Prepared for the Ground Water Protection Council

John Veil, Veil Environmental, LLC

April 2015

U.S. Produced Water 

Volumes and Management 

Practices in 2012 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 2 

Table of Contents

Executive Summary......................................................................................................................... 7

Chapter 1 — Introduction............................................................................................................. 12

1.1 Produced Water Volume ............................................................................................... 12

1.2 Produced Water Management...................................................................................... 13

1.3 Purpose of Report.......................................................................................................... 13

Chapter 2 — Produced Water....................................................................................................... 14

2.1 Definition of Produced Water........................................................................................ 14

2.2 Water Plays a Role in Oil and Gas Production ............................................................... 15

2.3 Previous Produced Water Volume Estimates................................................................ 16

2.4 Characteristics of Produced Water................................................................................ 17

2.5 Produced Water Management...................................................................................... 21

Chapter 3 — Approach ................................................................................................................. 28

3.1 Initial Data Collection..................................................................................................... 28

3.2 Additional Data Collection Efforts ................................................................................. 30

3.3 Data Collection for Wells on Federal Lands................................................................... 31

3.4 Distribution of Production between State and Federal Categories .............................. 31

Chapter 4 — Analysis and Results................................................................................................. 32

4.1 Response to Questionnaire............................................................................................ 32

4.2 Data Availability and Completeness.............................................................................. 32

4.3 Data Accuracy and Quality............................................................................................. 33

4.4 Results of Produced Water Volume Analysis................................................................. 35

4.5 Results of Produced Water Management Analysis ....................................................... 41

Chapter 5 — State-by-State Summary.......................................................................................... 46

5.1 Alabama ......................................................................................................................... 47

5.2 Alaska ............................................................................................................................. 49

5.3 Arizona ........................................................................................................................... 51

5.4 Arkansas......................................................................................................................... 53

5.5 California........................................................................................................................ 56

5.6 Colorado......................................................................................................................... 58

5.7 Florida ............................................................................................................................ 62

5.8 Illinois............................................................................................................................. 64

5.9 Indiana ........................................................................................................................... 65

5.10 Kansas ............................................................................................................................ 67

5.11 Kentucky......................................................................................................................... 68

5.12 Louisiana ........................................................................................................................ 70

5.13 Michigan......................................................................................................................... 71
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 3 

5.14 Mississippi...................................................................................................................... 73

5.15 Missouri.......................................................................................................................... 74

5.16 Montana......................................................................................................................... 76

5.17 Nebraska ........................................................................................................................ 78

5.18 Nevada ........................................................................................................................... 79

5.19 New Mexico ................................................................................................................... 81

5.20 New York........................................................................................................................ 82

5.21 North Dakota.................................................................................................................. 84

5.22 Ohio................................................................................................................................ 86

5.23 Oklahoma....................................................................................................................... 88

5.24 Pennsylvania .................................................................................................................. 90

5.25 South Dakota.................................................................................................................. 95

5.26 Tennessee ...................................................................................................................... 97

5.27 Texas .............................................................................................................................. 99

5.28 Utah.............................................................................................................................. 103

5.29 Virginia ......................................................................................................................... 104

5.30 West Virginia................................................................................................................ 106

5.31 Wyoming...................................................................................................................... 107

Chapter 6 — Federal and Tribal Summary.................................................................................. 110

6.1 Federal and Tribal Onshore Lands............................................................................... 110

6.2 Federal Offshore Production ....................................................................................... 111

Chapter 7 — Findings and Conclusions....................................................................................... 112

7.1 Findings........................................................................................................................ 112

7.2 Conclusions.................................................................................................................. 114

Acknowledgments....................................................................................................................... 116

References .................................................................................................................................. 117
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 4 

List of Tables

Table 2-1 — Comparison of Water Needs and Produced Water Generation .............................. 15

Table 2-2 — Total Dissolved Solids Data (mg/L) over Time for Flowback Water from Selected 

Marcellus Shale Wells................................................................................................................... 20

Table 2-3 — Produced Water Minimization Technologies........................................................... 22

Table 2-4 — Produced Water Reuse and Recycle Management Option...................................... 22

Table 2-5 — Produced Water Disposal Methods ......................................................................... 24

Table 2-6 — Produced Water Technologies for Removing Inorganic Chemicals and Salt Content

....................................................................................................................................................... 25

Table 2-7 — Produced Water Technologies for Removing Oil and Grease Content.................... 26

Table 4-1 — Production Summaries for 2012 and 2007 .............................................................. 36

Table 4-2 — Top Ten States in Terms of Water Production in 2012............................................ 37

Table 4-3 — Top Ten States in Terms of Oil Production in 2012.................................................. 37

Table 4-4 — Top Ten States in Terms of Gas Production in 2012 ................................................ 38

Table 4-5 — WORs for States in which Data Allows their Calculation ......................................... 39

Table 4-6 — WGRs for States in which Data Allows their Calculation ......................................... 40

Table 4-7 — Produced Water Management Practices and Volumes........................................... 42

Table 4-8 — Distribution of Water Management Practices in 2012 and 2007 ............................ 44

Table 5-1 — 2012 Production for Alabama .................................................................................. 48

Table 5-2 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Alabama ................................... 48

Table 5-3 — 2012 Production for Alaska ...................................................................................... 50

Table 5-4 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Alaska ....................................... 50

Table 5-5 — 2012 Production for Arizona .................................................................................... 52

Table 5-6 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Arizona ..................................... 52

Table 5-7 — 2012 Production for Arkansas.................................................................................. 53

Table 5-8 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Arkansas................................... 54

Table 5-9 — Comparison of Water Management Practices for Arkansas in 2007 and 2012....... 55

Table 5-10 — 2012 Production for California............................................................................... 56

Table 5-11 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for California ................................ 57

Table 5-12 — 2012 Production for Colorado................................................................................ 59

Table 5-13 — 2012 Produced Water Management Data from COGCC Database........................ 60
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 5 

Table 5-14 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Colorado................................. 61

Table 5-15 — 2012 Production for Florida ................................................................................... 63

Table 5-16 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Florida .................................... 63

Table 5-17 — 2012 Production for Illinois.................................................................................... 64

Table 5-18 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Illinois..................................... 65

Table 5-19 — 2012 Production for Indiana .................................................................................. 66

Table 5-20 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Indiana.................................... 66

Table 5-21 — 2012 Production for Kansas ................................................................................... 67

Table 5-22 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Kansas .................................... 68

Table 5-23 — 2012 Production for Kentucky................................................................................ 69

Table 5-24 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Kentucky................................. 69

Table 5-25 — 2012 Production for Louisiana ............................................................................... 70

Table 5-26 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Louisiana ................................ 71

Table 5-27 — 2012 Production for Michigan................................................................................ 72

Table 5-28 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Michigan................................. 73

Table 5-29 — 2012 Production for Mississippi............................................................................. 73

Table 5-30 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Mississippi .............................. 74

Table 5-31 — 2012 Production for Missouri................................................................................. 75

Table 5-32 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Missouri.................................. 75

Table 5-33 — 2012 Production for Montana................................................................................ 76

Table 5-34 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Montana................................. 77

Table 5-35 — 2012 Production for Nebraska ............................................................................... 78

Table 5-36 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Nebraska ................................ 79

Table 5-37 — 2012 Production for Nevada .................................................................................. 80

Table 5-38 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Nevada ................................... 80

Table 5-39 — 2012 Production for New Mexico .......................................................................... 81

Table 5-40 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for New Mexico ........................... 82

Table 5-41 — 2012 Production for New York............................................................................... 83

Table 5-42 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for New York ................................ 84

Table 5-43 — 2012 Production for North Dakota......................................................................... 85

Table 5-44 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for North Dakota.......................... 85
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 6 

Table 5-45 — 2012 Production for Ohio....................................................................................... 87

Table 5-46 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Ohio........................................ 87

Table 5-47 — 2012 Injection Volumes and Well Count................................................................ 88

Table 5-48 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Oklahoma ............................... 89

Table 5-49 — 2012 Production for Oklahoma.............................................................................. 90

Table 5-50 — 2012 Production for Pennsylvania ......................................................................... 91

Table 5-51 — Detailed Water Management Data for Pennsylvania ............................................ 93

Table 5-52 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Pennsylvania .......................... 94

Table 5-53 – 2012 Production for South Dakota .......................................................................... 96

Table 5-54 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for South Dakota.......................... 96

Table 5-55 — 2012 Production for Tennessee ............................................................................. 97

Table 5-56 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Tennessee .............................. 98

Table 5-57 — 2012 Production for Texas ..................................................................................... 99

Table 5-58 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Texas .................................... 100

Table 5-59 — Injection Volume Estimates from Different Sources............................................ 101

Table 5-60 — 2012 Production for Utah..................................................................................... 103

Table 5-61 — 2013 Produced Water Management Practices for Utah...................................... 104

Table 5-62 — 2012 Production for Virginia ................................................................................ 105

Table 5-63 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Virginia ................................. 105

Table 5-64 — 2012 Production for West Virginia....................................................................... 106

Table 5-65 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for West Virginia........................ 107

Table 5-66 — 2012 Production for Wyoming............................................................................. 108

Table 5-67 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Wyoming .............................. 109

List of Figures

Figure ES-1 — Volumes of Oil, Gas, and Water Produced in 2007 and 2012................................. 8

Figure ES-2 — Water Management Practices by Percentage in 2007 and 2012 ........................... 9

Figure 2-1 — Distribution of Median Saline Formation pH.......................................................... 18

Figure 2-2 — Distribution of Median Formation TDS ................................................................... 19

Figure 4-1 — Water Management Practices by Percentage in 2007 and 2012 ........................... 45
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 7 

Executive Summary

Background

Produced water is water found in the same formations as oil and gas. When the oil and gas flow

to the surface, the produced water is brought to the surface with the hydrocarbons. Produced 

water contains some of the chemical characteristics of the formation from which it was 

produced and from the associated hydrocarbons. Produced water may originate as natural 

water in the formations holding oil and gas or can be water that was previously injected into 

those formations through activities designed to increase oil production from the formations 

such as water flooding or steam flooding operations. In some situations additional water from 

other formations adjacent to the hydrocarbon-bearing layers may become part of the produced 

water that comes to the surface. 

Most wells in unconventional oil and gas formations (e.g., shale, coal bed methane, tight gas 

sands) are stimulated using hydraulic fracturing, through which water is injected under 

pressure into the formation to create pathways allowing the oil or gas to be recovered in a costeffective manner. Immediately following hydraulic fracturing in the well (a frac job), some of 

the injected water returns to the surface and is known as flowback water. After a few weeks, 

the volume of water returning from a fractured well is greatly reduced. At this point, any 

remaining water coming to the surface from the well is called produced water. This study does

not distinguish between volumes of flowback water and produced water generated from 

unconventional wells – all water returning to the surface from oil and gas wells is counted as 

produced water for the sake of volume estimates. 

Produced Water Volume

A 2009 report1 made a national produced water volume estimate for the 2007 calendar year of

21 billion barrels (bbl; 1 bbl = 42 U.S. gallons) per year for the entire United States. This is 

equivalent to a volume of 2.4 billion gallons per day. This new report updates and expands the 

2009 report to provide a current estimate for the volume of produced water generated from all 

onshore and offshore oil and gas production in the United States during the 2012 calendar year. 

The volume estimate represents a compilation of data obtained from state oil and gas and 

environmental agencies as well as from several federal agencies. The total volume of produced 

water estimated for 2012 is about 21.2 billion bbl. 

 

1 Clark, C.E., and J.A. Veil, 2009, Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in the United 

States, ANL/EVS/R-09/1, prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology 

Laboratory, September, 64 pp. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 8 

The data were collected by contacting state oil and gas agencies in the 31 states with active oil 

and gas production and several federal agencies that have jurisdiction over federal onshore and 

offshore lands and tribal lands to obtain detailed information on produced water volumes and 

management. A questionnaire was sent to each state agency. Not all states had readily 

available precise produced water volume figures. In a few states, the agencies had very 

complete data records easily obtainable from online sources. Other states had summary-level 

volume data without much detail or had data available only in in-house data repositories. 

Where complete data were not available, it was necessary to estimate volumes using 

assumptions, alternate data, calculations, and extrapolations. Chapter 5 of the report provides 

state-by-state descriptions of how data were collected, estimated, and compiled. 

In 2012, onshore wells in the 31 states and on federal lands and tribal lands generated 

20,555,884,000 bbl of produced water. Offshore wells contributed another 624,762,000 bbl for 

a total U.S. volume of 21,180,646,000 bbl of produced water in 2012. 

Several states dominated the total produced water volume estimates. Texas, with more than 

7.4 billion bbl, represented 35% of the national total. Other states with produced water 

volumes exceeding 1 billion bbl included California (15%), Oklahoma (11%), Wyoming (11%), 

and Kansas (5%). Texas produced the highest volumes of water, oil, and gas. But the other top 

water-producing states were not necessarily in the highest rankings for oil and gas production. 

Many organizations with an interest in water have assumed that with the large increase in 

unconventional oil and gas production between 2007 and 2012, the total volume of produced 

water generated would climb significantly. However, the data from this report do not bear out 

that assumption. U.S. oil production increased by 29% between 2007 and 2012, and U.S. gas 

production increased by 22% during those years. However, during the same period, U.S. 

water production increased by less than 1%. Figure ES-1 shows the volumes of oil, gas, and 

water in both 2007 and 2012. 

Figure ES-1 — Volumes of Oil, Gas, and Water Produced in 2007 and 2012

It was not possible using these data to make a clear national distinction between water 

produced from conventional wells vs. unconventional wells. Some evidence was available from 

states like Arkansas, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania, each of which had tremendous growth in 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 9 

unconventional oil and gas production between 2007 and 2012. In each state, the increase in 

either oil (North Dakota) or gas (Arkansas and Pennsylvania) was far greater than the increase 

in water. This suggests that, at least in those three states, unconventional wells may 

generate less produced water per unit of hydrocarbon output than conventional wells. 

Some of the states provided separate water volume data for their oil wells and their gas wells. 

This allowed calculation of the amount of water generated for each unit of oil (bbl) or gas 

(Mmcf – million cubic feet). The national weighted average water-to-oil ratio (WOR) was 9.2

bbl of water/bbl of oil, and the national weighted average water-to-gas ratio (WGR) was 97 

bbl of water/Mmcf of gas. Because several states with large numbers of older oil wells that 

produce high proportions of water (e.g., Texas and Oklahoma) were unable to provide data 

that allowed calculation of WORs, the true value for the national weighted average WOR is 

likely to be at least 10 bbl of water/bbl of oil, and probably somewhat higher. The range of 

state values for the WGRs was so large that a weighted average WGR is probably not a 

meaningful number. 

Produced Water Management

Produced water is generated from most of the nearly 1 million actively producing oil and gas 

wells in the United States. Produced water is the largest volume by-product or waste stream 

associated with oil and gas exploration and production. The cost of managing such a large 

volume of water is a key consideration to oil and gas producers. A second focus of this report 

was to compile national-level information on how the large volume of produced water was 

managed by the oil and gas companies. 

Figure ES-2 shows how produced water was managed by percentage in both 2007 and 2012. 

Note that the 2007 report did not include any data on evaporation, offsite commercial disposal, 

or beneficial reuse. Those water management practices were used in 2007, but data were not 

collected for them. The percentages of the produced water management practices shifted 

slightly since 2007, but the major trends remain the same. 

Figure ES-2 — Water Management Practices by Percentage in 2007 and 2012
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 10 

During 2012, most U.S. produced water was injected. About 93% of produced water from 

onshore wells and about 91% of the produced water from all wells was injected underground

(this included water injected for enhanced recovery, water injected for disposal, and water 

sent to offsite commercial disposal). Slightly more than half of that was injected into 

producing formations for enhanced recovery. Slightly less than half of the injected produced 

water was injected to non-commercial and commercial disposal wells. 

About 80% of the produced water from offshore wells was treated on the platform and 

discharged to the ocean. Only about 3% of onshore produced water was discharged. The 

percentage discharged from all wells (onshore and offshore combined) was about 5.6%.

The 2012 data described in this report show that nearly 7% of produced water was managed 

by sending it to an offsite commercial facility, where the water was treated and disposed. 

These are third-party businesses that charge a fee to receive incoming produced water and 

other oil and gas wastes. Water was treated and processed in various ways. Most of these 

facilities managed water by injection into disposal wells. 

About 3.6% of all produced water in 2012 was evaporated. In some arid western states, 

produced water was managed through evaporation from onsite ponds and pits. Several 

commercial facilities managed water by evaporation from large ponds. 

At least 0.6% of the produced water and flowback water in 2012 was put to a beneficial reuse

– it is likely that a higher percentage was reused, but data were not available to quantify the 

amount. Much of the reuse was done by recycling flowback water and produced water to 

make drilling fluids and frac fluids for new wells in the same fields. Other portions of produced 

water may have been used for irrigation (when the water has low salinity) or for dust and ice 

control on roads. 

Data Availability and Quality

Readily available and precise data on produced water volumes were difficult to obtain. It 

took half a year to compile the data needed to prepare the national total estimates in this 

report. We are grateful to the state agencies for taking the time out of their busy schedules to 

provide much of this data. Where data were not available through the state agencies, 

additional efforts were made to estimate water volumes and management practices. The 

assumptions, data sets, and analyses used to develop the estimates are described separately 

for each state in Chapter 5. 

There are institutional factors affecting the accuracy of the raw data and the chain of custody 

from field to agency to database. Nonetheless, this report represents the most complete and 

current effort to estimate U.S. produced water volumes and management practices for 2012

or any other recent year. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 11 

It is apparent that there is no easy way to obtain national estimates of produced water 

volumes. No federal regulatory program or data collection effort requires agencies to track 

produced water volume, and many states have not required submittal of produced water 

information by oil and gas companies. Consequently, when regulatory and data management 

resources are limited, some states do not collect or maintain produced water information. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 12 

Chapter 1 — Introduction

Produced water is water from underground formations that is brought to the surface during oil 

or gas production. Because the water has been in contact with hydrocarbon-bearing 

formations, it contains some of the chemical characteristics of the formations and the 

hydrocarbons. It may include water from the reservoir, water previously injected into the 

formation, and residuals of those chemicals added during the production processes. The 

physical and chemical properties of produced water vary considerably depending on the 

geographic location of the field, the geologic formation, and the type of hydrocarbon product 

being produced. Produced water properties and volume also vary throughout the lifetime of a 

reservoir. 

1.1 Produced Water Volume

The volume of produced water generated from oil and gas wells is very large. Previous national 

produced water volume estimates are in the range of 15 to 21 billion barrels2(= 630 to 882 

billion gallons) per year in the United States (API 1988, 2000; Veil et al. 2004; Clark and Veil 

2009). The first three of those reports did not collect data separately from all states and used 

extensive extrapolation. However Clark and Veil (2009) collected data in a much more 

intensive manner and were able to make a more detailed and reliable estimate (~21 billion bbl 

in the year 2007 or about 2.4 billion gallons per day during that year). To put this volume in 

perspective, the U.S. Geological Survey’s most recent compilation of water usage in the United 

States estimated that water use of all types in the United States in 2010 was estimated to be 

about 355 billion gallons per day (Maupin et al. 2014). Water use for mining purposes, which 

includes oil and gas production, was about 5.3 billion gallons per day. 

The volume of produced water is not documented regularly or consistently in the United States 

or elsewhere in the world. In the United States, the responsibility for managing and regulating 

most aspects of oil and gas development is assigned to individual states, rather than to the 

federal government. Since more than 30 states have oil and gas production within their 

borders, there are more than 30 different sets of regulations, rules, and requirements for 

monitoring and reporting oil, gas, and water volumes from producing wells. These different 

sets of requirements range from reporting of detailed water information for each well to no 

water reporting at all. 

