Water Midstream: A Rapidly Growing Sector Undergoing Seismic Change By Michael Steinhacker and Evan Tikka, Wood Mackenzie
P
roduced water is a longstanding byproduct of oil and gas production all over the world. The advent of horizontal drilling created a new low-cost oil and gas production source and brought new sets of challenges for upstream operators.
solutions. Over the past five years, thousands of miles of buried pipeline have been built, which has created multiple hydrovascular third-party networks. Pipelines are one of the safest and most cost-effective methods to transport and dispose of millions of barrels of produced water each day.
Wood Mackenzie identified produced water as one of the key bottlenecks for oil and gas production growth in 2017. The numbers tell the story: the Delaware Basin is forecast to produce 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 9.3 million bpd of water in 2021. This suggests an average basin-wide water-to-oil ratio (WOR) of 4:1.
With more than 50 active companies, water midstream is the predominant sector tackling produced water transportation and disposal. However, industry needs vary by region.
The increased volumes of produced water created the need for an entirely new class of infrastructure focusing on water pipelines, recycling facilities and disposal
For example, water handling costs are high in places like the Powder River Basin and Marcellus due to transportation distance. To help keep costs in check, evaporation and surface discharge solutions have been developed.
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