Jimmie Hammontree 

Manager, Regulatory Affairs 

April 11, 2012 

 

 

Water Utilization, Water Efficiency, and Reuse
2 

The Water / Energy Nexus 

“Water is Essential for Energy Resource Development” 

Fuel Extraction 

Fuel Processing 

Power Generation Cooling 

“Energy Resources are Needed for Water” 

Development (raw water pumping) 

Processing (treatment) 

Distribution (potable water pumping) 

“Balance” or “Nexus” is Critical but Often Overlooked when evaluating 

Energy Resources 

Many discussions on air quality and surface pollution impacts 

Limited discussion on water availability 

Improve One ! Improve the Other
3 

Current Chesapeake Water Use by 

Shale Play 

Barnett Shale* 

 250,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

4,600,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 4.8 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

 

 

 

Liquid&Shales&(Gas,&Oil,&Condensate)&

Gas&Shales&(Dry&Gas)&

Marcellus Shale* 

 85,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

5,500,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

5.6 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

Haynesville / Bossier Shale 

 600,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

5,000,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 5.6 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

 

 

*Play&contains&areas&of&condensate&liquids&but&primarily&dry&gas&

Granite Wash 

 200,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

4,300,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 4.5 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

Utica Shale 

 100,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

5,400,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 5.5 Million Gallons Used Per Well 
4 

Current Chesapeake Water Use By 

Shale Play Continued 

Eagle Ford Shale 

 125,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

4,800,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 4.9 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

 

Permian Basin Plays** 

 100,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

1,800,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 1.9 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

 

 

**&Includes&Avalon&Shale,&Bone&Spring,&Spraberry,&Wol?erry,&and&Wolfcamp&plays&

Niobrara Shale

 300,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

3,000,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 3.3 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

Cleveland / Tonkawa

 200,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

3,800,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 4.0 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

Mississippi Lime

 100,000 Gallons used for Drilling 

2,100,000 Gallons used for Fracturing 

~ 2.2 Million Gallons Used Per Well 

Liquids9Rich&Shales&(Gas,&Oil,&Condensate)&
5 

Raw Fuel Source Water Efficiency 

Energy'resource Range'of'gallons'of'water'used''

per'MMBtu'of'energy'produced

Conven8onal'(ver8cal)'natural'gas 1'–'3

Chesapeake'deep'shale'natural'gas'*' 0.84'–'3.32'

Coal (no&slurry&transport)

(with&slurry&transport)

2&–&8

13&–&32

Nuclear&(processed&uranium&ready&to&use&in&plant) 8&–&14

Conven8onal'(ver8cal)'oil 8'–'20

Chesapeake'deep'shale'/'8ght'sand'oil'**' 8.15'–'20.13'

Synfuel&9&coal&gasificaIon 11&–&26

Oil&shale&petroleum 22&–&56

Oil&sands&petroleum 27&–&68

Synfuel&9&Fisher&Tropsch&(Coal) 41&–&60

Enhanced&oil&recovery&(EOR) 21&–&2,500

Biofuels'(Irrigated'Corn'Ethanol,'Irrigated'Soy'Biodiesel) >'2,500

Source:&USDOE&2006&(other&than&CHK&data)

*Includes&processing&which&can&add&0&9&2&gallons&per&MMBtu **Includes&refining&which&consumes&major&porIon&(90%)&of&water&needed&(7918&gal&per&MMBtu)&

&Solar&and&wind¬&included&in&table&(require&virtually&no&water&for&processing)&

&Values&in&table&are&locaIon&independent&(domesIcally&produced&fuels&are&more&water&efficient&than&imported&fuels)&
6 

Power Generation Water Use Efficiency 

Parasitic Effect of Carbon Capture 

Source:&USDOE&2006&(other&than&CHK&data)&and&USDOE/&NETL&2007&

*Average&consumpIon&for&fuels;&Chesapeake&data&

MWh&=&megawaf9hour&
7 

Water Intensity of Transportation Fuels 

Compressed&Natural&Gas&(CNG)&

Source:&Adapted&from&King&and&Webber&2008a;&&

*Adapted&from&King&and&Webber&2008b,&combined&with&data&from&USDOE&2006&

Non9irrigated&biofuels¬&shown&on&plot&above&&
8 

Criticism of Oil and Natural Gas Water 

Use 

Concerns of the so called “permanent 

removal” of water from the effective 

hydrologic cycle. 