This report estimates the volumes of produced water generated in each state as well as on 

federal lands, including offshore wells in federal waters. The methods used to collect the 

information, any assumptions and analyses used to fill in gaps where necessary, and the 

persons who helped by supplying data are identified in the following pages. 

 

2 1 barrel (bbl) = 42 U.S. gallons. In this report, oil and water volumes are expressed in bbl. Gas volumes 

are expressed in million cubic feet (Mmcf). 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 13 

1.2 Produced Water Management

This report also provides information on how the produced water is managed after it comes to 

the surface and is separated from the oil and gas. Nearly all produced water is managed in the 

following ways:

 Injection to a hydrocarbon-bearing formation to help produce more hydrocarbon

 Injection to a non-hydrocarbon-bearing formation for disposal

 Discharge to surface water bodies

 Evaporation

 Paying a commercial disposal service to take the water and manage it

 Reuse for oil and gas operations (drilling fluids, frac fluids)

 Reuse for other purposes. 

Some states track produce water management closely (e.g., Pennsylvania), but most states do 

not have much information other than injection volumes. 

1.3 Purpose of Report

The last comprehensive study of U.S. produced water volumes and management practices was 

published in 2009. It reflected conditions during the 2007 calendar year. The current report 

revisits the same subjects but for the 2012 calendar year. The results and findings from this 

report represent the newest national level information on produced water available.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 14 

Chapter 2 — Produced Water

This chapter provides information about produced water and produced water management. 

2.1 Definition of Produced Water

Produced water is water found in the same formations as oil and gas. When the oil and gas are 

produced to the surface, the produced water is brought to the surface, too. It can also be 

referred to as “brine” or “saltwater”. Produced water contains some of the chemical 

characteristics of the formation from which it was produced and from the associated 

hydrocarbons. Produced water may originate as natural water in the formations holding oil and 

gas or can be water that was previously injected into those formations through activities 

designed to increase oil production from the formations such as water flooding or steam 

flooding operations. In some situations additional water from other formations adjacent to the 

hydrocarbon-bearing layers may become part of the produced water that comes to the surface. 

Unconventional oil and gas development (particularly those wells drilled in shale formations) 

generates a similar type of water stream referred to as “flowback water”. During a hydraulic 

fracturing operation (often called a frac job), a large volume of water, often several million 

gallons, is injected into the well at very high pressures to create a network of cracks in the 

source rock. These cracks allow the oil and gas to move from the formation into a well where 

they can be produced. After the cracks are created, the pressure is lowered, and a portion of 

the injected water returns to the surface. This process is known as the flowback process, and 

the water that flows initially following a frac job is often called flowback water. Flowback water 

comes to the surface from a well in the first few days to weeks following hydraulic fracturing in 

the well (a frac job). Nearly all of the water classified as flowback water is water that was 

injected during the frac job. 

After a few weeks, the volume of water returning to the surface from an unconventional well 

diminishes and levels off at a considerably lower daily flow rate. However, this lower-flow 

volume of water can continue for many months. This type of water from unconventional wells 

is also known as “produced water.” It may contain some of the original water from the frac 

fluids and may also contain some formation water.3 

Within this study when calculating volume estimates, no distinction was made between 

volumes of flowback water and produced water generated from unconventional wells – all 

water returning to the surface from oil and gas wells was counted as produced water. One 

 

3

Some industry groups prefer to call all water returning to the surface from unconventional oil and gas 

wells “produced water”. They believe that “flowback” refers to a process (flowing water back to the 

surface) and not to the water itself. However, most authors use the two different terms – flowback 

water and produced water. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 15 

exception to this policy of describing flowback water as produced water is found in Section 

5.24. The Pennsylvania oil and gas agency posts separate data about both flowback water and 

produced water management on its website, thereby allowing more detailed analysis of the 

volumes and management practices in that section.

2.2 Water Plays a Role in Oil and Gas Production

Water plays an important role in oil and gas production both as a necessary element to support 

drilling and fracturing and to promote additional production in many formations. Produced 

water is generated from all types of oil and gas wells, although the volume, characteristics, and 

flow rate profile varies quite a bit depending on how the oil and gas are produced. Table 2-1 

shows examples of water needs and produced water generation for each major type of oil and 

gas production. 

Table 2-1 — Comparison of Water Needs and Produced Water Generation 

Type of Oil 

and Gas 

Production

Water Needs for 

Production

Produced Water Generated

Conventional 

Oil and Gas

- Modest needs for drilling, 

and additional need for

some wells that use 

hydraulic fracturing 

- Typically much water is 

needed for enhanced 

recovery as a field matures

- Low volume initially

- Increased volume over time

- High lifetime produced water production

Coalbed 

Methane

- Modest needs for hydraulic 

fracturing

- High produced water volume initially

- Decreases over time

Shale Oil and 

Gas

- Large needs for hydraulic 

fracturing

- Initial flowback rate is high, but quickly drops 

to very low

- Low lifetime flowback and produced water 

production

Heavy Crude - Steam flood to help move 

heavy oil to production wells

- Steam production requires 

very clean water for boiler 

feed

- Much of the wastewater results from the 

injected steam used in steam flooding

Oil Sands - Steam (or water) injection 

used in large volumes

- For in-situ production methods, some water is 

formation water, but much is from the injected 

steam

- Oil sand mining production methods and 

subsequent processing steps also generate 

wastewater
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 16 

2.3 Previous Produced Water Volume Estimates

While one of the purposes of this report is to present a current estimate of produced water 

volumes, it is useful to know previous estimates and the assumptions used in arriving at those 

estimates. Few worldwide estimates have been published. Khatib and Verbeek (2003) 

estimated a global average of 210 million bbl of water produced each day, which resulted in an 

annual estimate for 1999 of 77 billion bbl of produced water. It is not clear how those authors 

derived their estimate. 

Several other reports (typically market analysis reports prepared by consulting firms) include 

estimates of global produced water volumes that are considerably higher than those suggested 

by Khatib and Verbeek, but they do not include any information explaining how they derived 

their estimates. 

Collecting and compiling accurate produced water data within a single country is a challenging 

task, and most nations do not track and compile produced water volumes. Water volumes

must be estimated through various extrapolations and assumptions. Consequently, 

international estimates must be taken as rough approximations. 

U.S. onshore produced water volumes from oil and gas activities were estimated at 21 billion 

bbl in 1985 and 18 billion bbl in 1995 by the American Petroleum Institute (API 1988, 2000) and 

14 billion bbl in 2002 by Veil et al. (2004). Significant additional volumes of produced water are 

generated at U.S. offshore wells. Although those estimates span a wide range, it is likely that 

the different values reflect the methodologies used to create the estimates rather than 

dramatic shifts in actual water volumes. And as is discussed in Chapter 4, the raw data on 

produced water volumes is not precise, nor are the estimation and extrapolation procedures 

used to generate total volumes.

The most recent previous U.S. estimate (Clark and Veil 2009) used a more detailed and 

methodical approach to collecting produced water data. Those authors4contacted each state 

oil and gas agency (about 30 states have oil and gas production) and representatives of federal 

land management agencies to get the best volume estimate possible. The agency responses 

ranged from precise water volumes to partial information that required some extrapolation to 

no data at all. In the latter cases, volumes were estimated using different approaches based on 

hydrocarbon production. The final tally for the 2007 calendar year was nearly 21 billion bbl for 

all U.S. oil and gas production.

Several companies or organizations specializing in market analysis for water and wastewater 

have made future projections of produced water volumes associated with the oil and gas 

industry. The estimates, while differing from one group to another, all predict a steadily

increasing volume of produced water through 2020. The absolute values of the projected 

volumes are less important than the tendency of the volume to increase over time. 

 

4 The author of the current report was a co-author of the 2009 report.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 17 

2.3.1 Industry Changes Since 2007 That May Influence Produced Water Volume

Clark and Veil (2009) used 2007 as the baseline year for their produced water volume estimate. 

During 2007, shale oil and gas development was in the early years of growth as the 

unconventional oil and gas sector expanded from the Barnett Shale in Texas to other active 

plays around the country. Unconventional growth grew dramatically between 2007 and 2012 

(the baseline year for the current study). Tens of thousands of new wells were drilled and 

fractured resulting in substantial volumes of flowback water and ongoing produced water. Oil 

and gas opponents and the media called attention to these water volumes and often made 

questionable claims of their magnitude without having specific valid data to support their 

claims. 

Without doubt, the rapid increase in unconventional oil and gas development has contributed 

considerable water to the national produced water total. What has not been well documented 

in the literature is how much produced water each unconventional well contributes compared 

to each conventional well, and whether new unconventional wells have supplanted older 

conventional wells. 

2.4 Characteristics of Produced Water

The physical and chemical properties of produced water vary considerably depending on the 

geographic location of the field, the geologic formation from which the water was produced, 

and the type of hydrocarbon product being produced. For those sites where waterflooding is 

conducted, the properties and volumes of the produced water may vary dramatically due to the 

injection of additional water into the formation to increase hydrocarbon production. The major 

constituents of concern are:

 salt content (often expressed as salinity, conductivity, or total dissolved solids [TDS]), 

 oil and grease (not a single chemical; the analytical method measures various organic 

compounds associated with hydrocarbons in the formation), 

 inorganic and organic toxic compounds introduced as chemical additives to improve 

drilling and production operations or that leached into the produced water from the 

formation rock or the hydrocarbon, and 

 naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) that leaches into the produced water 

from some formations. 

A study of produced water in the western United States found the oil and grease content to 

range from 40 mg/L to 2,000 mg/L (Benko and Drewes 2008). Another important constituent of 

concern in onshore operations is the salt content of produced water. Most produced waters are 

more saline than seawater. Benko and Drewes (2008) found the TDS concentration of produced 

water in the western United States to vary between 1,000 mg/L and 400,000 mg/L, although 

the median TDS concentration from most formations was less than 100,000 mg/L. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 18 

Another source of information on produced water characteristics is a USGS produced water 

database (http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/prov/prodwat/data2.htm). A version of that database was 

used by Harto and Veil (2011) to evaluate deep saline formations that might be candidates for 

carbon sequestration. A search was performed to obtain data on the chemical composition of 

saline brines (many of the samples are produced water samples) from these formations. 

The data were reviewed and analyzed to help understand the typical conditions that may be 

encountered in deep saline formations used for carbon sequestration. Harto and Veil (2011) 

provided summaries of brine characteristics, with data on pH, TDS, and concentrations of 

several other individual chemical constituents. Figures 2-1 and 2-2 represent the distribution of 

the median pH and TDS across different formations. Figure 2-1 shows that pH was roughly 

normally distributed around a mean between 7 and 7.5. 

Figure 2-1 — Distribution of Median Saline Formation pH

Source: Harto and Veil (2011)

The distribution of median TDS from many formations shows a wider range of values in 

Figure 2-2. 

Produced water from oil production activities often contains constituents in addition to those 

that are naturally found within the formation. Additional water is often needed to maintain 

sufficient pressure in a reservoir for oil production. Produced water may be reused for this 

purpose, but the water may also be supplied from additional sources including groundwater 

and seawater. These additional water sources may contain solids, microorganisms, and other 

constituents that could lead to formation plugging or other damage.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 19 

Figure 2-2 — Distribution of Median Formation TDS (Note that the scale on the axis is neither 

linear nor logarithmic)

Source: Harto and Veil (2011)

To combat scaling and maintain production efficiency, chemical additives such as corrosion and 

scale inhibitors, emulsion breakers, coagulants, and solvents may be used in drilling operations, 

production operations, and separations processing. These additives can become part of the 

produced water and can affect its overall toxicity.

2.4.1 Produced Water Characteristics from Unconventional Wells

The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) defines conventional oil 

and natural gas production as “crude oil and natural gas that is produced by a well drilled into a 

geologic formation in which the reservoir and fluid characteristics permit the oil and natural gas 

to readily flow to the wellbore.” EIA defines unconventional oil and natural gas production as 

“an umbrella term for oil and natural gas that is produced by means that do not meet the 

criteria for conventional production.” Unconventional production or well types are often 

described in somewhat vague terms like those. Functionally, unconventional production 

includes tight oil, tight gas sands, coal bed methane (CBM), and shale gas, among others. For 

the purposes of this report, each state was given the freedom to determine which of its wells 

produced in a conventional or unconventional manner. 

Produced water from CBM production differs from produced water from conventional wells. Oil 

and grease are less of a concern from CBM water than other produced waters. To recover the 

methane in CBM reservoirs, a well is drilled into a coal seam. Water is pumped out rapidly to 

dewater the coal seam and change the hydrostatic pressure. Initially produced water comes to 

the surface at a high rate, but later the flow rate decreases. When the hydrostatic pressure 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 20 

becomes sufficiently low, methane releases from the coal cleats and is produced to the surface 

through the well. 

Characteristics of CBM water that may affect reuse are salinity, sodicity, and to a lesser extent 

iron, manganese, and boron (ALL 2003). Some coal formations from which CBM is produced 

contain water with very low TDS (e.g., Powder River Basin). Some of the Powder River Basin 

water is used for crop irrigation or is discharged to local rivers. Other CBM formations contain 

water with higher TDS (e.g., San Juan Basin) – this water is usually injected to disposal wells.

Shale gas water (including both flowback and produced water) starts out with moderate to high 

TDS, and the TDS increases as time goes along. Each major shale formation has its own range of 

TDS values. Few data have been published on the chemical characteristics of flowback and 

produced water from shale gas wells, especially data that show trends in concentrations over 

time. One interesting reference that shows such data is Hayes (2009). Table 2-2 shows data 

from five Marcellus Shale wells (excerpted from Hayes 2009). It shows the increase in TDS at 1, 

5, 14, and 90 days after each of five wells has been fractured. The column labeled Day 0 

represents the fluid concentration before it is injected into the well. 

Table 2-2 — Total Dissolved Solids Data (mg/L) over Time for Flowback Water from Selected 

Marcellus Shale Wells

Day 0 Day 1 Day 5 Day 14 Day 90

990 15,400 54,800 105,000 216,000

27,800 22,400 87,800 112,000 194,000

719 24,700 61,900 110,000 267,000

1,410 9,020 40,700 no data 155,000

7,080 19,200 150,000 206,000 345,000

Source of data: Hayes (2009)

This suggests that the frac fluid water that does not initially return to the surface remains in 

contact with new rock surfaces created through the fracturing process and is able to dissolve 

certain constituents from the interstitial pores containing highly saline brine (Balashov et al. 

2015). The longer the water remains in contact with the pore spaces, the higher the dissolved 

constituents are likely to be up to some saturation or equilibrium point. For the most extreme 

example from this dataset, look at the 90-day value for the last of the wells. At 345,000 mg/L 

(essentially 345,000 parts per million), more than one-third of that water sample was made up 

of TDS. This approaches the limits of solubility. Other constituents of flowback and produced 

water also show a trend of increasing concentration over time. This makes treatment of the 

later wastewater (produced water) more challenging than treatment of the early flowback 

water.

Acharya et al. (2011) provide flowback characteristic data over time from wells in the Woodford 

Shale. The authors sampled for TDS, total suspended solids, total organic carbon, hardness, 

alkalinity, barium, strontium, sulfate, iron, manganese, boron, and silica. Samples were taken 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 21 

frequently during the first two weeks of flowback and again a few weeks later. Some 

constituents increased over time, while others decreased over time – the concentrations are 

plotted on charts in Acharya et al. (2011). 

2.5 Produced Water Management

The characteristics of produced water vary from location to location and over time. Different 

locales have different climates, regulatory/legal structures, and degrees of existing 

infrastructure. As a result, no single water management technology is used at all locations. 

Many different technology options are available that can be employed at specific locations.

2.5.1 Overview of Produced Water Technologies and Management Practices 

Water management technologies and strategies can be organized into a three-tiered water 

management or pollution prevention hierarchy (i.e., minimization, recycle/reuse, and disposal). 

Examples of technologies and practices for each group are shown in the tables in the following 

sections with comments on the pros and cons of each.

Much of the information in this section was initially compiled as part of a detailed white paper 

on produced water (Veil et al. 2004). A few years later the information was converted into the 

Produced Water Management Information System (PWMIS) website, developed by Argonne 

National Laboratory5for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2007. PWMIS currently is 

housed as part of the website for DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). It was 

moved several times from its initial web location. As of November 2014, fact sheets on many 

produced water management technologies can be found at 

http://www.netl.doe.gov/research/coal/crosscutting/pwmis/tech-desc. 

A more recent written version of produced water technologies can be found in Veil (2011). 

2.5.1.1 Tier 1 – Minimization 

While not directly a produced water management approach, minimizing the volume of 

produced water that is generated to the surface is a way to simplify water management 

operations and costs. In the water minimization tier, processes are modified, technologies are 

adapted, or products are substituted so that less water is generated. When feasible, water 

minimization can often save money for operators and may result in greater protection of the 

environment. Examples of water minimization approaches and technologies are shown in 

Table 2-3.

 

5 The author of this report was the project manager and lead technology content developer for the 

PWMIS website while he was employed at Argonne National Laboratory.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 22 

Table 2-3 — Produced Water Minimization Technologies

Approach Technology Pros Cons

Reduce the 

volume of 

water 

entering the 

wells 

Mechanical 

blocking devices 

(e.g., packers, 

plugs, good 

cement jobs)

These should be used in 

new construction. They 

can be added later on to fix 

some problems.

May not be easy to fix preexisting problems.

Water shut-off 

chemicals (e.g., 

polymer gels)

Can be very effective in 

selected instances, 

primarily in sandstone and 

limestone formations.

Need the right type of 

formation in order to achieve 

cost-effective results.

Reduce the 

volume of 

water 

managed at 

the surface by 

remote 

separation

Dual completion 

wells (downhole 

water sink)

Can be very effective in 

selected instances.

Limited prior use. Makes wells 

more complex.

Downhole 

oil/water 

separation

May be a good future 

technology.

Earlier trials were inconsistent 

and the technology went out of 

favor. New designs and good 

candidate wells are needed to 

bring back this technology.

Sea floor 

separation 

modules

May be a good future 

technology.

Cost is very high. Only a few of 

these have ever been installed.

2.5.1.2 Tier 2 – Recycle/Reuse: For water that cannot be managed through water 

minimization approaches, companies can move next to the second tier, in which produced 

water is reused or recycled. The most common way to reuse produced water is to reinject it 

into a producing formation to enhance production. Reinjection for enhanced recovery occurs 

in tens of thousands of injection wells throughout the United States and elsewhere. Examples 

of water reuse and recycle management options and some of the specific uses are shown in 

Table 2-4.

Table 2-4 — Produced Water Reuse and Recycle Management Option

Management 

Option

Specific Use Pros Cons

Reinjection for 

enhanced 

recovery

Water flood; steam 

flood

Common use of 

produced water for 

onshore conventional 

formations. Usually 

has low cost.

Need to ensure chemical 

compatibility with receiving 

formation.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 23 

Management 

Option

Specific Use Pros Cons

Injection for 

future water 

use

Aquifer storage and 

recovery

Can augment public 

water supplies.

Need to ensure that water 

meets drinking water 

standards before injecting it 

into a shallow aquifer. 

May encounter public 

opposition. Oil and gas 

companies may not choose 

this option due to fear of 

future liability.

Injection for 

hydrological 

purposes

Subsidence control Can help solve a local 

problem (e.g., 

Wilmington Oil Field, 

Long Beach, CA).

Need to ensure chemical 

compatibility with receiving 

formation.

Agricultural use Irrigation; subsurface 

drip irrigation

Can be a great benefit 

to arid areas.

May need to treat the water 

before applying it to the soil or 

add soil supplements. May 

need to choose salt-tolerant 

plant species.

Livestock and wildlife 

watering

Can provide a source 

of water for animals.

Need to ensure that water is 

clean enough to avoid illness 

or other impacts to animals.

Managed/constructed wetlandsProvides a “natural” 

form of treatment. 

Creates a good habitat 

for wildlife.

Large space requirements. 

Needs extensive oversight and 

management. Typically 

limited to water with low to 

moderate salinity.

