The Cut and Dry of Texas Groundwater Law: Unconstitutional Takings of Produced Water from Oil and Gas Wells as a Result of House Bill 3246

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Waggoner
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie McDevitt ◽  
Molly McLaughlin ◽  
Charles A. Cravotta ◽  
Moses A. Ajemigbitse ◽  
Katherine J. Van Sice ◽  
...  

In the western U.S., produced water from oil and gas wells discharged to surface water augments downstream supplies used for irrigation and livestock watering.


2020 ◽  
Vol 154 ◽  
pp. 05002
Author(s):  
Magdalena Tyszer ◽  
Anna Chmielowska ◽  
Barbara Tomaszewska

Diminishing water resources, population growth and utilization energy intense processes for drinking water production lead to seek new methods of water acquisition. Desalination of seawater or/and geothermal water and also water acquisition with the utilization of abandoned oil and gas wells potentially represents promising new production method of freshwater streams. Abandoned oil and gas wells potentially can be a source of geothermal heat which can be used as a heat source for water desalination. In many countries, among others in Poland area, there are hundreds, and even thousands of abandoned exploration, research or oil/gas wells which can be adapted for other purposes, including water desalination. The aim of this paper is to conduct preliminary recognition of current world knowledge on the possibility of using abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal purposes, including desalination of produced waters (also for drinking purposes) based on selected examples (Iran and USA). This technique is environmental-friendly and provides enough amount of energy for high-energy desalination processes (e.g. reverse osmosis), along with reducing gas emissions and consumption of conventional fuels. Based on world experience, a comprehensive assessment of the possibility of using abandoned wells for geothermal purposes in Poland should be carried out.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman Aljedaani ◽  
Mohammed AlOtaibi ◽  
Subhash Ayirala ◽  
Ali Al-Yousef

Abstract Many challenges and limitations are experienced while treating the produced water in oil fields, due to large volumes of water produced together with oil. In this paper, we propose a new method to treat produced water, by integrating humidification and de-humidification desalination (HDH) unit with waste heat, extracted from abandoned oil and gas wells. This solution is based on circulating the produced water through abandoned wells (both vertical and horizontal wells) and heat them up to 60-80°C so that the heated water can be directly used as hot feed water into the HDH unit. This eliminates either electricity or power requirements from an external source thereby significantly lowering the energy requirements. The direct use of hot produced water at the desired temperature range allows for better performance of the HDH desalination unit, while reducing the operating cost, besides minimizing CO2 emissions to the environment. The use of heat extracted from abandoned oil and gas wells in the form of geothermal energy enables the utilization of waste heat associated with existing wells, which is already available in most of the oil fields. The proposed method therefore provides a sustainable renewable energy solution for produced water desalination using HDH processes.


2019 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 03002
Author(s):  
Yousif Kharaka ◽  
Kathleen Gans ◽  
James Thordsen ◽  
Madalyn Blondes ◽  
Mark Engle

Geochemical data for more than 120,000 oil and natural gas wells from the major sedimentary basins in the USA are listed in the USGS National Produced Waters Geochemical Database [1]. In this summary, we report and discuss the geochemical data on produced waters obtained from published literature and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) from close to 4,000 new oil and gas wells in Colorado. We emphasize geochemical data of produced waters from shale and tight reservoirs that have increased dramatically in Colorado since 2011, due to deep horizontal drilling, downhole telemetry and massive multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. These operations require large volumes of fresh water, but contamination of groundwater is the major environmental concern. Also, induced seismicity caused by water injection has been reported from several areas in Colorado, including Trinidad, Raton basin, and Greely, Denver basin. Produced water salinities in Colorado obtained from unconventional oil and gas wells are relatively low, generally less than 30,000 mg/L TDS. Produced water salinities from conventional oil and gas wells overlap those from unconventional wells, but many wells have higher salinities (up to 90,000 mg/L TDS) and different chemical compositions.


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