Most water used in shale development either 

remains in the formation or returns as 

produced water 

The preferred method for disposal of 

produced water is through permitted Class II 

SWDs 

Argument that this is a different type of 

“consumption” than the evaporation of water 

from a power plant and other types of 

“consumption” 
9 

Balanced Methane Combustion Reaction: 

CH4 + 2O2 ! CO2 + 2H2O

Volume of Water Vapor Produced per Million Cubic Feet of Natural 

Gas: 

10,675 gallons 

 

Need to combust 525 MMCF of natural gas to produce an equivalent 

amount of water (as vapor) used to drill and complete a typical 

Marcellus Shale well

Based on current production trends, it takes an average CHK Marcellus 

Well < 6 months to produce 525 MMCF of Natural Gas 

Natural Gas Combustion: 

Water Vapor Generation 

*&Not&all&natural&gas&that&is&consumed&is&combusted.&&According&to&1995&DOE&Topical&Report,&approximately&3.5%&of&natural&gas&is&used&as&

feedstock&for&ammonia,&methanol,&andðylene&producIon.&
Produced Water 

Reuse: Key 

Considerations 
11 

Produced Water Naming Conventions 

“Produced Water” 

ALL water that is returned to the surface through a well 

borehole 

Made up of water injected during fracture stimulation 

process as well as natural formation water 

Typically is produced for the lifespan of a well (quantities 

vary significantly by play) 

“Flowback” Process 

Term associated with the PROCESS 

Process allows the well to flow back excess fluids and 

sand 

Actual duration of the process varies from well to well 

and play to play 

The distinction of “flowback water” and “produced 

water” has nothing to do with water quality. 

 

ALL “flowback water” IS “produced water”
12 

Water Quality Treatment / Reuse 

Dissolved Parameters ! Blending for Reuse 

Chlorides and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) 

Generally not looking at removal, determines freshwater blending ratios 

Very high TDS increases friction in hydraulic fracturing process (bad) 

Suspended Parameters ! Filtering Prior to Reuse 

Turbidity and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) 

Can determine filtration rates, size of filter, performance 

High solids can plug well and decrease biocide effectiveness 

Other Parameters of Concern 

Residual hydrocarbons (liquid plays) can foul membranes / filters 

Water “hardness” compounds (e.g. Calcium and Magnesium) 

Sulfates can be used by bacteria to create hydrogen sulfide 

Barium can combine with sulfates to create scale* 

High iron can drop out creating emulsions and plugging 

Bacteria is always a concern

“Frac Tanks” on location 

*&Barium&is&only&a&concern&in&presence&of&sulfates&or&other&compounds&that&can&form&scale&
13 

Barnett and Haynesville Produced 

Water Reuse 

Generally&blessed&with&extensive&SWD&infrastructure&in&the&BarneD&and&Haynesville&plays&

Barnett Shale 

Significant increase over time in TDS (50,000 ! 140,000 ppm); 

initial produced water is relatively low

Relatively low TSS, no problem for filtration 

Reusing approx 230,000 gallons in the southern portion of the 

play (currently suspended pending FR testing) 

Haynesville Shale

Immediately after frac, very poor quality water ! high TDS, high 

chlorides, high TSS (~350 ppm) 

High scaling tendency ! high calcium (~8,000 ppm) and high 

magnesium (~500 ppm) 

Unattractive produced water reuse potential but higher quality 

drilling (pit) wastewater being evaluated for reuse 
14 

Eagle Ford Produced Water Reuse 

Potential 

Produced Water Quality 

Relatively good quality, manageable both initially and long term 

Lower TDS increasing slightly over time (10,000 - 70,000 ppm); 

with relatively low chlorides (10,000 - 45,000 ppm)

Lower scaling tendency (low Magnesium, Sulfates, and Barium, 

and moderate Calcium) 

Still early on in evaluation and currently accumulating data 

Quality Shouldn’t be an Impediment to Reuse

Liquid hydrocarbon removal will be a required pre-treatment step 

" DAF (dissolved air floatation) 

" IGF (induced gas floatation) 

" Air emissions associated with treatment must also be evaluated 

Residual gels in produced water must also be managed with 

chemical breakers and filtration 

" Borate levels in produced water must be monitored to prevent 

premature cross-linking of linear gels in next completion 
15 

Marcellus Shale 

Produced Water Reuse 

Marcellus Water Quality 

Immediately after frac, high TDS (40,000 ppm -- 90,000 ppm

with long term > 120,000 ppm) 

However, lower TSS values (~160 ppm) make filtration 

reasonable 

Moderate to high scaling tendency (high Ca, Mg) 

Quality is manageable and attractive for reuse

Currently recycling / reusing nearly 100% of initial 

produced water via simple treatment processes

Filtration and clarification processes 

Reduces produced water disposal volumes by > 95% 

Tremendously successful program 

Remaining fluids (long term produced water, etc) sent to Salt 

Water Disposal wells (as needed)