Industrial use Oil and gas industry 

applications (e.g., 

drilling fluids, frac

fluids)

Can substitute for 

fresh water supplies in 

making new drilling or 

stimulation fluids.

May need treatment in order 

to meet operational 

specifications. 

Power plants May be able to 

supplement cooling 

water sources

Will require treatment. The 

large volumes needed result in 

collection and transportation 

costs.

Other (e.g., vehicle 

wash, fire-fighting, 

dust control on gravel 

roads; road deicing)

Can be a good 

supplemental water 

supply in arid areas.

Will need storage facilities and 

possibly treatment. Concerns 

about water quality impacts 

from runoff after application 

or inappropriate application.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 24 

Management 

Option

Specific Use Pros Cons

Treat to 

drinking water 

quality

Use for drinking water 

and other domestic 

uses

Can help supply water 

to communities in arid 

areas.

Cost to treat may be high. 

Need good quality control. 

May encounter public 

opposition and face concern 

over liability.

It may be more cost-effective 

and energy-conserving to treat 

other water sources like saline 

groundwater rather than 

treating produced water.

2.5.1.3 Tier 3 - Disposal 

When water cannot be managed through minimization, reuse, or recycle, operators must 

dispose of it. Table 2-5 lists water disposal methods.

Table 2-5 — Produced Water Disposal Methods

Technology Pros Cons

Discharge Very common for offshore facilities. 

Offers moderate cost and acceptable 

environmental impact, where 

permitted.

Not approved for most onshore wells. 

Where allowed, requires treatment 

unless the water is high quality, such as 

some CBM effluent. Different treatment 

requirements for discharges into 

different types of water bodies.

Underground 

injection 

(other than 

for enhanced 

recovery)

Very common onshore practice. Tends 

to have low cost. EPA and state 

agencies recognize this as a safe, widely 

used, proven, and effective method for 

disposing of produced water.

Requires presence of an underground 

formation with suitable porosity, 

permeability, and storage capacity. May 

require treatment to ensure that 

injectate does not plug formation. A 

small subset of disposal wells has been 

linked to felt earthquake activity – this is 

an active area of research. 

Transportation costs can be significant.

Evaporation In arid climates, takes advantage of 

natural conditions of humidity, sun, 

and wind. 

Not practicable in humid climates. May 

create air quality and salt deposition 

problems. 

Offsite 

Commercial 

disposal

Companies providing services to oil and 

gas community by accepting and 

disposing water for a fee. Removes 

water treatment burden from the 

operator.

Requires infrastructure (disposal 

facilities and transportation network to 

move water to disposal site). Can be 

costly. Potential for Superfund liability.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 25 

2.5.1.4 Produced Water Treatment Technologies

Prior to disposing of or reusing water, companies may need to employ different treatment 

processes and technologies. The final disposition of the water determines the type and extent 

of treatment. For example, if water is discharged, the parameter of greatest concern can be 

related to either the organic content or the salt content. Onshore discharges must remove 

salinity in addition to oil and grease and other parameters limited by permitting agencies. 

Treatment technologies can be divided into two general categories, depending on which types 

of pollutants are removed. Table 2-6 lists treatment technologies designed to remove salt and 

other inorganics from produced water. 

Table 2-6 — Produced Water Technologies for Removing Inorganic Chemicals and Salt 

Content 

Technology Subcategory Pros Cons

pH 

adjustment,

flocculation,

and 

clarification

N/A This is a common 

pretreatment step to 

remove metals. The 

cost is modest.

This process removes metals but does 

not treat chlorides or TDS. The process 

generates sludge that requires disposal.

Membrane 

processes 

Microfiltration, 

ultrafiltration, 

and 

nanofiltration

They are good 

pretreatment steps 

for more advanced 

processes like RO. 

They operate at lower 

pressure and lower 

cost than RO.

These levels of filtration cannot remove 

most salinity.

Potential for membrane fouling. 

Sensitivity to fluctuating water quality.

Reverse 

osmosis (RO)

RO can remove 

salinity (up to about 

40,000 mg/L TDS. 

Requires pretreatment and regular 

membrane cleaning. Not suitable for 

high-salinity water.

Potential for membrane fouling. 

Sensitivity to fluctuating water quality. 

Moderate to high energy usage and cost.

Other (e.g., 

electrodialysis, 

forward 

osmosis)

May offer future 

treatment 

opportunities.

Have not been used extensively in fullscale oil field treatment systems yet.

Potential for membrane fouling. 

Sensitivity to fluctuating water quality.

Thermal 

Treatment

Distillation Can process highsalinity waters like 

flowback. Generate 

very clean water (can 

be reused).

High energy usage and cost. Generates 

concentrated brine stream that requires 

separate disposal. Potential for scaling.

May require remineralization before 

release or beneficial reuse.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 26 

Technology Subcategory Pros Cons

Evaporation/

Crystallization 

Can treat to a zero 

liquid discharge 

standard. 

High energy usage and cost. Limited 

usage in oil field applications. Potential 

for scaling. Challenges in disposing of 

salt residue. 

Ion 

exchange

N/A Successfully treats low 

to medium salinity 

water (e.g., Powder 

River Basin).

Large acid usage. Resins can foul. 

Challenges in disposing of rinse water 

and spent media (resin). Also ineffective 

on high salinity produced waters.

Capacitive 

deionization

N/A Low energy cost. Limited to treating low salinity waters. 

Limited usage in oil field applications.

Table 2-7 lists treatment technologies designed to remove oil and grease and other organics 

from produced water. 

Table 2-7 — Produced Water Technologies for Removing Oil and Grease Content 

Technology Subcategory Pros Cons

Physical 

separation

Advanced 

separators (e.g., 

inclined plate, 

corrugated plate)

Provide enhanced oil 

capture compared to basic 

oil/water separators

Work well for free oil, but not 

as effective on dispersed and 

soluble oil. Performance can 

be improved by adding 

flocculants.

Hydrocyclone No moving parts results in 

good reliability. Separates 

free oil very well.

Does not work well on 

dispersed and soluble oil.

Filtration Different types of filter 

media and filter operations 

provide a good range of oil 

and grease removal.

Requires regular back-flushing. 

Does not treat most soluble oil.

Centrifuge Provides good separation 

of free and dispersed oil.

More expensive than other 

technologies in this group.

Coalescence N/A Collects small oil droplets 

and forms larger droplets 

that can be more easily 

removed by the other 

technologies.

Limited value for dispersed or 

soluble oil.

Flotation Dissolved air 

flotation, induced 

gas flotation

Removes free and 

dispersed oil. 

Does not remove soluble oil.

Combined 

physical and 

extraction 

processes

Compact 

separators and 

other units.

Can treat to very low oil 

and grease levels.

Not used currently in U.S. 

because its low level of oil and 

grease is not needed to meet 

U.S. regulatory standards. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 27 

Technology Subcategory Pros Cons

Solvent 

extraction

Macro-porous 

polymer 

extraction

Can treat to very low oil 

and grease levels.

Not used currently in U.S. 

because its low level of oil and 

grease is not needed to meet 

U.S. regulatory standards. 

Probably is very costly.

Adsorption Organoclay, 

activated carbon, 

zeolites, 

specialized 

polymers, 

swelling glass. 

Does a good job at 

removing oil and grease. 

Used primarily for 

polishing.

Most types of media cannot be 

reused or regenerated – results 

in large volume of solid waste. 

Oxidation Advanced 

processes using 

combinations of

ozonation, 

cavitation, and 

electrochemical 

decomposition

Creates nearly sterile brine Has high energy input. Limited 

use to date.

 

New produced water technologies and products are being introduced to the marketplace each 

month. Some of them will be adopted by the industry and gain acceptance, while others will 

not. This section provides a sense of the major technology categories in use through 2014, but 

cannot be fully inclusive of every product. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 28 

Chapter 3 — Approach

During preparation of Clark and Veil (2009) the authors contacted state oil and gas agencies in 

the 31 states with active oil and gas production to obtain detailed information on produced 

water volumes and management. State agencies were selected due to their long-term direct 

experience with oil and gas activities in the specific state and the data management systems 

that most states employ for tracking production data. 

3.1 Initial Data Collection

The 2014 study effort attempted to follow the same methodology. Data collection began 

during July 2014. Requests for assistance were sent by email to oil and gas directors or other 

senior managers in each of the 31 states. Those emails included a questionnaire with two 

tables and instructions for completing the tables. A copy of the questionnaire is shown below. 

Similar versions were sent to federal land management agencies.

The Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) is working with John Veil of Veil 

Environmental, LLC to update an often-cited 2009 report that summarized the volume of 

produced water generated by all producers in the United States and described the 

primary ways in which produced water was managed during the 2007 year. 

We plan to rely heavily on state agency data resources as we undertake the study. 

GWPC and Veil Environmental request your assistance in providing information on 

produced water or pointing us to existing data management resources that you already 

use. The following sections describe the types of information we hope to get from each 

state. 

In this study we consider produced water to include water brought to the surface along 

with oil and gas production. This includes flowback water from wells that were recently 

fractured as well as any ongoing water production from the wells over time. 

Part I – Produced Water Volume

1. Please provide information on the volume of produced water generated in your state 

for calendar year 2012. If you do not have fully compiled data for 2012, please provide 

data from the next most recent year for which you do have full data. These data should 

be entered into Table 1, or you can indicate how we can access your state’s electronic 

data management system. Even if you don’t have information on the volume generated, 

but you do have information on the volume reinjected (assuming that most produced 

water from your state is reinjected), that is valuable information too, and should be 

entered in Table 1. To the extent possible, we would like to see the produced water 

volume estimates broken down by the type of hydrocarbon produced by the well as 

shown in Table 1. If you do not have quantitative information on the volume of 

produced water generated, please give us your educated “best estimate” of the volume 

either in absolute volume or in percentages. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 29 

2. Please provide information on the annual volume of each type of hydrocarbon 

produced in your state for 2012 or the next most recent year. This information should be 

entered into the last column of Table 1. 

3. If your state does not keep track of water volumes, please let us know that so we can 

find another way to estimate produced water volumes for your state. 

Table 1 — Produced Water Volume Information

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced 

(bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

Other

Total

Part II – Produced Water Management

4. Please provide information on how produced water was disposed of or otherwise 

managed in your state for calendar year 2012 or the next most recent year. This 

information should be entered into Table 2. Where available, please enter the number 

of wells that manage produced water by each of the management practices. If you do 

not have quantitative information on produced water management practices, please 

give us your educated “best estimate” of the percentage of wells following each 

management practice. 

5. If your state has significant hydrocarbon production in more than one of the 

categories shown in Table 1, and you believe that the produced water from one 

production type is managed differently from another production type, please complete 

separate versions of Table 2 for each of those production types. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 30 

Table 2 — Produced Water Management Practices

Management 

Practice

# Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced 

Water 

Managed by 

That Practice

Injection for 

enhanced recovery

Injection for disposal

Surface discharge

Evaporation

Offsite commercial 

disposal

Beneficial reuse

Other

6. For any produced water entered under the beneficial reuse or other categories, please 

provide, to the extent possible, more details on the actual methods employed. 

7. Please provide the name and contact information for a person representing your 

agency or another agency in your state if produced water data management is not part 

of your agency. We may need to contact that person to clarify the data submittal or ask 

additional questions. 

Contacts: Responses should be sent by email to John Veil at

john@veilenvironmental.com. If you have any questions on how to answer the 

questions, or would prefer to provide information in a different format, please contact 

Mr. Veil at 410-212-0950 or Mike Nickolaus of GWPC at mnickolaus@gwpc.org or 682-

936-2822.

3.2 Additional Data Collection Efforts 

The information requested through the questionnaire represented the desired “wish list.” For 

most of the submitted questionnaires, some data were missing, inconsistent, or unclear. In 

those cases, it was necessary to contact the person who submitted the questionnaire to get 

clarification. 

In some cases, states did not have or were unable to provide the data. In those cases, other 

methods were used. Where possible, other published data on oil and gas agency websites or 

other reports were reviewed to extract relevant data. Chapter 5 includes the specific details of 

data collection for each state.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 31 

3.3 Data Collection for Wells on Federal Lands

In order to account for produced water generated from wells outside of the scope of state oil 

and gas agencies, efforts to obtain production information at the federal level were also 

undertaken. For onshore production activities, the questionnaire described above was sent to 

Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR). This agency 

is the successor to the Minerals Revenue Management Program, which was the relevant agency 

at the time the 2009 report was prepared. 

For offshore data, the DOI’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) were contacted. 

These agencies are the successors to the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which was the 

relevant agency at the time the 2009 report was prepared. 

Discharge data from offshore platforms was obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) Region 9 (California offshore) and Region 10 (Alaska offshore and Cook Inlet). 

The oil and gas production estimates from these federal resources as well as the responses 

from state agencies were compared with available production data from the EIA to identify any 

inconsistencies.

3.4 Distribution of Production between State and Federal Categories

Although oil, gas, and water volume estimates were obtained for onshore federal lands and for 

tribal lands, evidence suggested that these volumes were already being counted through the 

state totals. For example, production on federal land areas within Montana was reported 

through the Montana state total. Likewise, production from tribal areas within the boundaries 

of Oklahoma was reported through the Oklahoma total. 

Since the onshore component of federal and tribal lands was accounted for through the state 

totals, the remaining federal component to quantify was the offshore production from federal 

waters. A few states have some offshore production in state waters (i.e., inshore from the 

Outer Continental Shelf). These production volumes were already included within the state 

totals. To simplify accounting, all onshore production volumes (regardless of the ownership of 

the lands where the wells were located) were considered to be state totals, and all offshore 

production volumes were considered to be federal totals. This is not an exact distribution, but 

it does account for all production and is a practical representation of the data. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 32 

Chapter 4 — Analysis and Results

4.1 Response to Questionnaire

The produced water questionnaire was sent to 31 state oil and gas agencies. Most of the states 

returned a questionnaire with at least some of the boxes completed. For those states that did 

not directly provide the requested information, efforts were made to extract available data 

from accessible reports from oil and gas agency websites. Additional inquiries were made to 

federal land management agencies, the EPA, and several state environmental protection 

agencies to fill in the information gaps. Details on the sources and types of information 

obtained for each state and for federal agencies are included in Chapter 5.

4.2 Data Availability and Completeness

Perhaps the greatest challenge for this study was getting useful and representative data for 

each state that could be combined in a consistent manner to develop national estimates. Some 

states had complete data on water production and management. Other states had information 

on water production but did know how much water was injected or otherwise managed, or vice 

versa. Other states had little or no information at all on water production or management. 

The amount of information available and how readily it can be extracted from large databases 

depend on various factors. First is the requirement to collect the data. While there may be 

general interest from the public, researchers, and the media in how much water is generated 

from oil and gas wells, the state legislatures and agencies may not believe that water 

generation information is a necessity (at least that was the case in the past). Requirements to 

collect and submit information generally must be supported by language in a state law or 

regulation specifying the type and frequency of data collection. Oil and gas volumes are 

measured and reported because the states collect taxes and royalties for each bbl or Mmcf of 

hydrocarbon produced. No such fees are charged for water production – as a result, there is 

less reason for the state agency to require companies to monitor the volumes. Further, 

requiring water volume data collection could be perceived as a regulatory burden on the 

industry. At the federal level, the EIA collects a great deal of information about oil and gas 

production, but does not collect comprehensive data on produced water volumes.

A second factor is what data elements are included in the submitted data. Companies will only 

submit data that are requested by the states and generally use the forms that the agencies 

have created for that purpose. If those forms do not have boxes for certain data elements, 

those data are not provided. For example, some states are able to provide the volume of water 

injected for enhanced recovery separately from the volume injected for disposal. Other states 

could provide only the total injected volume, without specifying the way in which the water 

was injected. In other cases, the forms require entries into specified water management 

categories that may make sense under that state’s regulations, but do not easily match the 

categories requested for this study (e.g., Colorado’s system for determining how water is 

managed). 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 33 

A related issue is determining which agency receives and maintains the desired data. In many 

states, the oil and gas agencies manage most or all of the activities related to oil and gas 

production. However, states may administer some of the Underground Injection Control (UIC)

program well classes (injection wells), the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System 

(NPDES) program (discharges to surface water bodies), or waste recycling and reuse programs 

in an environmental protection agency rather than the oil and gas agency. The initial contacts 

for this study were made to the oil and gas agencies. When it became apparent that relevant 

data were outside those agencies’ jurisdiction, inquiries to additional agencies (including 

several EPA regional offices) were made. 

A third factor is learning how the data are stored and can be accessed. Most states have large, 

sophisticated databases that contain hundreds of data elements in addition to oil, gas, and 

water volumes for each well. Trained IT personnel will know how to query the databases to get 

subsets of information, but oil and gas regulatory staff may not have that knowledge. A few 

states make much of their production data available on public websites. Some states publish 

annual reports that contain information on oil, gas, and water production. These were used for 

several states. 

This study planned to provide consistent data showing differences between water generation 

and management from conventional oil and gas production vs. unconventional production. 

Some states were able to share this type of information, but most of the large oil and gas 

producing states were unable to split the generated water volume by production type. Without 

the contribution of the largest states, a national perspective is not possible. Chapter 5 provides 

separate profiles for three states that experienced a major increase in unconventional activity 

between 2007 and 2012. These include Fayetteville Shale activity in Arkansas, Bakken Shale 

activity in North Dakota, and Marcellus Shale activity in Pennsylvania. 

4.3 Data Accuracy and Quality 

The quality of the data sources used for this report result from various factors. Much of the 

inaccuracy arises from how the raw water volume data are measured, how frequently they are 

measured, and what types of quality control measures are employed as data moves from field 

measurement to entry on a form to transcription of the form data into a database. 

Commodities with some economic value (e.g., oil and gas), may be measured with a calibrated 

flow meter. Water volume, on the other hand, is typically measured in a less rigorous manner. 

Water volume can be measured by comparing relative heights in a tank, by pump capacity and 

running time, or by bucket and stopwatch, among other methods. These methods give results 

that have some relationship to true volume, but are not precise. As noted above, unless a 

regulatory agency sees a need to quantify water volumes with high accuracy, the data will 

remain as rough approximations. 

In most onshore oil field applications, water volume is not monitored continuously. Estimates 

are made based on intermittent readings and are combined to generate a composite estimate. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 34 

When flows are consistent and ongoing, those estimates should be more accurate than when 

flows are irregular and variable in volume. 

Field water volume estimates must be entered onto log sheets then later summed and 

transferred to agency forms. There are opportunities for typos at this stage, as well as in the 

agencies, when the forms are transcribed into the agencies’ databases. It is also possible to 

find inconsistent usage of units (gallons, bbl, mcf,

6 Mmcf). More agencies are moving to 

electronic submittal of forms, which can eliminate at least one level of manual transcription.

The data provided by the state agencies (as described in Chapter 5) usually showed volumes 

expressed to the individual bbl or Mmcf. Accuracy at this level could not be validated for this 

report. Rounding, as is done in the tables in this chapter, also adds a small degree of error. The 

impact of small percentage differences is described with actual data in the state summary for 

Texas in Chapter 5.

When the agency personnel extract data from their databases, they need to use certain 

assumptions to form their queries. Those personnel tried to provide data that matched the 

questionnaires requests as closely as possible, but may have inadvertently included additional 

information or omitted relevant information. There is no way of knowing how those queries 

were made, so in most cases, the data were accepted at face value. During a final review 

period, several states revised their initial volume estimates with major changes in the numbers. 

Apparently the initial estimates were incomplete or had used inaccurate assumptions or 

queries to the state databases. 

For many of the states, it was necessary to start with the data from their questionnaires and 

extrapolate or otherwise modify or supplement the agency data. Every time those processes 

were used, the author applied certain assumptions and made calculations, which are described 

in the state-by-state summaries in Chapter 5. Hopefully those assumptions and calculations 

were done wisely, but the end result does reflect the author’s own choices – another author 

may have chosen different assumptions and made different analyses. 

