm oil at the outlet. The high-quality recovered oil may be processed or sold to add value to the operator, the website noted.
ProSep
By providing solutions that meet or exceed regulatory and/or other operational requirements, such as reinjection and EOR, ProSep’s produced water treatment system helps operators manage and treat produced water streams. The company’s technologies include TORR, CTour Process and Osorb Media Systems.
The company’s produced water treatment portfolio includes primary, secondary and tertiary treatment options, which can be supplied as individual process units, integrated plug-and-play packages or as complete produced water treatment solutions.
ProSep’s Osorb Media Systems (OMS) utilize the next-generation adsorbent, Osorb Media, for efficient water treatment/polishing. Osorb Media is a regenerable, organically modified silica specifically designed to remove dispersed, dissolved and emulsified hydrocarbons from produced waters, according to the company’s website.
The simple, integrated OMS water treatment systems allow operators to remove benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX); light to heavy crude oil; gas condensate; and some oilfield chemicals to less than 1 ppm. The systems maintain their efficiency in a broad range of applications, including the removal of hydrocarbons from CEOR polymer flood operations.
The TORR coalescing technology has a small footprint and the ability to replace less efficient oil removal equipment. It is a modular, scalable technology that addresses future increases in water cut for offshore operators. The process consists of two or more in-line pressure vessels and an optional spare vessel to be used as standby.
ProSep’s CTour process removes dispersed oil and dissolved hydrocarbon contaminants in the produced water stream through injection of condensate. The process routinely yields residual oil discharges of less than 5 ppm total petroleum hydrocarbons, while at the same time removing 80% to 95% of harmful water soluble organics, such as BTEX. The process is used extensively in Norway, having treated as much as 70% of all Norwegian offshore produced water. This equates to more than 2 MMbbl/d of water.
Purity Oilfield Services
With a complete line of water solution services, Purity Oilfield Services can coordinate setup and disposal as well as handle all other logistics for water service needs for completion services and other operations.
The company’s growing operational footprint includes the Permian Basin as well as South Texas, the Rocky Mountain regions and Canada.
With its diversified portfolio of rental items, trucking services, water services and strategic distribution alliances, Purity offers the flexibility of daily rentals to turnkey package solutions. The company provides services for drilling, completion, production and midstream operations.
Purity has five core divisions: the Water Transfer Division with 10-in. and 12-in. layflat pipe with the associated pumps and equipment; the Blue Line Division, offering a variety of tanks and aboveground storage tanks for water storage, consisting of 20,000-bbl, 40,000-bbl and 60,000-bbl ponds, frac tanks, uprights, bins, open tops and more; the Trucking Division, which consists of trucks capable of transporting freshwater and brine water and supporting the move of oilfield equipment and other oilfield trucking needs; the OFT Well Testing Division, which offers a fleet of well-testing units and services for flowback and well testing services; and the recently added Pure Heat Division that offers a new method to heat water at the well site or transfer source for completion services.
Purity’s freshwater services can be provided with turnkey pricing on services and rentals on a single well site or an entire field. The programs allow the operator to control expenses by knowing the project costs upfront.
Reclaim Water Services
Reclaim Water Services’ solution nonchemically removes contaminates from the water. Reclaim will provide nondetectable levels of hydrocarbons and bacteria and iron less than 1 ppm. Other solutions use dangerous chemicals to change the water chemistry and leave the contaminates in the water. This requires contaminant cleanup somewhere down the road. The treated water can be reused as soon as the system is discharged.
The system offers the following advantages: no retaining/settling ponds required, cleans water more completely than other processes, water is ready to use within 8 hours of entering the system, remote operation offers greater safety with less manpower, costs are competitive with all other processes, and units handle from 3,000 to 40,000 bbl/d and can be combined for larger volumes, according to the company.
Samco Technologies Inc.
For onshore and offshore applications, Samco Technologies Inc.’s oil and gas solutions include a cooling tower water treatment, boiler feed water treatment, wastewater treatment and zero liquid discharge.
Based on its technologies, Samco’s customers “have experienced increased oil recovery, cost-effective injection-water treatment, superior separation and destruction of acid/sour gas, expanded plant productivity, increased process uptime, cost-effective waste reduction and industry-compliant discharge,” according to the company’s website.
