Water Needs of the Upstream Segment of the Oil and Gas Industry n Texas

Secondary and tertiary oil recovery, common in the Permian Basin of West Texas, as well as new slick water completions required for gas production create a non-negligible water demand across the state. An estimate of current fresh-water use for waterflood operations in Texas is ~10,000 acre-feet and likely to decrease in the future even if, in the short team, more fields are put into production. On the other hand, water use for gas stimulation is likely to increase. The Barnett Shale gas play, located in North Texas, has seen a relatively quick growth in the past decade with the development of new “frac” technologies needed to create pathways to produce gas from the very low permeability shales. Plays such as the Haynesville, Woodford, and Eagle Ford are coming online at a steeper rate than the Barnett did. A typical horizontal well completion consumes over 3 millions gallons of fresh water in a very short time (days). There are currently over 15,000 completed shale gas wells in the State of Texas and many more will be drilled in the next decades. If tight-gas completions are included (such as the newly very active so-called wolfberry play of the Permian Basin), the volume of water used is even larger and likely to top 20,000 acre-feet in 2010, raising some concerns among local communities and other groundwater stakeholders. However, the volume remains low on average compared to the total sate water demand (>18 millions acre-feet), especially irrigation demand, although locally it can lead to conflicts. In addition, the industry is improving its water footprint by increased recycling, developing alternative sources of water (brackish, treatment plants) and more efficient additives, and other innovative strategies.