In a few states, the volume of water managed greatly exceeded the volume of water generated. 

Much of that incremental volume was attributable to additional sources of makeup water used 

for enhanced recovery operations. Where it was possible to separate out the makeup water, 

this report does that. In at least two states (New York and Wyoming), the opposite situation 

occurred – the volume of water generated greatly exceeded the volume managed. This 

situation can arise when the oil and gas agency does not have responsibility for all types of 

water management practices used in that state and does not have any knowledge of how large 

portions of the water are actually managed.

 

6 The unit mcf represents thousand cubic feet. Some of the data submitted by the agencies used units 

of mcf. Every effort was made to convert those volumes to Mmcf for consistency.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 35 

All of the factors described in sections 4.2 and 4.3 contribute to the magnitude and precision of 

the final data used in this report. Inevitably the values shown in the following tables are 

estimates with some degree of error or uncertainty surrounding them. Error bars or standard 

deviations were not calculated for the data using formal statistical analysis. The inherent 

imprecision of the data sources does not allow that sort of detailed comparison. However, 

despite that imprecision, the data do provide a useful snapshot of water generation and 

management in 2012. 

4.4 Results of Produced Water Volume Analysis

In 2012, U.S. onshore and offshore oil and gas production activities generated 21,180,646,000 

bbl of produced water along with 2,264,241,000 bbl of oil (includes condensate) and 

29,730,000 Mmcf of gas. Table 4-1 provides oil, gas, and water production information for each 

state and for federal offshore wells for 2012. The comparable data for 2007 (from Clark and 

Veil 2009) are also shown in the columns on the right side of the table. As noted in section 3.4, 

production from federal onshore wells and tribal wells was included in the state totals. In 2007, 

tribal water production was estimated separately. However, for 2012, this report assumes that 

tribal oil, gas, and water production were included in the totals for the states in which the tribal 

lands are located. Any state offshore production was included within the state totals. 

4.4.1 Comparison to 2007 Volumes

U.S. oil production increased by 29% between 2007 and 2012, and U.S. gas production 

increased by 22% during the same period. However, U.S. water production increased by less 

than 1% between 2007 and 2012. Keeping in mind the caveats expressed in the previous 

sections, the 2012 water volume was not measurably different from the 2007 volume. 

These observations are quite important in light of the huge proliferation of oil and gas 

production from unconventional wells (particularly from shale plays) that have transformed the 

U.S. oil and gas market over the past decade. Much of that growth occurred during the period 

of 2007 to 2012. Many persons in the media and those outside the oil and gas industry 

assumed that the large increases in oil and gas production would lead to great increases in 

water production. However, the data collected for this study do not support that premise. 

4.4.2 Top Producing States

Oil, gas, and water were not uniformly generated in all oil and gas producing states during 

2012. Table 4-2 shows the ten states (or as appropriate, the federal offshore portion) with 

highest production of water. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 36 

Table 4-1 — Production Summaries for 2012 and 2007

State

Oil 2012 

(bbl/yr)

Gas 2012 

(Mmcf/yr)

Water 2012 

(bbl/yr)

Oil 2007 

(bbl/yr)

Gas 2007 

(Mmcf/yr)

Water 2007 

(bbl/yr)

Alabama 11,310,000 216,000 106,619,000 5,028,000 285,000 119,004,000

Alaska 192,368,000 3,182,000 769,153,000 263,595,000 3,498,000 801,336,000

Arizona 51,900 116 81,000 43,000 1,000 68,000

Arkansas 6,568,000 1,137,000 184,867,000 6,103,000 272,000 166,011,000

California 197,749,000 174,000 3,074,585,000 244,000,000 312,000 2,552,194,000

Colorado 49,361,000 1,709,000 358,389,000 2,375,000 1,288,000 383,846,000

Florida 2,171,000 19,000 62,641,000 2,078,000 2,000 50,296,000

Illinois 8,908,000 2,100 99,142,000 3,202,000 no data 136,872,000

Indiana 2,350,000 8,800 57,566,000 1,727,000 4,000 40,200,000

Kansas 43,743,000 299,000 1,061,019,000 36,612,000 371,000 1,244,329,000

Kentucky 3,198,000 106,000 19,689,000 3,572,000 95,000 24,607,000

Louisiana 82,781,000 3,347,000 927,635,000 52,495,000 1,382,000 1,149,643,000

Michigan 7,400,000 130,000 117,000,000 5,180,000 168,000 114,580,000

Mississippi 24,146,000 437,000 231,236,000 20,027,000 97,000 330,730,000

Missouri 175,000 12,000 2,103,000 80,000 no data 1,613,000

Montana 26,495,000 67,000 182,833,000 34,749,000 95,000 182,266,000

Nebraska 2,514,000 1,200 58,641,000 2,335,000 1,000 49,312,000

Nevada 368,000 4 5,865,000 408,000 0 6,785,000

New Mexico 85,340,000 1,252,000 775,930,000 59,138,000 1,526,000 665,685,000

New York 360,000 27,000 510,000 378,000 55,000 649,000

North Dakota 243,272,000 259,000 291,147,000 44,543,000 71,000 134,991,000

Ohio 5,063,000 86,000 5,542,000 5,422,000 86,000 6,940,000

Oklahoma 92,988,000 2,023,000 2,325,153,000 60,760,000 1,643,000 2,195,180,000

Pennsylvania 4,300,000 2,260,000 34,089,000 1,537,000 172,000 3,912,000

South Dakota 1,754,000 15,000 5,296,000 1,665,000 12,000 4,186,000

Tennessee 372,000 6,000 1,480,000 350,000 1,000 2,263,000

Texas 608,213,000 8,137,000 7,435,659,000 342,087,000 6,878,000 7,376,913,000

Utah 30,195,000 491,000 166,945,000 19,520,000 385,000 148,579,000

Virginia 9,700 146,000 3,232,000 19,000 112,000 1,562,000

West Virginia 2,561,000 539,000 13,772,000 679,000 225,000 8,337,000

Wyoming 45,382,000 2,079,000 2,178,065,000 54,052,000 2,253,000 2,355,671,000

State Total 1,781,467,000 28,167,000 20,555,884,000 1,273,759,000 21,290,000 20,258,560,000

Federal Offshore 482,774,000 1,563,000 624,762,000 467,180,000 2,787,000 587,353,000

Tribal Lands Included in state data no data no data 149,261,000

Federal Total 482,774,000 1,563,000 624,762,000 476,693,000 3,084,000 736,614,000

U.S. Total 2,264,241,000 29,730,000 21,180,646,000 1,750,452,000 24,374,000 20,995,174,000
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 37 

Table 4-2 — Top Ten States in Terms of Water Production in 2012

Ranking State 2012 Water 

(bbl/yr)

% of Total 

Water

1 Texas 7,435,659,000 35

2 California 3,074,585,000 15

3 Oklahoma 2,325,153,000 11

4 Wyoming 2,178,065,000 10

5 Kansas 1,061,019,000 5

6 Louisiana 927,635,000 4

7 New Mexico 769,153,000 4

8 Alaska 624,762,000 3

9 Federal Offshore 358,389,000 2

10 Colorado 320,191,000 2

Tables 4-3 and 4-4 show the same rankings for oil and for gas. 

Table 4-3 — Top Ten States in Terms of Oil Production in 2012

Ranking State 2012 Oil 

(bbl/yr)

% of Total 

Oil

1 Texas 608,213,000 26.9

2 Federal Offshore 482,774,000 21.3

3 North Dakota 243,272,000 10.7

4 California 197,749,000 8.7

5 Alaska 192,368,000 8.5

6 Oklahoma 92,988,000 4.1

7 New Mexico 85,341,000 3.8

8 Louisiana 82,781,000 3.7

9 Colorado 49,361,000 2.2

10 Wyoming 45,382,000 2.0

Texas was the largest producer of all three fluids. It generated 35% of all the U.S. produced 

water, and produced about 27% of all U.S. oil and gas. It was the only state that ranked in the 

top five for all three fluids. No other state approached those high percentages, with the 

possible exception of the federal offshore wells that produced 21% of all U.S. oil. 

The sum of the top five states in each category made up well over half of the total U.S. volume 

(76% for water, 76% for oil, and 64% for gas). No state ranked in the top five in all three 

categories other than Texas. Looking at the other top five water producing states: 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 38 

 California was 2nd in water production, 4th in oil production, and not in the top ten for gas 

production.

 Oklahoma was 3rd in water production, 6th in oil production, and 6th in gas production.

 Wyoming was 4th in water production, 10th in oil production, and 5th in gas production.

 Kansas was 5th in water production, but was not in the top ten for oil or for gas 

production.

Table 4-4 — Top Ten States in Terms of Gas Production in 2012

Ranking State 2012 Gas 

(bbl/yr)

% of 

Total Gas

1 Texas 8,137,000 27.4

2 Louisiana 3,347,000 11.3

3 Alaska 3,182,000 10.7

4 Pennsylvania 2,260,000 7.6

5 Wyoming 2,079,000 7.0

6 Oklahoma 2,023,000 6.8

7 Colorado 1,709,000 5.7

8 Federal Offshore 1,563,000 5.3

9 New Mexico 1,252,000 4.2

10 Arkansas 1,137,000 3.8

Clark and Veil (2009) found that the same five states made up the list of top five for water 

production. In 2007, those states contributed 75% of the national produced water volume. In 

2012, those states contributed 76% of the total national produced water volume. 

4.4.3 Ratio of Water to Hydrocarbon

In addition to total volumes produced, it is interesting to consider the water-oil-ratios (WORs)

and water-to-gas ratios (WGRs) from production activities. The WORs and WGRs calculated 

here represent the ratio of water and hydrocarbons in the fluids produced to the surface and 

do not necessarily represent fluid proportions remaining in the reservoir.

Many of the states were unable to provide water volumes from oil wells separately from water 

volumes from gas wells, making calculation of WORs and WGRs impossible. Tables 4-5 and 4-6 

show water-to-hydrocarbon ratios from those states where produced water data could be 

provided according to the predominant hydrocarbon produced at a specific location. The 

bottom row of each table shows a calculated weighted average WOR or WGR that takes each 

state’s actual production volumes into account. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 39 

Table 4-5 — WORs for States in which Data Allows their Calculation

State

Crude Oil 

(bbl/year)

Water from 

Oil (bbl/year) WOR

Alabama 11,310,000 37,858,000 3.3

Alaska 192,368,000 768,133,000 4.0

Arizona 51,900 66,700 1.3

Arkansas 6,567,600 174,614,000 26.6

California 197,749,000 3,071,362,000 15.5

Illinois 8,908,000 105,268,000 11.8

Indiana 2,350,000 48,931,000 20.8

Kansas 43,743,000 971,009,000 22.2

Michigan 7,400,000 25,000,000 3.4

Mississippi 24,146,000 228,069,000 9.4

Missouri 175,000 2,103,000 12.0

Montana 26,495,000 179,085,000 6.8

Nebraska 2,514,000 57,873,000 23.0

Nevada 368,000 5,865,000 15.9

New Mexico 85,341,000 674,902,000 7.9

New York 360,000 208,000 0.6

North Dakota 243,272,000 284,426,000 1.2

Ohio 5,063,000 4,860,000 1.0

South Dakota 1,754,000 5,296,000 3.0

Virginia 9,700 54,400 5.6

Wyoming 45,382,000 1,646,601,000 36.3

Total Volume 905,327,200 8,291,584,100

Weighted 

Average WOR 9.2

Suitable data were available for 21 states. The WORs ranged from 0.6 bbl/bbl for New York to 

36.3 bbl/bbl for Wyoming. The weighted average for those states with suitable data sets was 

9.2 bbl/bbl. Two of the key water producing states (Texas and Oklahoma) were unable to 

distinguish the water generated from oil wells vs. water coming from gas wells. Both of those 

states have large numbers of older wells from mature fields that typically have very high WORs 

(much higher than the weighted average). It is very likely that if the wells from those states 

were averaged in with the wells from the other states in Table 4-5, the national weighted 

average WOR would be higher than 10 bbl/bbl. 

WOR data from North Dakota were particularly interesting. The WOR for conventional oil was 

6.2 bbl/bbl. The WOR for unconventional oil was just 0.6 bbl/bbl. The combined WOR for both 

types of oil (the value shown in Table 4-5) was 1.2 bbl/bbl. Unconventional oil made up 91% of 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 40 

all oil produced in North Dakota, yet it generated only 46% of the water from oil wells. North 

Dakota’s unconventional oil production from the Bakken Shale generated less water per unit of 

hydrocarbon than did the conventional production. 

Table 4-6 — WGRs for States in which Data Allows their Calculation

State

Total Gas 

(Mmcf)

Water from 

Gas 

(bbl/year)

WGR

Alabama 216,000 68,761,000 318

Alaska 3,182,000 1,019,000 0.3

Arizona 116 14,200 122.4

Arkansas 1,137,000 10,253,000 9.0

California 174,000 3,222,000 18.5

Indiana 8,800 8,635,000 981.3

Kansas 299,000 90,010,000 301.0

Michigan 130,000 92,000,000 707.7

Mississippi 437,000 3,167,000 7.2

Montana 67,000 3,748,000 55.9

Nebraska 1,200 769,000 640.8

New Mexico 1,252,000 101,028,000 80.7

New York 27,000 301,000 11.1

North Dakota 259,000 6,721,000 25.9

Ohio 86,000 682,000 7.9

Virginia 146,000 3,177,000 21.8

Wyoming 2,079,000 531,464,372 255.6

Total Volume 9,501,116 924,971,572

Weighted 

Average WGR 97

Suitable data were available for 17 states. The WGRs ranged from 0.3 bbl/Mmcf for Alaska to 

981 bbl/Mmcf for Indiana – a very broad range. The weighted averaged for those states with 

suitable data sets was 97 bbl/Mmcf. 

A few states had WGR data calculated separately for conventional gas and unconventional gas. 

Arkansas, Kansas, and New Mexico showed similar WGRs for conventional vs. unconventional 

production. Alabama showed a much higher WGR for CBM production (727 bbl/Mmcf) than for 

conventional gas (21 bbl/Mmcf). Virginia showed the same trend (22 bbl/Mmcf for CBM 

production and 2 bbl/Mmcf for conventional gas). Indiana and Wyoming showed higher WGRs 

for conventional production than for unconventional production (Indiana – 31,981 vs. 916

bbl/Mmcf; Wyoming – 392 vs. 42 bbl/Mmcf). As demonstrated from these examples, not all 

unconventional production has comparable water production and WGRs. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 41 

4.5 Results of Produced Water Management Analysis

Efforts were made to obtain detailed data on how produced water was managed for each state 

and in the federal offshore areas in 2012. Some states provided complete data, others 

provided partial data, and a few were unable to share any information on how produced water 

was managed. Table 4-7 shows a state-by-state breakout of how water was managed and the 

volumes managed in each category. 

Some of the cells in Table 4-7 and elsewhere in this report contain entries other than positive 

numbers. “0” was used to represent that there was none of the quantity or volume designated 

for the cell (e.g., there was no evaporation used for water management in that state). “No 

data” was used to represent that no information was provided by the agency to allow entry of a 

number. “Uncertain” was used for cases when it was known or probable that there could be an 

entry for that cell, but the agency did not have information to quantify the number (e.g., 

several states believed that flowback water was being reused, but they had no data that 

tracked the volume). 

In some situations, water generated in one state may have been subsequently managed in 

another state. One good example is that a large volume of flowback and produced water 

generated from wells in Pennsylvania was transported to disposal wells in Ohio. The Ohio 

volume for water managed greatly exceeded the volume of produced water generated in the 

state. Much of the incremental volume came from Pennsylvania. 

The total volume of produced water managed in 2012 is estimated to be 20,609,274,000 bbl. 

The total volume of water managed was somewhat lower than the total volume of water 

generated. In part, this reflects the lack of information on how some of the produced water 

was managed. Nevertheless, accounting for 97% of the water generated is useful and shows 

the major trends. Discussion of the different water management practices is found in 

Section 4.5.2.

4.5.1 Comments and Caveats on Water Management

Data concerning the most common management practice (injection) was available from most 

states, since the oil and gas agencies typically managed the Class II UIC programs. For those 

states without Class II primacy, data were requested from the EPA regional offices. 

Many states were able to provide separate volume estimates for the water injected for 

enhanced recovery vs. the water injected to disposal wells. Unfortunately, some of the states 

with large injection volumes (Texas and New Mexico as well as the federal offshore) were 

unable to distinguish between the volumes injected for enhanced recovery and disposal. To 

make the data set as complete as possible, it was necessary to use some assumptions and 

analyses to allocate water to the two types of injection. A procedure for this is described in 

section 5.27.1 for Texas. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 42 

Table 4-7 — Produced Water Management Practices and Volumes

State

Injection for 

Enhanced 

Recovery

(bbl/yr) 

Injection for 

disposal 

(bbl/yr)

Surface 

discharge 

(bbl/yr)

Evaporation 

(bbl/yr)

Offsite 

Commercial 

Disposal 

(bbl/yr)

Beneficial 

Reuse 

(bbl/yr)

Total Prod 

Water 

Managed 

(bbl/yr)

Alabama 2,000,000 38,451,000 66,102,000 0 66,000 0 106,619,000

Alaska 652,028,000 84,662,000 32,463,000 0 0 0 769,153,000

Arizona 0 98,000 0 0 0 0 98,000

Arkansas 41,385,000 141,269,000 0 0 213,000 2,000,000 184,867,000

California a

1,412,090,000 623,012,000 60,298,000 649,184,000 283,750,000 46,251,000 3,074,585,000

Colorado 123,855,000 123,890,000 40,315,000 35,002,000 22,392,000 47,648,000 393,102,000

Florida 47,676,000 14,965,000 0 0 0 0 62,641,000

Illinois 105,268,000 no data no data no data no data no data 105,268,000

Indiana 43,131,000 14,377,000 58,000 0 0 0 57,566,000

Kansas 276,299,000 784,721,000 0 0 0 uncertain 1,061,020,000

Kentucky 18,597,000 1,092,000 no data no data no data no data 19,689,000

Louisiana 31,336,000 857,417,000 0 0 38,881,000 0 927,634,000

Michigan 17,000,000 100,000,000 0 0 uncertain uncertain 117,000,000

Mississippi 127,180,000 104,056,000 0 0 0 0 231,236,000

Missouri 1,748,000 354,000 0 0 0 0 2,102,000

Montana 106,797,000 56,536,000 19,500,000 no data no data no data 182,833,000

Nebraska 34,368,000 18,760,000 0 5,476,000 0 0 58,604,000

Nevada 0 4,743,000 0 0 0 0 4,743,000

New Mexico b

381,160,000 381,160,000 0 0 0 0 762,320,000

New York 27,000 1000 uncertain 0 uncertain uncertain 28,000

North Dakota 52,484,000 161,978,000 0 0 76,685,000 0 291,147,000

Ohio c

605,000 14,157,000 0 0 0 756,000 15,518,000

Oklahoma 1,098,312,000 1,087,080,000 0 0 139,760,000 0 2,325,152,000

Pennsylvania 0 4,220,000 780,000 0 0 29,082,000 34,082,000

South Dakota 3,025,000 2,271,000 0 0 0 0 5,296,000

Tennessee 0 0 0 1,480,000 0 0 1,480000

Texas d

3,717,830,000 2,922,805,000 371,178,000 0 795,025,000 uncertain 7,806,838,000

Utah 71,535,000 85,534,000 11,589,000 0 12,968,000 uncertain 181,626,000

Virginia 0 3,232,000 0 0 0 0 3,232,000

West Virginia e 3,660,000 3,876,000 2,846,000 0 3,391,000 uncertain 13,773,000

Wyoming 855,756,000 312,944,000 uncertain uncertain uncertain uncertain 1,168,700,000

State Total 9,225,152,000 7,947,716,000 605,129,000 691,142,000 1,373,131,000 125,737,000 19,967,952,000

Federal 

Offshore b

62,703,000 62,703,000 515,916,000 0 0 0 641,322,000

Federal Total 62,703,000 62,703,000 515,916,000 0 0 0 641,322,000

U.S. Total 9,287,855,000 8,010,364,000 1,121,045,000 691,142,000 1,373,131,000 125,737,000 20,609,274,000
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 43 

Notes for Table 4-7: Full explanations of the values in each cell are found in Chapter 5. A few key points are 

highlighted here.

a California did not specify how much water was beneficially reused. California combined all water not managed 

by injection, discharge, evaporation, or commercial disposal as “Other”. Presumably, much of the “Other” water 

was beneficially reused, and is shown in that category here.

b New Mexico and the Federal Offshore did not segregate water injected for enhanced recovery from water 

injected for disposal. This report assumes that 50% of the total injected water was managed by each method.

c Much of the water injected for disposal in Ohio was sent to offsite commercial wells. Ohio did not provide 

separate volumes for commercial vs. non-commercial injection.

d Texas did not segregate injected water similar to New Mexico and Federal Offshore (note b). For Texas, 50% of 

the total injected water was assigned to injection for enhanced recovery. The other 50% was injection for disposal, 

but part of that total was assigned to the offsite commercial disposal column. 

e West Virginia managed water from CBM wells by land application. This volume is shown under the Discharge 

category.

