Unlike any point in history, the need for disposal wells to inject produced water has risen to an all-time high. Areas like Southeastern New Mexico have experienced a “Land Rush” of applications, including submittals that have averaged nearly 10 permits per day! Meanwhile, High-Volume Disposal Wells in Oklahoma are being re-directed from injection into the deep Arbuckle to shallower receiving zones to avoid the potential of induced seismicity. Many disposal wells in Appalachia now require seismic monitoring, which comes at significant expense. Regulators are also more closely evaluated disposal wells on a regional basis opposed to an individual basis due to the shear number of wells being proposed. In some areas, 20 permit applications may need to be submitted in hopes of getting just one permit issued and those submitting permit applications are left in a guessing game. Instrumental to all of this are considerations (or practices) that disposal well operators should consider relative to the planning, siting, design, drilling, completion and operation of these wells. This paper will discuss various best practice considerations for Class II disposal wells, from planning/permitting through drilling/operation of these wells that have become critical to unconventional resource development.

Primary Author:
Dan Arthur
President & Chief Engineer
ALL Consulting
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
www.all-llc.com

Conference Presenter / Co-Author:
Nate Alleman
Project Manager
ALL Consulting
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA