Managing Produced Water at CBM Properties in the Rocky ... - IPEC

INTRODUCTION
At the present time, the production of water with coal bed natural gas is an accepted fact of
life for energy producers. The cost to transport, treat and/or dispose of this water increases the cost
of producing energy from a well. In economically marginal low-productivity formations, the costs
related to water management can prevent a well from being completed or can cause producing wells
to be shut in. In addition, the future production of oil and gas is expected to increasingly depend
upon production from economically marginal formations and from unconventional sources of oil
and gas. One promising unconventional source of natural gas is methane production from coal
seams. Like production from economically marginal resources, the production of methane from
coal seams may rely in the future upon a cost-effective method for treatment or disposal of
produced water.
Currently in the oil and gas industry, produced water is accepted as a liability. However,
as problems represent challenges, produced water management represents both a significant
operating expense and a potential opportunity to reduce production costs. Any reduction in the
cost of produced water management will increase the net profit from a well. To this degree,
reducing the cost of water management represents a significant means of increasing profits and
also of producing a resource.
Reducing the cost of produced water management represents both a means of increasing
the bottom line for energy producers and a means to enable future production of energy resources.
These two reasons alone provide ample incentive for producers to optimize their produced water
management planning effort. However, determining the answer to what makes produced water a
resource, and who would view it as a resource are valid questions. A beneficial use or need for
the water can make produced water a resource, and any stakeholder in the energy development
process that has a beneficial use for the water will consider it a resource.
OVERVIEW OF CBM WATER PRODUCTION
VOLUMES AND LOCATION-SPECIFIC
WATER MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
The produced water volumes and associated water management practices at coal bed
natural gas producing basins in the Rocky Mountain region reported in this paper were gathered
during the period of 1998 – 2002 as a component of a study on produced water management
practices funded by the Gas Research Institute. Data from production reports offered on state
agency websites was collected and entered into a database developed by BC Technologies, Ltd.
Database reports connected annual water production volumes at specific well locations with
producers. Using this information, a sample group of operators who reported high volumes of
water in the basins of interest was developed. Producers on that list were interviewed by
telephone to find out how they managed produced water generated at their leases. Produced
water volumes and actual water management practices as they were described during interviews