In addition to treating produced water for washing crude oil, Samco has developed a seawater desalting solution that performs directly on the platform, using a filtration process that then uses membranes to separate sulfates from the water, the website noted.
To effectively wash the light crude, the seawater is filtered to remove suspended solids and sulfates. It then uses its two-step process for oxygen removal. Samco’s two-step oxygen removal process is a method of removing oxygen from water down to extremely low levels. This method can be particularly useful in offshore EOR, the website stated.
When performing EOR offshore, a lot of water can be brought up with the oil. Samco developed a procedure to remove the water from the oil, recover the oil and safely discharge the water back into the ocean from onboard the platform or recycle it for reinjection.
Schlumberger
Schlumberger offers various services for managing the complete cycle of water management. The company’s experts have a thorough understanding of stimulation fluid requirements, operational schemes, reservoir characteristics, production volumes, hydrogeology, engineering design and environmental considerations.
Schlumberger’s AllSeal water and gas conformance service controls or shuts off unwanted water or gas production with an engineering approach. Schlumberger’s FracCON water-conformance fracturing fluid within the AllSeal water and gas conformance service was developed for high-water-cut wells with recoverable reserves near oil-to-water contact or gas-to-water contact. It features a relative permeability modifier capable of producing enhanced fracture geometry and increased proppant pack conductivity while mitigating water cut after fracture stimulation treatments, according to the company.
In addition, the company’s xWATER integrated water-flexible fracturing fluid delivery service is designed to reduce or eliminate freshwater use and its associated transportation and disposal costs, while also decreasing environmental impact, according to the company. “The service enables operators to use an engineered fracturing fluid customized for the available water, well conditions and reservoir properties—saving on the water-related costs that can account for up to 25% of the total operation cost,” the company stated on its website.
![Schlumberger water management](/sites/default/files/inline-images/water_management_schlumberger_allseal_web.jpg)
Select Energy Services Inc.
Select Energy Services Inc. provides oilfield water management services, including water sourcing, water transfer, containment, water treatment, flowback and well testing, fluids handling, and disposal across all major U.S. unconventional basins. Select’s water sourcing services identify, acquire and permit source water to assist operators with water acquisition, storage, evaluation and regulatory handling. The company has about 1.5 Bbbl of water available for operator use in hydraulic fracturing.
Select’s water transfer services are provided through a variety of mobile hose, piping and automated pumping systems to support hydraulic fracturing. The company’s water transfer services include pipe and pump selection, frac support, filtration and flowback support.
AquaView is a suite of technologies developed by Select to remotely monitor and control water assets and provide real-time data, including volume and water quality, all accessible 24/7 through the Aqua- View computer, smartphone and tablet applications. AquaView automated pumps and proportioning systems respond to operator specifications and changing conditions in real time with the ability to remotely set and maintain operational parameters.
For containment, Select offers high-volume aboveground storage tanks, reusable secondary containment systems, tank pedestals, in-ground and surface mount wall steel containments, heating and liners.
Select’s water treatment services utilize a wide spectrum of bio-control, aeration and recycling technologies to prepare source water or tie flowback and produced water back into frac supply for reuse. Additionally, Select has permitted disposal facilities located in the major U.S. shale plays with a permitted capacity of more than 300,000 bbl/d.
Through its Rockwater Energy Solutions brand, the company manufactures and supplies oilfield chemicals to optimize fluids during completion and production. Tidal Logistics is the in-house fluids handling service line that provides fluid recovery and removal, production support and storage.
![Select Energy Services](/sites/default/files/inline-images/DSC_6590-1.jpg)
SitePro
SitePro, a digital oilfield solutions provider, develops real-time, cloud-based software designed to optimize the management of the full water life cycle. The company offers services for producers, disposal and recycling, water midstream, and water sourcing.
For water sourcing, SitePro offers an alternative to manually checking pond levels, turning on water wells, turning valves and allocating volumes with its remote-control technology, turnkey automation and custom software interface.
SitePro’s new Water Sales Monitoring technology allows users to monitor frac ponds, storage pits and transfer lines in real time and control pumps and valves remotely from a computer or mobile device.
“Our volume allocation and ticketing services complete the life-cycle solution for service companies looking to lower their operating costs and reduce downtime,” the company said on its website.