Some states reported a large volume of water injected for enhanced recovery. They 

acknowledged that the total water consisted of some produced water and some makeup water 

from other sources. Where it was possible to segregate these water types, the data were 

adjusted accordingly. The data collected during preparation of this report indicated that the 

total water injected for enhanced recovery included 9,287,855,000 bbl of produced water and 

572,825,000 bbl of makeup water from some other source. 

Data on water management practices other than injection were less robust. Availability of 

detailed data varied among states. Wyoming and New York reported a much higher volume of 

generated produced water than the volume managed. Those oil and gas agencies did not have 

information on how the produced water was managed.

4.5.2 Comparison between 2012 and 2007

Table 4-8 provides a comparison of the volumes and percentages of water managed in 2012 

and 2007 from both onshore and offshore wells. This analysis assumes that all water shown for 

the states comes from onshore wells and all water shown for federal comes from offshore 

wells. While not fully accurate, the assumption is a reasonable approximation. 

The 2012 water management data were more complete than the comparable data compiled in 

2007. The 2007 data showed “no data” for all water management categories in eight states, 

whereas the 2012 data showed at least some water management data for all 31 states. Further 

the 2012 water management data set contained more management categories than did the 

2007 data set. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 44 

Table 4-8 — Distribution of Water Management Practices in 2012 and 2007

Injection for 

Enhanced 

Recovery

(bbl/yr) 

Injection for 

disposal 

(bbl/yr)

Surface 

discharge 

(bbl/yr)

Evaporation 

(bbl/yr)

Offsite 

Commercial 

Disposal 

(bbl/yr)

Beneficial 

Reuse 

(bbl/yr)

Total Prod 

Water 

Managed 

(bbl/yr)

2012

Onshore Total 9,225,152,000 7,947,716,000 605,129,000 691,142,000 1,373,131,000 125,737,000 19,968,007,000

% 46.2 39.8 3.0 3.5 6.9 0.6 100.0

Offshore Total 62,703,000 62,703,000 515,916,000 0 0 0 641,322,000

% 9.8 9.8 80.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0

U.S. Total 9,287,855,000 8,010,364,000 1,121,045,000 691,142,000 1,373,131,000 125,737,000 20,609,274,000

% 45.1 38.9 5.4 3.4 6.7 0.6 100.0

2007

Onshore Total 10,676,530,000 7,144,071,000 139,002,000 No data No data No data 17,959,603,000

% 59.4 39.8 0.8 No data No data No data 100.0

Offshore Total 48,673,000 1,298,000 537,381,000 No data No data No data 587,353,000

% 8.3 0.2 91.5 No data No data No data 100.0

U.S. Total 10,725,203,000 7,145,369,000 676,383,000 No data No data No data 18,546,955,000

% 57.8 38.5 3.6 No data No data No data 100.0

In 2012, about 93% of the water from onshore wells was injected. 46% was injected for 

enhanced recovery, 40% was injected into non-commercial injection wells, and 7% was injected 

into commercial disposal wells. About 3% was discharged, 3.5% was evaporated, and 0.6% was 

beneficially reused. The 2007 data showed a higher percentage of water injected for enhanced 

recovery. That is somewhat misleading because the 2007 data included all water injected for 

enhanced recovery (both produced water and makeup water), whereas the 2012 data were 

adjusted for several states to show just the produced water portion of the water injected for 

enhanced recovery. As another complicating factor, the allocation of injected water in Texas 

between enhanced recovery and disposal was different in 2007. Because Texas made up more 

than one third of all the water managed, any shift in allocation would change the final results.

In 2012, about 80% of the produced water from offshore wells was discharged. The remaining 

20% was injected. The percentage of offshore produced water injected in 2012 was 

considerably higher than in 2007. Since no information was available for federal wells to 

determine the percentage of water injected for enhanced recovery vs. for disposal, it was 

assumed that 50% of the injected produced water went to each type of injection well. Much of 

the injected water total was attributable to offshore wells in the federal waters off of California. 

Figure 4-1 graphically compares how produced water was managed by percentage between 

2007 and 2012. Note that the 2007 data did not include any evaporation, offsite commercial 

disposal, or beneficial reuse. Those water management practices were used in 2007, but data 

were not collected for them. The percentages of the produced water management practices 

shifted slightly since 2007, but the major trends remain the same. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 45 

Figure 4-1 — Water Management Practices by Percentage in 2007 and 2012

When the 2012 onshore and offshore data are combined to give the U.S. total, the results are:

 90.6% of the produced water was injected (45.1% was injected for enhanced recovery, 

38.9% was injected at non-commercial disposal wells, and 6.7% was injected at offsite 

commercial disposal facilities).

 5.4% was discharged.

 3.6% was evaporated, primarily in several arid western states, from onsite ponds and 

pits. 

 7% was managed by sending it to offsite commercial facilities, where the water was 

treated and disposed. These are third-party businesses that charge a fee to receive 

incoming produced water and other oil and gas wastes. Water was treated and 

processed in various ways. Most of these facilities managed water by injection into 

disposal wells. Nearly all of the water managed at offsite commercial facilities in states 

other than Colorado and Utah was injected into disposal wells (estimated at 98%). Most 

of the water sent to commercial facilities in those two states (~2%) was evaporated. For 

the sake of calculating national totals in this report, all water managed at commercial 

disposal facilities was considered as having been injected.

 0.6% was put to some beneficial reuse other than injection for enhanced recovery 

(which is a legitimate way to reuse produced water for a beneficial value). The actual 

percentage was probably higher than this, but it was not quantified for most states 

during 2012. Much of the reuse was done by recycling flowback water and produced 

water to make drilling fluids and frac fluids for new wells in the same fields. Other 

portions of produced water may be used for irrigation (when the water has low salinity) 

or for dust and ice control on roads. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 46 

Chapter 5 — State-by-State Summary

This chapter provides a summary of the data received for each state, including the agency that

provided it and when it was received. For those states that submitted completed 

questionnaires, copies of Tables 1 and 2 from the questionnaire are shown. In some instances, 

modifications were made to the states’ numbers – those are described in each state summary. 

For those states that did not submit questionnaires, the same two tables are shown with 

descriptions of the method used to estimate produced water volume and management 

practices.

In this chapter the exact quantities (bbl, Mmcf) as provided by the agencies or as derived from 

other references are shown. As these data values are combined into the summary table in 

Chapter 4, they are rounded to give a more realistic estimate of the precision of the numbers. 

The use of the term “conventional oil” means the same thing as “oil from conventional 

formations.” The same phrasing applies to the terms “unconventional oil,” “conventional gas,” 

and “unconventional gas.”

Some states reported a production of condensate separately from crude oil. For making the 

state and national oil production totals, condensate production was combined with crude oil 

production to estimate oil production.

Pages on the EIA website provide estimates of the volume of oil and gas generated by each 

state for 2012:

 Oil - http://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_crd_crpdn_adc_mbbl_a.htm

 Gas - http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_prod_sum_dcu_NUS_a.htm.

EIA estimates oil production through a methodology that includes data obtained from states, 

other federal agencies, and a commercial oil and gas data vendor. The data are evaluated using 

a statistical model to make estimates. The oil estimation methodology is explained in a 

document provided by EIA.7

EIA estimates gas production by collecting survey data directly from a subset of producers as 

well as from a commercial oil and gas data vendor, and then conducts statistical modeling of 

those data to extrapolate to statewide production. The gas estimation methodology is 

available on EIA’s website at 

http://www.eia.gov/oil_gas/natural_gas/data_publications/eia914/eia914meth.pdf. 

 

7 The document “Methodology for Monthly Crude Oil Production Estimates,” dated August 2014, was 

sent by EIA to John Veil on March 2, 2015 as an attachment to an email. EIA noted that the document 

has not been published, but EIA would send it to people who ask for it. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 47 

These estimates were compared to the estimates provided by the state agencies. Where statesupplied numbers appear to be incomplete or in the absence of state-supplied numbers, the 

EIA values were used. 

Three states (Arkansas, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania) showed a substantially different 

relationship between oil and gas production and water production between the years 2007 and 

2012. Additional discussion of those results is provided in those state sections. 

In some states the total volume of water injected greatly exceeded the total volume of water 

generated. This was often a result of enhanced recovery operations requiring more water for 

injection than was available from the generated produced water supply. The total water 

injected for enhanced recovery included produced water plus makeup water from some other 

source. For those states that showed a large differential between injected water and generated 

water, the total water injected for enhanced recovery was reduced in the tables so that the 

overall volume of produced water generated matched the overall volume managed. This 

process was used for Alaska, California, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

5.1 Alabama

The State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama provided produced water generation and management 

data.

8 Tables 5-1 and 5-2 show the replies to the questionnaire. At the end of 2012, Alabama 

had 7,139 wells producing hydrocarbons, with the majority of these wells producing CBM 

(5,780 wells). The remaining wells produced conventional oil (917 wells), conventional gas 

(331 wells), and condensate (111 wells). 

The natural gas production values provided by the State Oil and Gas Board were compared to 

EIA’s 2012 gas production figures for Alabama. The conventional gas production and total gas 

production figures from the Board were considerably higher. After reviewing the discrepancy 

with the Board, we agreed to use the EIA values. The volumes shown on these lines and the 

total line reflect the EIA values. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 106,619,333 bbl. CBM production 

generated about 62% of that total, and conventional oil contributed another 35%. 

Conventional gas added about 2% more. The condensate wells contributed a fraction of a 

percent. 

Using the hydrocarbon and water production data, the following ratios were determined: WOR 

of 3.3 bbl/bbl, WGR of 21 bbl/Mmcf for conventional gas, and WGR of 727 bbl/Mmcf for CBM. 

The combined WGR for gas wells was 319 bbl/Mmcf.

 

8 Emails from the State Oil and Gas Board of Alabama to John Veil on October 3 and 28, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 48 

Table 5-1 — 2012 Production for Alabama

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from 

conventional formations 917 37,578,819 9,525,213 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations 331 2,658,727 125,385 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional 

formations 0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional 

formations 5,780 66,102,425 90,325 Mmcf/yr

Other (condensate) 111 279,362 1,784,834 bbl/yr

Total 7,139 106,619,333

11,310,047 bbl/yr 

215,710 Mmcf/yr

Table 5-2 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Alabama 

Management 

Practice

# Wells 

Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

oil recovery (estimated) 128 2,000,000 1.8%

Injection for disposal 83 38,451,191 36%

Surface discharge 5,780 66,102,425 62%

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal 54 65,717 0.06%

Beneficial Reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 106,619,333

Unlike most other states, the majority of produced water in Alabama was managed through 

discharge to surface water bodies. The U.S. EPA national effluent limitations guidelines 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 49 

(discharge standards) for the oil and gas industry9specify zero discharge of produced water for 

most onshore wells in the eastern half of the United States. However, several decades ago, the 

CBM producers in Alabama petitioned EPA for an exception to those provisions, suggesting that 

water in contact with coal seams was more like coal mining water and less like oil and gas 

produced water. EPA agreed, allowing many discharges of treated CBM water to the Black 

Warrior River under the auspices of NPDES permits (Veil 2002). The Alabama Department of 

Environmental Management (ADEM) administers the NPDES permit program. 

Permitted surface discharge accounted for 62% of produced water management in Alabama. 

Injection for disposal managed 36% of produced water, and about 2% was injected for 

enhanced recovery. The remaining small percentage of produced water was managed through 

offsite commercial disposal. There was no beneficial reuse of produced water in Alabama.

5.2 Alaska

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) provided produced water generation 

and management data.

10 Tables 5-3 and 5-4 show the replies to the questionnaire. In 2012, 

Alaska had 3,087 wells with the majority of these wells producing conventional oil (2,709 wells). 

The remaining 297 wells produced conventional gas. No unconventional production was 

reported. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 769,152,512 bbl. Conventional oil 

production generated more than 99% of that total with conventional gas wells contributing a 

fraction of one percent of the produced water volume. The AOGCC confirmed that the 

numbers shown in Table 5-3 do include offshore hydrocarbon and water production from wells 

located within State waters (i.e., Cook Inlet as well as North Slope offshore developments such 

as Spy Island and Oooguruk drilling islands).

These produced water volumes resulted in a WOR of 4 bbl/bbl for oil and WGR of 0.3 bbl/Mmcf 

for gas. 

In their data submittal, the AOGCC noted that three fields in Alaska have dedicated water 

source wells. The majority of the water produced from those water wells (24,568,682 bbl in 

2012) was reinjected into producing formations for enhanced recovery. Alaska also utilized 

water from surface sources. Those volumes were not recorded in the AOGCC database and 

were not included in produced water totals in Table 5-3 since they represented water unrelated 

to oil and gas production wells. 

 

9 The oil and gas exploration and production discharge standards are found at 40 CFR Part 435.

10 Emails from AOGCC to John Veil on August 7, 2014 and November 21, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 50 

Table 5-3 — 2012 Production for Alaska

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

2,790 768,133,879 192,368,220 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

297 1,018,633 3,182,115 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 3,087 769,152,512 192,368,220 bbl/yr

3,182,115 Mmcf/yr

Table 5-4 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Alaska

Management Practice # Wells 

Using 

That 

Practice

Total Volume of Produced 

Water Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

1,277 652,027,895 bbl (produced 

water portion)

1,045,382,575 bbl total

85%

Injection for disposal 64 84,661,778 includes all 

volumes of fluids in Class I 

and Class II disposal wells 

(e.g., muds)

11%

Surface discharge ?? 32,462,839 4%

Evaporation 0 Minimal 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 Minimal 0

Total Volume Managed 769,152,512

The AOGCC reported an injection volume of 1,045,382,575 bbl of water at 1,277 wells for 

enhanced recovery. This volume exceeded the total volume of available produced water due to 

the addition of seawater and other water sources injected for enhanced recovery. An 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 51 

additional 84,661,778 bbl of fluids (produced water plus other fluids) were injected into 64 

disposal wells. The total injected volume greatly exceeded the volume of produced water 

generated. To more accurately account for just the produced water, 393,354,680 bbl of the 

water injected for enhanced recovery were assumed to be makeup water, leaving 652,027,895 

bbl of produced water injected for enhanced recovery. This value was used in Table 5-4.

The total volume of fluids injected into disposal wells was 84,661,778 bbl. This included

produced water as well as other types of fluids. Alaska has primacy for the Underground 

Injection Control (UIC) Class II program, but does not have primacy for Class I wells. These were 

regulated and permitted by Region 10 of the EPA. Most injection wells used for disposing oil 

and gas wastewater (mainly produced water) were permitted as Class II wells. However some 

Alaskan injection wells injected fluids other than those brought to the surface as part of oil and 

gas activities (e.g., treated sewage and other domestic wastewater, other nonhazardous 

industrial waste material). Therefore, EPA Region 10 has chosen to permit those wells as Class I 

wells. Class I wells are typically subject to stricter construction and operational requirements 

than are Class II wells. It was not possible to determine how much of the total fluid volume 

injected into the Class I and II disposal wells was produced water. For the sake of this report, 

the entire volume was treated as produced water. 

The AOGCC does not regulate discharges to surface water from offshore platforms. Therefore 

the water management data submitted by the AOGCC did not show any produced water being 

discharged. However the three platforms in Cook Inlet do generate produced water. It was not 

discharged at the platform but was piped to shore for treatment and was discharged from 

shore-based facilities. Data on the volume of treated produced water discharged to Cook Inlet 

were provided by EPA Region 10.

11

 During 2012, 32,462,839 bbl of treated produced water 

were discharged – this number was added to Table 5-4. Region 10 noted that during 2012, 

primacy for the NPDES program was transferred from Region 10 to the Alaska Department of 

Environmental Conservation. 

5.3 Arizona

The Arizona Geological Survey provided produced water generation and management data.

12

Tables 5-5 and 5-6 show the replies to the questionnaire. In 2012, Arizona had just 25 oil and 

gas wells with 21 of them producing conventional oil. The remaining 4 wells produced 

conventional gas and some condensate. No unconventional production was reported. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 80,903 bbl. Conventional oil 

production generated about 82% of that total with conventional gas wells contributing about 

18% of the produced water volume. These produced water volumes resulted in a WOR of 1.3 

bbl/bbl of crude oil and WGR of 122 bbl/Mmcf of conventional gas.

 

11 Email from EPA Region 10 to John Veil on December 9, 2014.

12 Email from Arizona Geological Survey to John Veil on July 21, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 52 

All produced water in Arizona was managed by injection into 2 disposal wells. The annual 

injected volume was slightly higher than the annual produced water volume. This suggests that 

either produced water from another state was brought to the disposal well in Arizona or fluids 

other than produced water were injected into the disposal well. 

Table 5-5 — 2012 Production for Arizona

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

21 66,700 49,972 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

4 14,203 1,976 bbl/yr condensate

116 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 25 80,903 51,948 bbl/yr

116 Mmcf/yr

Table 5-6 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Arizona

Management Practice # Wells Using 

That Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

0 0 0

Injection for disposal 2 97,505 100%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 97,505
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 53 

5.4 Arkansas

The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission provided produced water generation and management 

data.

13 Tables 5-7 and 5-8 show the replies to the questionnaire. In 2012, Arkansas had 15,599 

oil and gas wells with 7,061 of them producing conventional oil. 4,132 wells produced 

conventional gas. Arkansas had significant unconventional gas production from the Fayetteville 

Shale – this included 4,406 wells in 2012. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 184,866,828 bbl. Conventional oil 

production generated about 93% of that total. Conventional gas wells contributed less than 1%

of the total produced water volume. Unconventional gas wells contributed the remaining 5% of 

the total produced water. 

Table 5-7 — 2012 Production for Arkansas

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced 

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

7,061 174,613,539 6,567,573 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

4,132 694,810 105,911 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

4,406 9,558,479 1,030,816 Mmcf/yr

Total 15,599 184,866,828 6,567,573 bbl/yr

1,136,727 Mmcf/yr

The Oil and Gas Commission noted several caveats when providing those numbers. 

 Produced water associated with oil production was reported to the Commission on a 

well-by-well basis.

 Produced water associated with conventional and unconventional gas production was 

not reported to the Commission on a well-by-well basis. The volume shown in Table 5-7 

is the reported amount of produced water disposed at Class II disposal wells. However, 

 

13 Emails from Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission to John Veil on August 3 and 5, 2014, and other emails 

containing revised data on February 17 and 18, 2015.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 54 

an unknown amount may have been transported to other states for disposal and is not 

reflected in the volume given.

 The unconventional gas water volume was primarily flowback water following hydraulic 

fracturing operation. The Fayetteville Shale reservoir produces very little formation 

water.

