The economic success of oil and gas produced water reuse depends a great deal upon local circumstances. Onsite reuse for enhanced oil and gas recovery has by far proven to be the preferred method for oil and gas producers looking to avoid the costs and constraints of underground injection. However, produced water levels frequently exceed what is needed for drilling and completion activity. This leaves producers with a new issue: How to handle these additional volumes. Fortunately, when the right alignment of geology, geography, water quality characteristics, and end-use opportunities are in-place, producers can seize the moment to transform excess produced water from a bane to a boon.

This presentation builds upon five multiple-benefit reuse solutions that could be particularly helpful in the southwestern United States: Cotton irrigation, thermoelectric cooling, road capping, pozzolanic cement production, and carbon capture and sequestration. Mr. Ford has worked with producers, professors, engineers, scientists, and industry representatives to figure out how and where each of these options could work in the Southwest, and at what cost. He has pursued this research separately from his full-time job as an Economist with the Bureau of Land Management

Primary Author/Conference Presenter:
Michael Ford
Economist & Water Reuse Professional
Washington, DC, USA