The volume allocation feature allows users to easily differentiate water volumes from various operators, storage pits and truck sales for accurate and efficient billing and tracking. The technology also allows users to remotely control water wells from their phone or desktop, turning valves on or off based on level or volume set points.
For disposal and recycling, SitePro offers services for saltwater disposal (SWD) wells that provide total asset management, merging remote control, monitoring and automation with electronic ticketing and invoicing. The company helps operators partially or completely eliminate the need for field personnel. SitePro’s turnkey automation and software products cover every aspect of an SWD facility or system of facilities, including electronic ticketing, access control and flow measurement, surveillance, tank level monitoring, fluid conditioning, pipeline volume allocation, wellhead monitoring, cloud-based reports and regulatory reporting, and advanced analytics.
![SitePro water management](/sites/default/files/inline-images/water-sales-tracking-benefits-2.png)
Solaris Water Midstream
Solaris Water Midstream owns, operates and designs water infrastructure assets with a current focus in the Permian Basin. The independent company’s services include produced and flowback water gathering and transportation, wastewater reuse and disposal, water sourcing and delivery, and pipeline design and operation.
The company’s currently operating water infrastructure systems are located in the Delaware and Midland basins. Solaris’s Pecos Star System in the Delaware Basin has more than 200 miles of active and under construction permanent pipelines transporting produced water and supplying recycled and brackish water for oil and gas operations. The Pecos Star System’s pipeline network is connected to numerous active and under construction disposal wells. Solaris is currently permitting additional wells and pipelines. By the end of the year, the system will have more than 400 miles of large diameter produced water and water supply pipelines and connections to dozens of owned and third party disposal and recycling facilities across Texas and New Mexico. Additional systems are under development in the Delaware Basin, which will have similar service offerings as the Pecos Star System.
Solaris Water’s Midland Basin systems include about 85 miles of pipelines, two recycling facilities capable of recycling 25,000 bbl/d each and connections to 11 disposal wells.
![Solaris Water Midstream](/sites/default/files/inline-images/1.%20DJK%20SWD%202018-11-6_8.jpg)
Sourcewater Inc.
Sourcewater is a geospatial water intelligence platform and water marketplace for the upstream energy industry. Sourcewater gathers oilfield business activity data from its online water marketplace, which has more than 5,000 water and saltwater disposal capacity listings in the Permian Basin. The company gathers these data from satellite imagery computer vision analytics, which detect and measure every frac water impoundment and well pad in the Permian Basin every five days, matching each feature to surface and mineral ownership and operator lease.
The company also gathers data from state government regulatory filings for oil, gas, water and disposal wells as well as treatment facilities; parcel and mineral ownership records and leases; continuous market research; and Internet of Things and SCADA sensor partnerships to obtain real-time water and disposal levels, flows and pressures from the field. Data are gathered, cleaned, normalized, structured, analyzed and visualized through advanced geospatial mapping tools, custom research reports and an API for larger users.
Sourcewater recently acquired the assets and intellectual property of Digital H2O, enabling Sourcewater to gather and show the oil, gas and water production of every oil and gas well in Texas, New Mexico, North Dakota and Pennsylvania as well as show disposal well capacity, pressures and utilization for all of these states. In Texas Sourcewater shows the logistical relationships and flows between every commercial disposal and every operator lease.
![Sourcewater](/sites/default/files/inline-images/disposal%20utilization.png)
TETRA Technologies Inc.
TETRA Technologies’ water management services for hydraulic fracturing and unconventional well completions include sourcing, fresh and produced water transfer, pipeline construction, storage and pit lining, treatment and recycling, blending and distribution, and flowback and testing, all of which are automated and remotely monitored.
The company’s water treatment services are “fully automated and integrated to help meet operators’ increasing water requirements by recycling, treating and delivering an optimized fluid for frac operations—all while yielding significant cost savings and reducing operational and HSE risks,” according to the company’s website.
TETRA uses an oil separation system to accumulate and remove residual oil from produced water in real time to ensure treatment performance and compliance with regulatory storage requirements. The accumulated oil can then be put back into the operator’s sale pipeline. In several cases, the volume of reclaimed oil has almost paid for the use of the system.