These produced water volumes resulted in a WOR of 26.6 bbl/bbl of crude oil, a WGR of 6.6 

bbl/Mmcf of conventional gas, and a WGR of 9.3 bbl/Mmcf of unconventional gas. The overall 

WGR for all gas production was 9 bbl/Mmcf.

The Oil and Gas Commission reported that produced water was managed in several different 

ways in Arkansas. About 22% of the water was injected into producing formations through 165 

injection wells to enhance oil recovery. Another 76% was injected into 640 disposal wells. An 

estimated 2 million bbl (1%) of the water was flowback water from Fayetteville Shale wells that 

was reused to make up new frac fluids for fracturing other Fayetteville Shale wells. The number 

of wells where recycled water was used varies depending upon the number of wells fractured 

at any given time. A fraction of 1% of the produced water was sent to a commercial land 

farming operation. 

Table 5-8 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Arkansas

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

165 41,384,953 22.4%

Injection for disposal 640 141,269,299 76.4%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal (land farm)

1 212,576 0.1%

Beneficial reuse (make 

new frac fluids)

no data 2,000,000 

(estimated)

1.1%

Total Volume Managed 184,866,828

5.4.1 Changes from 2007 to 2012

It is interesting to compare the information collected for 2012 with what was provided by the 

Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission for 2007 (as reported in Clark and Veil 2009). Table 5-9 

compares the water management practices for the two years.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 55 

Table 5-9 — Comparison of Water Management Practices for Arkansas in 2007 and 2012

Management 

Practice

# Wells Using 

That Practice

in 2007

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice in 2007

(bbl/year)

# Wells Using 

That Practice

in 2012

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice in 2012

(bbl/year)

Injection for 

enhanced recovery

106 45,488,886 165 41,384,953

Injection for disposal 448 120,169,316 640 141,269,299

Other injection 

(unspecified)

no data 352,997 no data no data

Offsite commercial 

disposal

no data no data 1 land farm 212,576

Beneficial reuse no data no data reuse to make 

new frac 

fluids

2,000,000 

(estimated)

Total 166,011,199 184,866,828

The total volume of produced water managed increased from 166,011,199 bbl in 2007 to 

184,866,828 bbl in 2012 – an increase of 11%. The number of wells used for enhanced recovery 

increased by 56% from 2007 to 2012, but the volume of water injected for enhanced recovery 

decreased by 9%. The number of wells used for disposing produced water increased by 43%, 

and the total volume of water managed by disposal wells increased by 18%. 

Clark and Veil (2009) note that 2007 hydrocarbon production volumes in Arkansas were 

6,102,538 bbl of oil and 271,846 Mmcf of gas (the 2007 data do not distinguish between 

conventional and unconventional gas production). Compared to the 2012 data, the oil volumes

were similar, but the volume of gas produced was much higher in 2012. Total gas production in 

2012 jumped to 1,136,727 Mmcf, with most of that coming from unconventional production in 

the Fayetteville Shale. 

Specific volumes for gas produced from different formations can be found in EIA’s data for 

Arkansas.

14

 The volume of gas produced from conventional gas wells and gas produced as 

associated gas from conventional oil wells both dropped from 2007 to 2012. However, gas 

produced from shale formations jumped from 84,049 Mmcf in 2007 to 1,021,484 Mmcf in 2012 

(more than twelve-fold increase). One possible interpretation from these data is that 

unconventional production, at least from the Fayetteville Shale formation that contains little 

natural formation water, generated much less water per unit of energy than did conventional 

oil or gas production. 

 

14 The EIA data can be found at: http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_prod_sum_dcu_sar_a.htm. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 56 

5.5 California

The California Department of Conservation (CDOC) Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal 

Resources (DOGGR) provided produced water generation and management data.

15 Tables 5-10

and 5-11 show the replies to the questionnaire. In 2012, California had 55,039 active oil and 

gas wells with 97% of them producing conventional oil. Another 3% of the wells produced 

conventional gas. Several platforms produced oil and gas in offshore California waters. 

Information on these platforms is provided in Chapter 6. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 3,074,584,714 bbl. Conventional oil 

production generated more than 99% of that total. Conventional gas wells contributed less 

than 1% of the total produced water volume. According to a CDOC annual report of 2012 data 

(CDOC 2013) offshore wells in state waters accounted for about 14% of the statewide total of 

produced water, about 7% of the oil, and about 3% of the gas. 

These produced water volumes resulted in a WOR of 15.5 bbl/bbl for crude oil and WGR of 18.5 

bbl/Mmcf for gas.

Table 5-10 — 2012 Production for California

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

53,596 3,071,362,259 197,749,217 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

1,443 3,222,455 174,220 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 55,039 3,074,584,714 197,749,217 bbl/yr 

174,220 Mmcf/yr

The produced water management data initially submitted by DOGGR showed 28,461 wells 

using injection for enhanced recovery and for disposal for a combined total water volume of 

2,035,101,925 bbl. He notes that DOGGR does not segregate wells used for injection for 

enhanced recovery and injection for disposal in their oil and gas database. However, their 

injection database indicated that there were 25,808 active EOR injection wells and 970 active 

 

15 Emails from DOGGR to John Veil on November 25 and December 8, 2014. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 57 

injection disposal wells in 2012. The total reported volumes were 1,489,785,432 bbl (includes 

all water injected as steam and as water) and 623,012,380 bbl (water only), respectively. 

The total water volume shown in Table 5-11 (3,152,280,602 bbl) was larger than the water 

volume in Table 5-10 (3,074,584,714 bbl). The amount of water needed for water flooding and 

steam flooding exceeded the amount of available produced water. As a result, other sources of 

water were used to supplement the produced water. California is one of the few places in the 

United States that utilizes large steam flooding operations. In order to generate steam, water 

must be treated and purified to meet boiler feed standards. Removing salinity from water is 

expensive – operators may be seeking lower salinity water sources than produced water to 

meet their boiler feed requirements. 

To balance the produced water generated with the produced water managed, the volume 

injected for enhanced recovery was reduced to 1,412,089,544 bbl, with the remaining 

77,695,888 bbl being considered as makeup water. 

These numbers were substituted into Table 5-11. California companies managed produced 

water in many ways, which reflects the wide range of the state’s oil and gas fields in different 

geographic settings. Table 5-11 shows that nearly half of the produced water was managed by 

injection for enhanced recovery in water flooding and steam flooding operations. Injection for 

disposal accounted for 20% of produced water, surface discharge for 2%, evaporation for 21%, 

and disposal at offsite commercial facilities for 9%. 

Table 5-11 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for California

Management Practice # Wells Using 

That Practice

Total Volume of Produced 

Water Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

25,808 1,412,089,544 bbl 

(produced water portion)

1,489,785,432 bbl total

46%

Injection for disposal 970 623,012,380 20%

Surface discharge 3,241 60,298,193 2%

Evaporation 13,296 649,183,681 21%

Offsite commercial 

disposal

6,685 283,749,708 9%

Beneficial reuse no data no data no data

Other 721 46,251,208 1.5%

Total Volume Managed 3,074,584,714

The DOGGR data showed that about 1.5% of the state’s produced water was managed in some 

other way. DOGGR clarified that the Other category covers everything not listed in the 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 58 

available categories. This could include the disposition of water in multiple ways, yet the 

reporting program can only accept one option. In addition, if water was recycled and used for 

other purposes, it would be included under the Other category. DOGGR does not provide any 

more detail on the disposition of the water shown in the Other category.

It is interesting to note that no estimates were available for beneficial reuse in California. 

Several well-documented projects do treat produced water for beneficial reuse. For example, 

in the San Ardo field some of the produced water was treated and reused for cooling tower 

makeup water. The remaining water undergoes further treatment to create water suitable to 

recharge a shallow aquifer that was used in the area for crop irrigation. Up to 50,000 barrels of 

brackish produced water per day (BWPD) was transformed into freshwater for agricultural 

reuse, which was enough to irrigate about 800 acres of farmland per year (Myers 2014). 

5.6 Colorado

Data for Colorado were obtained through the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission 

(COGCC) online website. COGCC does not track production from conventional wells and 

unconventional wells separately. The author also contacted Thom Kerr, a consultant who 

formerly worked as a manager at COGCC, where he had familiarity with the agency’s data. 

Table 5-12 shows production information in a format similar to that used for other states. The 

numbers in the table were compiled by the author using data sources described below. 

Data on water production were initially obtained from a large database called “2012 Production 

Report” on the COGCC website. The database was downloaded from 

http://cogcc.state.co.us/downloads/production/co%202012%20Annual%20Production%20Sum

mary-xp.zip. Data provided by Mr. Kerr included a more recent and slightly different 

compilation of 2012 water volumes.

16

 Mr. Kerr’s data were used in Table 5-12.

The volume of flowback water from wells that had been hydraulically fractured is typically not 

included in the disposal volumes reported on the monthly production reports. The flowback 

was stored in temporary tanks and later hauled off. Data from Mr. Kerr included a 2012 

flowback volume of 27,039,785 bbl – this was added to calculate a total produced water 

volume. 

Data for 2012 oil and gas production were obtained from EIA. The EIA data break out gas 

production from shale and CBM formations (unconventional). Unfortunately, the water 

production data do not make that distinction. 

 

16 Email from Thom Kerr, Thom Kerr LLC, to John Veil, on December 6, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 59 

Table 5-12 — 2012 Production for Colorado

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily 

That Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface (bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional and 

unconventional formations

18,000 331,349,662 49,361,146 bbl/yr

Natural gas from conventional 

and unconventional formations

32,000 1,104,038 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from unconventional 

formations

no data no data

Natural gas from unconventional 

formations (shale and CBM)

no data 605,339 Mmcf/yr

Other – flowback water from 

hydraulically fractured wells

no data 27,039,785 no data

Total 50,000 358,389,447 49,361,146 bbl/yr

1,709,377 Mmcf/yr

Slightly less than 50,000 oil and gas wells produced hydrocarbons in Colorado during 2012. This 

estimate was extrapolated from a graph in a recent Colorado weekly and monthly oil and gas 

statistics document (dated December 2, 2014) 

http://cogcc.state.co.us/Library/Statistics/CoWklyMnthlyOGStats.pdf. The data were not 

broken out by oil vs. gas or by conventional vs. unconventional wells. EIA provides an estimate 

of 32,000 gas wells in Colorado for 2012. By subtraction, this suggests that about 18,000 wells 

produced oil in Colorado during 2012.

Produced water volume was not subdivided into water from oil wells and water from gas wells. 

Therefore, it was not possible to determine WORs or WGRs. 

Data on produced water management methods were not available from the COGCC website. 

Communication with COGCC staff suggested that they do receive monthly reports of operations 

from the oil and gas operators.

17

 The reports must indicate how much water was managed in 

one of five ways: 

 Commercial disposal facility (this represents water sent to commercial pits).

 Onsite pit (most of the water evaporates, or the excess water was hauled to disposal 

wells).

 

17 Telephone conversations between the COGCC and John Veil on December 2 and 5, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 60 

 Central disposal pit (These are central facilities owned by a single producer. Water from 

multiple wells was collected and managed in a centralized location. Some water was 

recycled but much was injected into disposal wells).

 Injected (This water was injected into wells under the COGCC’s UIC authority. Roughly 

half of this water was injected for purposes of enhanced recovery).

 Surface discharge (This water was either fresh or treated to acceptable standards and 

discharged to a surface water body). 

The COGCC maintains this information in an internal database that is available for searching by 

the public as individual records. Mr. Kerr was able to query the database to provide the 

composite volumes of water managed in each of those general categories. Table 5-13 shows 

the data provided by Mr. Kerr. 

Table 5-13 — 2012 Produced Water Management Data from COGCC Database

Disposal method Volume (bbl/yr)

Onsite pit 35,002,477

Surface discharge 40,315,420

Commercial disposal facility 22,392,182

Injected 168,040,839

Central disposal pit 65,582,942

Total 331,333,860

Mr. Kerr also provided estimates of the volume of water injected for disposal (123,918,252

bbl/yr) vs. the volume injected for enhanced recovery (123,854,742 bbl/yr). These volumes

were the volumes reported to the COGCC’s UIC program on a monthly basis by the operators of 

the Class II wells (producer or commercial disposal company). The volumes of the Class II 

injection wells reports did not balance with the total reported injected volumes reported by the 

producers (the Injected category). It is likely that the operators of enhanced recovery projects 

augmented produced water supplies with water from other sources, such as fresh water. 

Other than the common practice of reinjecting produced water for enhanced recovery projects, 

there was some degree of reuse or recycling of flowback water for use in the oil and gas fields. 

Mr. Kerr notes that some of the central disposal sites were currently used for recycling water 

and some of the disposal wells were recycling water as well. Based on a different set of data

provided by Mr. Kerr, operators reported that in 2012, 77,910,189 bbl of frac fluids were used 

to stimulate wells in Colorado. About 35% of that volume (27,039,785 bbl) returned to the 

surface as flowback water. 61% of the frac fluids (47,648,287 bbl) were made from recycled 

flowback and produced water. 

Mr. Kerr reported that there was almost no other type of beneficial use of produced water 

except that which has been discharged to surface water for agricultural or wildlife purposes 

under NPDES permits. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 61 

The data provided by Mr. Kerr were very helpful but they required some recalculation and 

assumptions before entering them into the water management tabular format used for the 

other states. Table 5-14 shows those data in the preferred tabular format. A list of 

assumptions is provided following the table.

Table 5-14 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Colorado

Management Practice # Wells 

Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of Produced 

Water Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

445 123,854,742 31.5%

Injection for disposal 292 123,889,551 31.5%

Surface discharge no data 40,315,420 10.3%

Evaporation no data 35,002,477 8.9%

Offsite commercial 

disposal (pits)

no data 22,392,182 5.7%

Beneficial reuse (recycled 

produced water and 

flowback used to make 

new frac fluids )

no data 47,648,287 12.1% 

Total Volume Managed 393,102,659

The major assumptions used to estimate water volumes for Table 5-14 are:

 The volume injected for enhanced recovery and for disposal come from the monthly 

reports of operations. There is no way of telling how much extra water (not produced 

water) was included in the reported volumes for enhanced recovery. For the sake of 

this report, the injected volume in disposal wells was assumed to be all produced water. 

 Mr. Kerr’s spreadsheet shows that Colorado had 737 active Class II wells (292 disposal 

wells and 445 enhanced recovery wells) during 2012. 

 The surface discharge volume and the offsite commercial disposal volumes were taken 

directly from Table 5-13. 

 The evaporation volume was assumed to equal the onsite pit volume from Table 5-13. 

 The beneficial reuse volume was the portion of the new frac fluids that was derived

from recycled flowback and produced water. In addition, at least some of the water 

managed by surface discharge had a beneficial use for wildlife even though it was not 

listed under that heading. 

The total volume of water managed in 2012 was estimated at 393,102,659 bbl. About one third

was injected for enhanced recovery, another third was injected for disposal, 12% was put to 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 62 

beneficial reuse, and 10% was discharged. Evaporation and offsite commercial disposal made 

up the remaining water volume. Although the total water volume managed exceeds the total 

water volume generated, given the complex calculations and assumptions already applied, no 

attempt was made to back out the makeup water portion of the water injected for enhanced 

recovery. 

Two other documents indicated the percentages for the various water management options. 

Although they followed the same trends, the actual percentages differed from one source to 

another. This highlights the challenge to estimate consistent and accurate data relating to 

produced water generation and management practices. 

The COGCC website contains a report prepared by the COGCC and provided to the Water 

Quality Control Commission and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment 

(COGCC 2012). This report included a summary of COGCC activities and changes in ground 

water protection programs that were made during the preceding year. It states: 

“Approximately 50% of the water co-produced with oil and gas is disposed of or used for 

enhanced recovery by underground injection. Most produced water that is not injected is 

disposed in evaporation and percolation pits or discharged under Colorado Discharge 

Permit System (CDPS) permit. A small amount of produced water is used for dust 

suppression on oil and gas lease roads. In addition, to minimize waste and the use of 

fresh water, more operators are reusing and recycling produced water and other fluids 

for drilling and well completion activities including hydraulic fracture treatment 

(“fracing”).”

The Colorado Oil and Gas Association posted a short fact sheet on its website that provided

some insights into produced water management 

(http://www.coga.org/pdfs_facts/produced_water_fastfacts.pdf). The fact sheet, dated June 

14, 2011, states:

“In Colorado, most of the flowback water is recycled. The rest of the water is disposed 

according to COGCC guidelines. Of the water disposed, approximately 60 percent is 

disposed of in underground injection wells, 20 percent is managed in evaporation ponds, 

and 20 percent is discharged to surface waters under permits by the Colorado 

Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).” 

5.7 Florida

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Oil and Gas Section did not submit 

a completed questionnaire.

18

 However, the agency contact advised that the requested data 

 

18 Email from FDEP to John Veil on November 12, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 63 

could be found on the FDEP Oil and Gas Program website 

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/mines/oil_gas/production.htm#apr. 

Table 5-15 — 2012 Production for Florida

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

64 62,640,879 bbl/yr 2,171,144 bbl/yr

18,787 Mmcf/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

0 0 0

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 64 62,640,879 bbl/yr 2,171,144 bbl/yr

18,787 Mmcf/yr

The FDEP indicated that Florida produced oil and gas in two areas of the state. All wells were 

permitted as oil-producing wells. The South Florida Fields produce very little gas with the oil. 

All produced water was sent to disposal wells that inject to the boulder zone. 

Table 5-16 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Florida

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

27 47,675,606 76%

Injection for disposal 7 14,965,273 24%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 62,640,879
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 64 

The Northwest Florida fields produce a large amount of both oil and gas. In these fields, all 

produced water was injected back into the producing formations. The data from the FDEP 

website were entered into the questionnaire tables (Tables 5-15 and 5-16) by the author. 

5.8 Illinois

Neither the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Office of Oil and Gas Resource 

Management nor the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS) submitted a questionnaire. The Oil 

and Gas Resource Management website notes that Illinois has about 32,100 oil and gas 

production wells and 10,500 Class II injection wells. No year is associated with these statistics. 

EIA data show that Illinois produced 8,908,000 bbl of oil and 2,125 Mmcf of gas during 2012. 

Table 5-17 — 2012 Production for Illinois

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

32,100 99,142,423 8,908,000 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

2,125 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

no data no data no data

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

no data no data no data

Total 99,142,423 8,908,000 bbl/yr

2,125 Mmcf/yr

Illinois did not provide any summary information on produced water generation or how 

produced water was managed in 2012. Much of Illinois’s oil production is from older lowproduction wells known as stripper wells. Older fields often rely heavily on water injection for 

enhanced recovery. Operators injecting water for enhanced recovery in Illinois were required 

to submit Form OG-17 Secondary/Tertiary Oil Recovery Project Annual Report 

http://www.dnr.illinois.gov/oilandgas/documents/oilandgasfillableforms/og17annualreportsec

ondarytertiaryoilrecoveryform.pdf each year to the ISGS. That form provides estimates of the 

volume of water injected for enhanced recovery as well as the volume of water generated from 

the wells. However, due to staffing shortages, the paper copies of Form OG-17 were never

entered into an electronic database or otherwise tabulated. Rather, they were stored as paper 

records.19

 

19 Telephone conversation between the ISGS and John Veil on December 3, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 65 

In late December 2014, the ISGS sent the author 282 completed copies of Form OG-17. The 

author transcribed data from the paper forms into a spreadsheet to give total produced water 

generated and total water injected for 2012 enhanced recovery projects. Using the Form OG-17

data, 99,142,423 bbl of produced water were generated, and 105,267,787 bbl were injected in 

Illinois for enhanced recovery during 2012. In the absence of any other information about 

produced water management, all produced water for Illinois was assumed to be reinjected for 

enhanced recovery. 

