Produced Water From Oil and Gas Operations: A Waste or Resource?

Monday, April 12, 2010: 11:25 a.m.-12:25 p.m.
Continental B (Westin Tabor Center, Denver)
Unlike conventional oil and gas resources development, the new shallower exploration plays, such as coal bed methane and shale gas, often require dewatering to extract the gas resource. These sites typically produce tens of thousands of gallons of groundwater per well per day of variable quality. Management and impacts of produced water have become a paramount issue in the Rocky Mountain region where the majority of the United States' proven unconventional gas reserves are located. Most states manage produced water as a waste. In the water-scarce, semiarid west, a producer’s waste may become a water supply with economic benefits. In this session, we present abstracts related to coproduced water, specifically in the areas of: ●Hydrologic and geochemical characterization and modeling ●Groundwater and surface water impacts ●Water treatment options and costs ●Beneficial uses of produced water ●Produced water disposal methods and environmental impacts ●Water rights issues ●Legal and institutional impediments.
Moderator:
Ralf Topper
11:25 a.m.
11:45 a.m.
Produced Water as a New Water Resource - Not A Waste
David R. Stewart, Ph.D., PE, Stewart Environmental Consultants Inc.
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