The company uses an automated water treatment system to chemically treat produced water through a clarification process that enables recycling of up to 50,000 bbl/d of produced water with a single system. Custom systems are built to handle larger volumes. The system uses web-based, real-time monitoring and control technology providing operators with 24/7 access to treatment and recycling operations. This provides a transparent and on-demand view on the chemistry applied to treat the water and its effectiveness.
TETRA also offers automated blending and distribution technology that provides accurate parameter-based blending and consistent blend quality, whether directly filling frac tanks or transferring to another location. The technology is equipped with real-time, computer controlled, tank-level management ensuring supply and preventing tank overflows.
The company’s storage and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-compliant pit lining services ensure drilling and completion operations have a sufficient water supply on site and on demand.
![TETRA Technologies Inc.](/sites/default/files/inline-images/TETRA-Water-Mgmt-Solution-HartEP-1.jpg)
Veolia Water Technologies
Veolia provides water treatment, reuse and wastewater services and technologies. Its water treatment technologies include more than 350 solutions to manage, optimize and recover water and wastewater for municipal and commercial systems. The company’s focus is on increasing and extending the value of water and wastewater resources.
ShaleFlow is a transportable, modular system that utilizes proven technologies to treat up to 10,000 bbl/d (300 gpm) of produced water with a simple drop-and-go approach.
The company’s CoLD crystallization process for desalination of produced water is designed to eliminate the need for expensive pretreatment of the produced water, thereby reducing capital and operating costs, according to the Veolia.
In addition, Aquavista is the company’s new digital services platform that offers a wide range of customized digital solutions for water treatment systems.
WaterBridge Resources LLC
WaterBridge Resources LLC, a portfolio company of Five Point Energy LLC, provides producer-focused water management solutions through integrated pipeline networks for produced water, transportation, disposal, supply and recycling.
WaterBridge owns and operates more than 1.3 MMbbl/d of produced water disposal capacity throughout the Southern Delaware Basin and Arkoma Basin that are connected by more than 450 miles of pipeline.
WaterBridge recently acquired assets from and entered into a long-term produced water management contracts with Concho Resources Inc. and Halcón Resources Corp., both in the Southern Delaware basin. Including these transactions, WaterBridge has approximately 285,000 dedicated acres under long-term contracts with 19 producers in the Delaware Basin and approximately 182,000 dedicated acres under long-term contracts with three producers in the Arkoma Basin.
![WaterBridge water management](/sites/default/files/inline-images/WaterBridge.jpg)
Water Standard/Monarch Separators
Water Standard builds and delivers water treatment solutions and services to the global energy industry. The company specializes in compact modular membrane and ultrapure water systems and mobile onshore and offshore facilities. They offer flexible contract options for products and services ranging from specialized engineering and design to the supply of turnkey and rental systems.
Water Standard’s subsidiary, Monarch Separators, designs, engineers and manufactures separation technologies for removal of oil and solids from produced water and wastewater in the energy industry.
Together, the companies provide products and services that allow energy companies to safely and responsibly reuse their water as an asset and/or discharge it back into the water cycle. For example, their H2O Spectrum platform technology provides operators with a wide spectrum of produced and flowback water treatment options, including disposal, recycle and reuse, and treatment for safe surface discharge.
The companies’ combined expertise in water treatment applications include waterflooding, IOR and EOR; produced and flowback water treatment; desalination, sulphate removal and/or softening; membrane deaeration; filtration; ultrapure water; mobile units; and fixed facilities. Additionally, the company’s water treatment technologies for discharge or disposal are designed to improve oil and water separation, treat EOR emulsions and minimize footprint and storage requirements.
Read E&P's other 2019 Water Management Techbook articles:
OVERVIEW:
Managing Water for Increasing Production Volumes
As production rates continue to climb, so does the amount of water produced.
TECHNOLOGY:
Innovation, Ingenuity Drive Changes in Handling Produced Water
New technology is needed to get the most out of one of Earth’s most precious resources.
MIDSTREAM:
Full Immersion: Industry Gets Religion on Produced Water
Volumes could reach 50 MMbbl/d in just the Permian; all options are on the table.
CASE STUDIES:
Adopting an Infrastructure Approach for Produced Water Management
One possible answer to the Permian Basin’s water woes lies in the sands of Oman.
Technology Reduces Produced Water By 50%
Proppant-bonded technology reduces formation water without hindering oil and gas production.
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