Table 5-18 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Illinois

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

no data 105,267,787 100%

Injection for disposal no data no data no data

Surface discharge no data no data no data

Evaporation no data no data no data

Offsite commercial 

disposal

no data no data no data

Beneficial reuse no data no data no data

Total Volume Managed 105,267,787

5.9 Indiana

Produced water data were provided by the Division of Oil and Gas of the Indiana Department of 

Natural Resources (IDNR).

20 Tables 5-19 and 5-20 show the replies to the questionnaire. In 

2012, Indiana had 5,614 active oil and gas wells, with 88% of them producing conventional oil. 

Less than 1% of the wells produced conventional gas, and 11% produced unconventional gas. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 57,565,831 bbl. Conventional oil 

production generated more than 85% of that total. Conventional gas wells contributed about

1% of the total produced water volume. Unconventional gas wells contributed the remaining 

14%.

 

20 Emails from IDNR to Mike Nickolaus, GWPC, on August 28, 2014, and from IDNR to John Veil, on 

August 29, 2014. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 66 

Table 5-19 — 2012 Production for Indiana

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

4,960 48,930,957 2,350,035 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

32 575,658 18 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

no data no data no data

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

622 8,059,216 8,795 Mmcf/yr

Total 5,614 57,565,831 2,350,035 bbl/yr

8,813 Mmcf/yr

These produced water volumes resulted in a WOR of 21 bbl/bbl of crude oil, and a WGR of 980

bbl/Mmcf for gas. 

The primary management practice for produced water was injection for enhanced recovery, 

which injected 43,131,200 bbl (75%) of produced water annually into 1,041 injection wells. 

Produced water was also managed through 208 disposal wells, which accounted for another 

25% of produced water. A small fraction of produced water (0.1%) was managed through 

surface discharge. This water comes from CBM operations and has low salinity. NPDES permits 

were issued to authorize those discharges. 

Table 5-20 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Indiana

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

1,041 43,131,200 75%

Injection for disposal 208 14,377,066 25%

Surface discharge 77 57,565 0.1%

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 57,565,831
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 67 

5.10 Kansas

Produced water data were provided by the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC).

21

 Tables 5-

21 and 5-22 show the replies to the questionnaire. 

Table 5-21 — 2012 Production for Kansas

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

49,230 948,580,647 42,621,194 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

24,866 87,254,676 289,855 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

172 22,428,540 1,121,427 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

23 2,755,324 9,432 Mmcf/yr

Total

74,291 1,061,019,187

43,742,621 bb/yr

299,287 Mmcf/yr

In 2012, Kansas had 74,291 active oil and gas wells, with 66% of them producing conventional 

oil. Another 33% of the wells produced conventional gas. Kansas had a small number of 

unconventional oil and gas wells too. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 1,061,019,187 bbl. Conventional oil 

production generated more than 89% of that total. Conventional gas wells contributed about 

8% of the total produced water volume. Unconventional oil and gas wells contributed the 

remaining 3%.

These produced water volumes resulted in a WOR of 22 bbl/bbl of crude oil and a WGR of 300

bbl/Mmcf of gas. 

Produced water was managed by injection wells in Kansas. About three quarters of the 

produced water was injected to 3,523 disposal wells. The remaining 26% of the produced water 

was injected for enhanced recovery through 6,604 injection wells. The KCC indicated that they 

did not have information about the beneficial reuse of produced water. 

 

21 Email from the KCC Conservation Division to Mike Nickolaus, GWPC on October 27, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 68 

Table 5-22 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Kansas

Management Practice # Wells Using 

That Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

6,604 276,298,594 26%

Injection for disposal 3,523 784,720,593 74%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse uncertain uncertain uncertain

Total Volume Managed 1,061,019,187

5.11 Kentucky

The Kentucky Department for Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas submitted a partial 

questionnaire, which included estimates of oil and gas production for 2012 but no produced 

water data.

22

 The Division of Oil and Gas noted that the number of producing wells is accurate, 

but the volume of gas produced is skewed too high because some counties were including 

liquids in their natural gas production. The Division reported 2012 gas production of 293,290 

Mmcf, but the EIA data showed 106,122 Mmcf. The EIA number was used in Table 5-23. 

There were 47,500 wells in Kentucky in 2012. Crude oil was produced from 57% of the wells,

with natural gas being produced from the remaining wells. 

The Division of Oil and Gas noted that it did not have regulatory authority to monitor produced 

water and therefore could not provide any estimate on produced water volumes. The total 

estimated produced water volume for Kentucky was 19,689,387 bbl/yr, which equaled the 

volume of produced water injected into Class II wells during 2012. 

To get an indication of how produced water was managed in Kentucky in 2012, an inquiry was 

made to EPA Region 4, which administers the UIC Class II program for Kentucky. The purpose of 

the inquiry was to learn the number of injection wells and volumes of produced water actually 

injected in 2012. Region 4 required that the request be submitted as a Freedom of Information 

 

22 Email from the Kentucky Division of Oil and Gas to John Veil on September 9, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 69 

Act (FOIA) request – this was submitted on December 5, 2014 and received more than six 

weeks later.23 

Table 5-23 — 2012 Production for Kentucky

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

and unconventional 

formations

27,000 19,689,387 3,197,924 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional and 

unconventional formations

20,500 106,122 Mmcf/yr

Total 19,689,387 3,197,924 bbl/yr

106,122 Mmcf/yr

Table 5-24 shows the injection data but has no entries for other methods of water 

management. The Oil and Gas Division reported that nearly all produced water from Kentucky 

wells was reinjected into Class II wells. 

Table 5-24 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Kentucky

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

440 18,597,470 94%

Injection for disposal 27 1,091,917 6%

Surface discharge no data no data no data

Evaporation no data no data no data

Offsite commercial 

disposal

no data no data no data

Beneficial reuse no data no data no data

Total Volume Managed 19,689,387

 

23 Letter from EPA Region 4 to John Veil on January 20, 2015 (sent by email and by surface mail).
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 70 

5.12 Louisiana

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation provided data on oil, 

gas, and water.

24

 Tables 5-25 and 5-26 show the replies to the questionnaire. 

The Office of Conservation does not track the volume of produced water generated from each 

well, but it does have good estimates of the volume of water injected. Assuming the volume of 

water injected equals the volume generated (not an exact match but a reasonably close 

assumption), the injection data provided by the Office of Conservation can serve as an estimate 

of produced water volume. Using this approach, an estimated 927,634,655 bbl of produced 

water was generated in 2012. It was not possible to distinguish between water from oil wells 

and gas wells, nor was it possible to tell whether water came from conventional or 

unconventional production. As a result it was not possible to calculate WORs and WGRs for 

Louisiana. 

Table 5-25 — 2012 Production for Louisiana

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells Producing 

Primarily That Type 

of Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon Produced 

(bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from 

conventional 

formations

19,235 927,634,655 82,111,159 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional 

formations

16,572 1,277,149 Mmcf

Crude oil and natural 

gas from 

unconventional 

formations

13 wells in Tuscaloosa 

Marine Shale (TMS) 

and 2,145 wells in 

Haynesville Shale (HS)

TMS - 251,461 bbl/yr oil 

and 142 Mmcf gas

HS – 418,818 bbl/yr 

condensate and

2,069,724 Mmcf gas

Total 37,965 927,634,655

(based on total 

water managed)

82,781,438 bbl/yr crude 

oil (includes 

condensate)

3,347,015 Mmcf

 

24 Emails from the Louisiana Office of Conservation to John Veil on August 7, 2014 and February 11, 

2015.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 71 

Just over half of the 37,965 wells produced conventional oil. Another 44% of the wells 

produced conventional gas. About 6% of the wells produced condensate and gas from the 

unconventional Haynesville Shale, with less than 1% of the wells producing oil and gas from the 

unconventional Tuscaloosa Marine Shale. 

Nearly all produced water in Louisiana was injected. More than 92% of the produced water 

was injected into 3,321 producer-operated disposal wells. About 4% of water was injected for 

disposal at offsite commercial disposal facilities. The remaining 3% of produced water was 

reinjected for enhanced recovery at 401 wells. The Office of Conservation also noted that 4 

wells reused their produced water for hydraulic fracturing fluids. 

Table 5-26 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Louisiana

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

401 31,336,098 3.4%

Injection for disposal 3,231 857,417,339 92.4%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

44 38,880,938 4.2%

Beneficial reuse 4 (reuse of 

flowback)

280 0

Total Volume Managed 927,634,375

5.13 Michigan

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Oil, Gas, and Minerals provided

produced water generation and management information.

25

 Tables 5-27 and 5-28 show the 

replies to the questionnaire. 

In 2012, Michigan had 14,600 active oil and gas wells, with 70% of them producing 

unconventional gas. Another 26% of the wells produced conventional oil, and 4% produced 

conventional gas. 

 

25 Email from Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to John Veil on September 8, 2014. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 72 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 117,000,000 bbl. Unconventional gas

production generated about 79% of that total. Conventional oil wells contributed the 

remaining 21% of the total produced water volume. 

The water production data were split between oil production and gas production. The resulting 

WOR was 3.4 bbl/bbl for oil and the WGR was 708 bbl/Mmcf for gas.

Table 5-27 — 2012 Production for Michigan

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon Produced 

(bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

3,800 25,000,000 7,400,000 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

515 no data 22,000 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 no data 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

10,285 92,000,000 108,000 Mmcf/yr

Total 14,600 117,000,000 7,400,000 bbl/yr

130,000 Mmcf/yr

Nearly all of the produced water in Michigan was managed through underground injection. The 

large majority of produced water (85%) was injected into disposal wells, while 15% was injected 

for enhanced recovery. The Department of Environmental Quality noted that some produced 

water was sent to offsite commercial disposal facilities where it was commingled with other 

exploration and production wastes prior to management. The volume of the produced water 

component was not quantified.

Some produced water was beneficially used for ice and dust control and soil and road 

stabilization under a groundwater discharge permit issued by the Department’s Water 

Resources Division. That Division reported that it currently had 23 entities that discharged 

under that permit.26 Permit holders were required to maintain a log of the produced water they 

apply, but were not required to submit data to the Department on a regular basis. Therefore, 

the Department had no way of quantifying the volume actually applied.

 

26 Email from Michigan DEQ to John Veil on December 9, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 73 

Table 5-28 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Michigan

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

525 17,000,000 15%

Injection for disposal 710 100,000,000 85% 

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

uncertain uncertain uncertain

Beneficial reuse Some used for 

road deicing

uncertain uncertain

Total Volume Managed 117,000,000

5.14 Mississippi

The Mississippi Oil and Gas Board provided produced water generation and management 

information.

27 Tables 5-29 and 5-30 show the replies to the questionnaire. 

Table 5-29 — 2012 Production for Mississippi

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

1,800 226,515,010 23,864,051 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

1,509 3,166,661 436,789 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

42 1,554,444 282,361 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 3,351 231,236,115 24,146,412 bbl/yr 

436,789 Mmcf/yr

 

27 Email from Mississippi Oil and Gas Board to John Veil on July 24, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 74 

In 2012, Mississippi had 3,351 active oil and gas wells. 54% of them produced conventional oil 

and 45% produced conventional gas. A small number of wells produced unconventional oil. 

The statewide total produced water volume for 2012 was 231,236,115 bbl. Conventional oil

production generated about 98% of that total. Conventional gas production contributed about 

1.4% of the total produced water volume and unconventional oil production contributed less 

than 1% of produced water. 

The water production data were split between oil production and gas production. The resulting 

WOR was 9.4 bbl/bbl and the WGR was 7.2 bbl/Mmcf.

Table 5-30 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Mississippi

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

574 127,179,863 55%

Injection for disposal 494 104,056,252 45%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 231,236,115

In 2012 all of the produced water in Mississippi was managed through underground injection. 

55% of produced water was injected for enhanced recovery, while 45% was injected into 

disposal wells. The data provided by the Oil and Gas Board for 2012 showed an exact match 

between the volume of produced water generated and the volume managed. 

5.15 Missouri

The Missouri Geological Survey provided produced water generation and management 

information.

28 The information is shown in Tables 5-31 and 5-32. 

Missouri had 594 active oil and gas wells during 2012. 97% of those wells produced oil from 

unconventional formations. The other 19 wells produced gas from conventional formations. 

The oil wells generated 2,102,516 bbl of produced water. The Missouri Geological Survey did 

 

28 Email from Missouri Geological Survey to Mike Nickolaus, GWPC on November 3, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 75 

not have water production data for the gas wells. With only 19 gas wells in all, the volume of 

produced water is likely to be very small in comparison with the water volume from oil wells. 

The WOR for the oil wells was 12 bbl/bbl. The volume of gas produced was too small to 

calculate a meaningful WGR. 

Table 5-31 — 2012 Production for Missouri

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from 

conventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

19 no data 11,592 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

575 2,102,516 175,101 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 594 2,102,516 175,101 bbl/yr

11,952 Mmcf/yr

The Missouri Geological Survey reported that all produced water in 2012 was managed by 

injection. 83% of the produced water was injected into 390 wells for enhanced recovery, and 

17% was injected into 18 disposal wells. 

Table 5-32 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Missouri

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

390 1,748,050 83%

Injection for disposal 18 354,446 17%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 2,102,496
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 76 

5.16 Montana

The Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation (BOGC) provided produced water generation 

and management information.

29

 Additional data to populate Tables 5-33 and 5-34 were 

obtained from various sources as described below. The oil and gas production volumes were 

taken from EIA. They compared closely with data found in the Annual Review 2012 report 

published by the BOGC (BOGC 2012). The well counts for conventional production were 

extracted from BOGC (2012). The well count for CBM wells was extracted from Meredith and 

Kuzara (undated). 

Montana had more than 11,299 active oil and gas wells in 2012. Most of those wells produced 

oil (42%) and gas (55%) from conventional formations. The remaining 3% produced CBM. 

Montana generated 182,833,415 bbl of produced water in 2012. The conventional oil wells 

generated about 91% of the water. The conventional gas wells generated 2%. CBM wells 

generated the remaining 7%.

The WOR for conventional oil was 6.2 bbl/bbl. The WGR for CBM was 3,612 bbl/Mmcf. The 

WGR for combined gas was 257 bbl/Mmcf.

Table 5-33 — 2012 Production for Montana

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from 

conventional formations

4,713 165,607,086 26,495,000 bbl/yr

20,085 Mmcf/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

6,254 3,748,224 43,137 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

(CBM)

332 13,478,105 3,731 Mmcf/yr 

Total 11,299 182,833,415 26,495,000 bbl/yr

66,953 Mmcf/yr

The water management data provided by the BOGC showed only injection volumes for 

produced water, with a total injected volume of 186,549,310 bbl. 130,013,219 bbl was injected 

 

29 Email from Montana BOGC to John Veil on December 17, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 77 

for enhanced recovery. About 10% of the water used for enhanced recovery was injected on 

Indian lands, with the majority being injected on other lands. 56,536,091 bbl was injected to 

disposal wells.

Although the BOGC did not report any produced water being managed through evaporation, 

surface discharge, offsite commercial disposal, or beneficial reuse, some of the CBM produced 

water, which has low salinity in the Powder River Basin, was managed by discharge or beneficial 

reuse and some other produced water was managed by evaporation or beneficial use. 

Table 5-34 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Montana

Management Practice # Wells 

Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of Produced 

Water Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

no data 106,797,324 bbl (produced 

water portion)

130,013,219 bbl total

58%

Injection for disposal no data 56,536,091 31%

Surface discharge no data 19,500,000 11%

Evaporation no data no data no data 

Offsite commercial 

disposal

no data no data no data 

Beneficial reuse no data no data no data 

Total Volume Managed 182,833,415

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality issued a general discharge permit for 

produced water discharges from CBM operations. The Department was able to provide some 

information about those CBM facilities that actually made a discharge during 2012 and also 

provided tips on using EPA’s national data system called ECHO (Enforcement and Compliance 

History Online)30 to locate other dischargers. The data supplied by the Department of 

Environmental Quality included results from 24 facilities covered by the CBM general discharge 

permit. The spreadsheet listed flow results from 17 facilities. The data were expressed in units 

of gallons per minute (gpm). The total composite flow from the 17 facilities was 659 gpm. No 

additional information was available concerning the duration of those discharges (24/7 vs. 

intermittent). For the sake of this report, the flows were assumed to be continuous flows on a 

24/7 basis. Following that assumption, the flow volume equaled 8,200,000 bbl/yr. 

 

30 Email from Department of Environmental Quality, Water Protection Bureau to John Veil on December 

23, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 78 

Using ECHO, three other oil and gas facilities having individual discharge permits (not covered 

by the CBM general permit) were identified. The flow rates from those three facilities totaled 

1.3 million gallons per day. As noted previously, no information was available to determine if 

the flows were continuous or intermittent. As above, the flows were assumed to be continuous 

flows on a 24/7 basis. Following that assumption, the flow volume equaled 11,300,000 bbl/yr. 

Combining the flows from both groups of dischargers gave a total surface discharge volume of 

19,500,000 bbl/yr. This volume was added to Table 5-34. 

The total water volume managed in 2012 was 206,049,310 bbl. This exceeded the volume of 

water generated (182,833,415 bbl). Presumably the difference represented water sources other 

than produced water that were injected for enhanced recovery. The actual enhanced recovery 

water volume provided by the BOGC was 130,013,219 bbl. This also includes 23,215,895 bbl of 

makeup water. The number shown in Table 5-34 reflects the actual produced water 

contribution to the total injected for enhanced recovery.

5.17 Nebraska

The Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission provided both water production and 

management information.

31 The information is shown in Tables 5-35 and 5-36. In 2012, there 

were 1,606 active wells, with 82% of those wells producing conventional oil. The remaining 18% 

of the wells produced conventional gas. 

Table 5-35 — 2012 Production for Nebraska

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

1,315 57,872,598 2,513,356 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

291 768,627 1,221 Mcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 1,606 58,641,225 2,513,536 bbl/yr

1,221 Mmcf/yr

 

31 Email from Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to John Veil on August 25, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 79 

Those wells generated 58,641,225 bbl of produced water. More than 98% of the water came 

from the oil wells. The WOR was 23 bbl/bbl, and the WGR was 630 bbl/Mmcf. 

The Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission data showed that 59% of produced water 

was injected into 411 wells for enhanced recovery. Another 32% was injected into 113 disposal 

wells. The remaining 9% was evaporated in pits. 

Table 5-36 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Nebraska

Management Practice # Wells Using 

That Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

411 34,368,160 59%

Injection for disposal 113 18,760,291 32%

Surface discharge

Evaporation 660 5,476,049 9%

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 58,604,500

5.18 Nevada

The Nevada Division of Minerals supplied water production and management data.

32 The 

information is shown in Tables 5-37 and 5-38. In 2012, there were 71 active wells producing 

conventional oil and some associated gas. 

Those wells generated 5,865,043 bbl of produced water. More than 98% of the water came 

from the oil wells. The WOR was 16 bbl/bbl.

 

32 Email from Nevada Division of Minerals to John Veil on September 16, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 80 

Table 5-37 — 2012 Production for Nevada

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

71 5,865,043 367,994 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

0 0 3.6 Mmcf/yr

(associated with oil 

production)

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 71 5,865,043 367,994 bbl/yr

3.6 Mmcf/yr

The Division of Minerals’ data indicate that all produced water was injected into 10 disposal 

wells. The volume of injected water (4,742,835 bbl) was less than the volume generated. 

Table 5-38 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Nevada

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

0 0 0

Injection for disposal 10 4,742,835 100%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 4,742,835
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 81 

5.19 New Mexico

The Oil Conservation Division (OCD) of the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural 

Resources Department provided produced water and hydrocarbon production information.

33

The OCD did not submit the two completed tables that were part of the questionnaire. Instead, 

the OCD provided a link to an online database of production data 

https://wwwapps.emnrd.state.nm.us/ocd/ocdpermitting/Reporting/Production/ExpandedProd

uctionInjectionSummaryReport.aspx. Data on oil, gas, and water production, as well as water 

injection were taken from that database (the database had been updated through January 31, 

2015). The data were added to Tables 5-39 and 5-40 by the author. 

Table 5-39 — 2012 Production for New Mexico

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

no data 674,902,374 85,340,282 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

no data 64,245,515 892,607 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

no data no data no data 

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

(San Juan and Raton)

no data 36,782,414 359,380 Mmcf/yr

Total no data 775,930,303 85,340,282 bbl/yr

1,251,987Mmcf/yr

The total volume of produced water from New Mexico wells in 2012 was 775,930,303 bbl. 87% 

of the water was generated from conventional oil production. Conventional gas wells generate 

8% of the total, and unconventional gas wells produced the remaining 5% of the water.

The WOR from these data was 8 bbl/bbl. The WGR for conventional gas was 72 bbl/Mmcf. The 

WGR for unconventional gas was 102 bbl/Mmcf. The WGR for all gas combined was about 81

bbl/Mmcf. 

 

33 Email from New Mexico Oil Conservation Division to Mike Nickolaus, GWPC, on July 25, 2014, and an 

email from the Division to John Veil, on February 11, 2015.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 82 

Table 5-40 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for New Mexico

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

no data 381,160,348 50% (assumes even 

split with disposal 

wells)

Injection for disposal no data 381,160,348 50%

Surface discharge no data no data no data 

Evaporation no data no data no data 

Offsite commercial 

disposal

no data no data no data 

Beneficial reuse no data no data no data 

Total Volume Managed 762,320,696

The OCD receives monthly injection volumes from the operators, but those forms do not 

indicate whether injection was for enhanced recovery or for disposal. The OCD does not track 

injection water separately. The total volume of water injected in 2012 was 762,320,696 bbl. 

For the sake of this report, it was assumed that half of the water was injected for enhanced 

recovery and half for disposal. 

5.20 New York

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYDEC) Division of Mineral 

Resources provided oil, gas, and water production information.

34

 The NYDEC data and other 

information compiled by the author are shown in Tables 5-41 and 5-42. New York had 13,178 

active oil and gas wells in 2012, with 40% of the wells producing oil and 60% producing gas. 

Those wells generated 509,562 bbl of produced water. Oil wells generated about 40% of the 

water with gas wells generating the remaining 60%. The WOR from these data was 0.6 bbl/bbl. 

The WGR for gas was 11 bbl/Mmcf. 

The NYDEC had limited information on how the produced water was managed. The NYDEC 

submittal showed that 69 wells were used to inject 13,778 bbl of water for enhanced recovery. 

However, it noted that the NYDEC does not have regulatory primacy for the Class II UIC 

program. Class II UIC permits within New York are issued and managed by EPA Region 2. 

 

34 Email from Division of Mineral Resources, NYDEC, to Mike Nickolaus, GWPC, on November 24, 2014, 

and an email from NYDEC to John Veil, on January 29, 2015.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 83 

Table 5-41 — 2012 Production for New York

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

5,293 208,453 359,669 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

7,885 301,109 26,595 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 13,178 509,562 359,669 bbl/yr

26,595 Mmcf/yr

For more clarification on injection activities, EPA Region 2 was contacted. Region 2 provided 

details of Class II injection for New York during 2012.

35

 Six wells had valid injection permits for

disposal in 2012, but only two of them were active during the year. A total of 586 bbl was

injected in 2012. 

Eight projects were permitted for enhanced recovery using multiple wells per facility. Only two 

of these were active during 2012 using up to 27 wells. They injected 26,836 bbl of water for 

enhanced recovery. EPA indicated that the majority of the water injected at the enhanced 

recovery facilities was fresh makeup water rather than produced water. 

Other management practices for produced water in New York are not subject to regulations 

that require oil and gas brine volumetric reporting by the authorized haulers, recipients, or end 

users. The NYDEC indicated that some volume of produced water was managed by surface 

discharge, offsite commercial disposal, and by beneficial reuse. They were unable to provide a 

volumetric estimate and suggested that the term “uncertain” be used instead. The NYDEC 

indicated that some of the produced water was beneficially reused for roadspreading under the 

BUD (Beneficial Use Determination) program. However, volumes were not required to be 

reported. 

 

35 Email from EPA Region 2 to John Veil on November 26, 2014. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 84 

Table 5-42 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for New York

Management Practice # Wells Using 

That Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

27 26,836 98%

Injection for disposal 2 586 2%

Surface discharge uncertain uncertain uncertain

Evaporation 0 0 uncertain

Offsite commercial 

disposal

uncertain uncertain but is in the 

tens of thousands of bbls

uncertain

Beneficial reuse uncertain uncertain but is in the 

tens of thousands of bbls

uncertain

Total Volume Managed 27,422 + other not 

quantified

Clark and Veil (2009) reported that all produced water that was hauled from well sites requires 

an NYDEC waste transporter permit. At that time, the NYDEC allowed produced water disposal 

at publicly owned treatment works, with approved industrial pretreatment or minipretreatment programs. No information was available to verify if these practices were allowed 

in 2012. 

5.21 North Dakota

The North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) Oil and Gas Division provided information 

about oil, gas, and water production as well as water management practices.

36

 The data were 

shown in Tables 5-43 and 5-44. North Dakota had 8,349 active oil and gas wells in 2012, with 

61% of the wells producing from the unconventional Bakken Shale. Another 34% of the wells 

produced conventional oil, and the remaining 5% produced conventional gas. 

North Dakota generated 291,147,202 bbl of produced water in 2012. The unconventional oil 

wells generated 46% of the water, the conventional oil wells generated 51%, and the 

conventional gas wells generated the rest. The WOR for conventional oil was 6.2 bbl/bbl. The 

WOR for unconventional oil was just 0.6 bbl/bbl. The combined WOR for oil was 1.2 bbl/bbl. 

The WGR for conventional gas was 190 bbl/Mmcf.

 

36 Email from the NDIC to John Veil on November 24, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 85 

Table 5-43 — 2012 Production for North Dakota

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

2,846 149,049,700 21,604,201 bbl/yr

20,126 Mmcf/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

430 6,721,355 15,225 Mmcf/yr

2,310,853 bbl/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

5,073 135,376,147 219,356,755 bbl/yr

223,152 Mmcf/yr

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 8,349 291,147,202 243,271,809 bbl/yr

258,503 Mmcf/yr

Nearly all of the produced water in North Dakota in 2012 was managed by injection. 56% of 

the water was injected into disposal wells by the producers. Another 26% was sent offsite for 

commercial disposal – most of which goes into large disposal wells. The remaining 18% was 

managed through injection into enhanced recovery wells. 

Table 5-44 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for North Dakota

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

629 52,484,071 bbl 

(produced water 

portion)

128,086,890 bbl total

18%

Injection for disposal 350 161,977,724 56%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

99 76,685,407 26%

Beneficial reuse 0 0

Total Volume Managed 291,147,202
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 86 

However, the total water volume injected for enhanced recovery was considerably larger than 

the 52,484,071 bbl shown in the table. The actual enhanced recovery water volume provided 

by the NDIC was 128,086,890 bbl. This also included 75,602,819 bbl of makeup water.

5.21.1 Changes from 2007 to 2012

During the period from 2007 to 2012, total oil production increased dramatically from 

44,543,000 bbl to 243,272,000 bbl (546% increase). Unconventional oil production from the 

Bakken Shale made up 90% of North Dakota’s oil for 2012. The Bakken Shale activity grew 

rapidly during the 2007-2012 period. 

Natural gas production, while remaining low, still increased by 365%. Over that same period, 

however, water production increased by only 216%. 

The WORs also showed a change over time. The 2007 overall WOR for North Dakota was 3 

bbl/bbl. During 2012, the overall WOR was 1.2 bbl/bbl. Much of the cause of the lower WOR in 

2012 was the expanded Bakken Shale production. There was a clear difference between 

conventional oil production (6.2 bbl/bbl) and unconventional Bakken Shale oil production (0.6 

bbl/bbl). These data suggest that unconventional oil production generated water at a much 

lower rate than did conventional production.

5.22 Ohio

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management 

(DOGRM) provided oil, gas, and water production information and produced water 

management information.

37 The data were shown in Tables 5-45 and 5-46. 

Ohio had 51,742 active oil and gas wells in 2012 – nearly all of them produced both oil and gas 

from conventional formations. A few unconventional wells produced during 2012 as Ohio’s 

Utica Shale activity was beginning. Although only 86 unconventional wells produced during 

2012, they had a disproportionate share of the hydrocarbon production. Those few wells 

accounted for 12% of the total oil and 15% of the total gas produced during the year. 

Ohio generated 5,541,502 bbl of produced water in 2012. The conventional oil wells generated 

88% of the water. The unconventional wells generated the remaining 12% of the water.

Because water production was not provided separately for oil and gas wells, it was not possible 

to calculate WORs or WGRs.

 

37 Emails from DOGRM to John Veil on November 18 and 19, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 87 

Table 5-45 — 2012 Production for Ohio

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil and gas from 

conventional formations

51,656 4,859,817 4,426,787 bbl/yr

73,230 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil and gas from 

unconventional formations

86 681,685 635,876 bbl/yr

12,831 Mmcf/yr

Total 51,742 5,541,502 5,062,663 bbl/yr

86,061 Mmcf/yr

Most produced water in Ohio was managed through injection, with 91% of produced water 

being injected into disposal wells. The DOGRM does not make a distinction between

commercial and non-commercial disposal wells during the Class II UIC permitting process. As a 

result, the agency’s database does not include separate volumes for commercial and noncommercial disposal wells. Therefore no data were entered on the Offsite Commercial Disposal 

row of the table. Ohio does have an active group of commercial disposal well facilities that 

managed water from both Ohio and Pennsylvania. 

The DOGRM noted that the beneficial reuse totals represented two separate types of reuse: 

129,575 bbl were used for deicing and dust control on roads, and 626,208 bbl were recycled to 

make new drilling fluids and frac fluids.

Table 5-46 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Ohio

Management Practice # Wells Using 

That Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

125 604,693 4%

Injection for disposal 190 14,157,886 91%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

Included in injection 

for disposal

Included in injection 

for disposal

Beneficial reuse 0 755,783 5%

Total Volume Managed 15,518,362
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 88 

The total volume of produced water managed in Ohio during 2012 (15,518,362 bbl) greatly 

exceeded the volume generated in the state (5,541,502 bbl). This discrepancy in volumes was 

noted to the DOGRM. They replied: “In 2012 the conventional industry in Ohio was slowing 

and unconventional drilling was just starting. Marcellus activity in Pennsylvania was in full 

swing and we were receiving significant volumes from operators in that state.”

It was not possible to determine if out-of-state produced water accounted for the entire excess 

disposal vs. generation volume. In any case, it represented a significant volume of water. 

Because it was produced water (and not makeup water), it was counted under Ohio’s total 

water management. 

The volume of water managed in 2012 was more than double the volume managed in 2007. 

The increase in water volume corresponded with rapid production growth in the Marcellus 

Shale and Utica Shale formation. 

5.23 Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) was unable to provide produced water volume 

data for this study because they do not receive produced water volume data from the oil and 

gas operators.

38

 Although the OCC did not submit a completed questionnaire, they do have 

detailed data on the volume of fluids injected into Class II wells – that database is available on 

the OCC website. A spreadsheet titled “UIC Injection Volumes 2012” was downloaded from 

http://www.occeweb.com/og/ogdatafiles2.htm. It shows the monthly injected volume from 

each Class II well. By sorting and summing the different Class II well types, data were compiled 

into Table 5-47. 

Table 5-47 — 2012 Injection Volumes and Well Count

Well Class 2012 Total Volume 

Injected (bbl)

# Wells

2D 663,588,934 2,743

2DCm 139,760,197 271

2DNC 336,233,517 1,041

2R 772,523,366 4,492

2RIn 324,725,454 1,614

2RSI 1,063,102 11

SWD 87,257,515 237

Total 2,325,152,584 10,409

 

38 Email from OCC to John Veil on November 17, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 89 

The Well Class abbreviations were clarified by the OCC.

39

 2D, 2DCm, 2DNC, and SWD wells

were all used for disposal. 2DCm wells were designated as commercial disposal wells, whereas 

2DNC wells were non-commercial disposal wells. The wells classified as 2D and SWD have not 

been designated as commercial or non-commercial. Wells classified as 2R, 2RIn, and 2RSI were 

all used for enhanced recovery. The 2RSI wells were used for simultaneous injection operations

(water generated from an oil and gas producing zone was injected into a lower injection zone in 

the same well without bringing the water to the surface).

The number of injection wells in each well class changed throughout the year as new wells were 

approved and older wells were closed. The numbers shown in Table 5-47 were considered to 

be an approximation. A presentation by the OCC (Griffith 2013) noted that Oklahoma had 

10,800 active injection or disposal wells in 2012. The well count from that presentation was 

close to the well count from the OCC spreadsheet. 

Table 5-48 shows the information from Table 5-47 converted to the format used for the other 

states. Although not an exact match, the volume of water injected for disposal and for 

enhanced recovery was assumed to be equal to the volume of produced water generated for 

the sake of this report. 

Table 5-49 was prepared by the author to be comparable with the results shown for each other 

state. It uses a water volume equal to the injection volume, oil and gas production volumes 

from EIA, and well counts from Griffith (2013). 

Table 5-48 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Oklahoma

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

6,117 1,098,311,922 47%

Injection for disposal 4,021 1,087,079,966 47%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 00

Offsite commercial 

disposal (injection)

271 139,760,197 6%

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 2,325,152,584

 

39 Telephone conversation between OCC and John Veil on December 1, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 90 

Produced water volume was not subdivided into water from oil wells and water from gas wells. 

Therefore, it was not possible to determine WORs or WGRs. However, many of the oil wells

were older wells that have high water production. Presumably the overall WOR for Oklahoma 

wells would be equal to or higher than the values from most other states.

Table 5-49 — 2012 Production for Oklahoma

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 117,000 2,325,152,584 92,988,000 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

65,500 1,448,579 Mmcf/yr

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

No data 574,882 Mmcf/yr

Total 182,500 2,325,152,584 92,988,000 bbl/yr

2,023,461 Mmcf/yr

5.24 Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Department of Environment Protection (PADEP) did not submit a completed 

questionnaire that provided information on production and management of produced water 

related to oil and gas activities. However the PADEP website contains links to various 

production and waste management databases 

https://www.paoilandgasreporting.state.pa.us/publicreports/Modules/Welcome/Agreement.as

px. 

These were used by the author to compile information as shown in Tables 5-50, 5-51, and 5-52. 

The well counts and production data were obtained from the 2012 production databases. The 

water management data for both flowback and produced water were obtained from the 2012 

waste management databases. Because data were available separately for flowback and 

produced water in the PADEP databases, volumes for both water streams were shown 

separately in Table 5-50 but were combined in the Total row. The PADEP provided separate 

production and waste management information for conventional wells and for Marcellus Shale 

(unconventional) wells. 

Pennsylvania had 92,843 active oil and gas wells in 2012. 93% of the wells produced from 

conventional formations. The remaining 7% of wells produced from the Marcellus Shale. 

Conventional wells produced primarily crude oil – 97% of the state’s oil came from these wells. 

The Marcellus Shale wells produced 90% of the state’s gas and 92% of the condensate. 

Condensate was added to the crude oil volume to represent total oil. 57% of the total oil 

(crude oil + condensate) came from the unconventional wells.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 91 

The PADEP production data did not show the actual produced water generation volume. The 

volume was estimated by assuming that the total volume of flowback water and produced 

water managed was equal to the volume of water generated (34,088,756 bbl). Conventional 

wells generated 6,962,524 bbl of water, with 98% of the water being produced water. 

Marcellus Shale wells generated 27,126,232 bbl of water, with 64% being produced water. The 

proportion of flowback water was far higher in the Marcellus Shale wells (36%) than in the 

conventional wells (2%), as would be expected from unconventional wells. It was not possible 

to calculate the WORs and WGRs for Pennsylvania. 

Table 5-50 — 2012 Production for Pennsylvania

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily 

That Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from 

conventional formations

86,670 150,221 (flowback)

6,812,303 (produced 

water)

2,286,004 bbl/yr (oil)

162,523 bbl/yr 

(condensate)

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

218,141 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional 

formations

6,173 9,719,945 (flowback)

17,406,287 (produced 

water)

65,160 bbl/yr (oil)

1,786,612 bbl/yr 

(condensate)

Natural gas from 

unconventional 

formations

2,041,753 Mmcf/yr

Total 92,843 34,088,756 (based on 

volume of water 

managed)

4,300,299 bbl/yr

2,259,894 Mmcf/yr

The water management data for Pennsylvania were detailed – water management volume and 

practice were shown separately for each of the thousands of wells. By sorting and combining 

the rows and columns in the databases, totals can be derived. They include other management 

methods not found commonly in the other states. In addition, data on management practices 

for flowback water and produced water were provided separately. 

The PADEP defines flowback as “the return flow of water, fracturing/stimulation fluids, and/or 

formation fluids recovered from the well bore of an oil or gas well within 30 days following the 

release of pressures induced as part of the hydraulic fracture stimulation of a target geologic 

formation, or until the well is placed into production, whichever occurs first.” It defines 

Brine/Produced Fluids (comparable to produced water) as “water and/or formation fluids, 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 92 

including natural salt water separated at oil and gas wells that are recovered at the wellhead 

after the flowback period.”40

Table 5-51 provides the full distribution of water management data. Table 5-52 combines the 

data into the same tabular format used for other states. 

The water management categories in Table 5-51 are described below:

 Centralized treatment plant – the water was trucked to a centralized plant where it was 

treated then returned to the field for reuse.

 Injection for disposal – Pennsylvania has very few disposal wells. Most of the water 

managed in this way was trucked to Ohio or West Virginia. This could potentially lead to 

double counting of the water in both Pennsylvania and whichever other state receives 

the water. Given that the total volume of injected water was a bit more than 4 million 

bbl, its impact on national produced water volume estimates was very small. This is 

noted as an area of uncertainty, but is tolerated because of the insignificant magnitude 

of any impact of double counting. 

 Residual waste processing – The PADEP issued a general permit allowing residual waste 

(flowback and produced water are considered to be residual waste) to be recycled. Only 

a small portion of the wastewater was managed under the general permit.

 Reuse other than roadspreading – most of this wastewater was given some degree of 

treatment in the field and was then reused in other wells.

 Storage waiting for disposal. This category covers water accumulated in tanks or pits 

that was awaiting some form of water management at the time the report was filed by 

the operator.

 Landfill – most liquid wastes were not allowed to be disposed in landfills. The 

wastewater shown in these categories may have been incorrectly entered on reporting 

forms. In any case, this was a very small volume of wastewater. 

 Discharge – This category covered two types of activities. The PADEP requires a very 

high degree of treatment before Marcellus Shale wastewater can be discharged to 

surface waters. A few centralized treatment plants offer advanced levels of treatment, 

including desalination. The very small volume of wastewater managed in this way is 

shown under the discharge category. In addition, about 11% of the conventional well 

wastewater was managed by sending it to municipal wastewater treatment plants. 

Marcellus Shale wastewater is no longer permitted for disposal in this way. 

 Roadspreading – some of the conventional produced water and a very small amount of 

the unconventional produced water was applied to roads in winter months for deicing.

 

40 These definitions are part of the “Oil and Gas-Related Residual Waste Code (RWC) Descriptions” 

found in a document posted at 

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/1468452/tenorm_monthly_spreadsheet_inst

ructions_pdf?qid=24478749&rank=9. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 93 

Table 5-51 contains a great deal of interesting information that shows differences in 

management practices between conventional and unconventional production as well as 

differences in how flowback water was managed compared to produced water. Readers are 

encouraged to study this table to learn the different strategies used during 2012.

Table 5-51 — Detailed Water Management Data for Pennsylvania

Unconventional Conventional Combined

Flowback Prod Water Total % Flowback Prod Water Total % Total %

Centralized 

treatment for 

reuse

1,398,438 2,131,496 3,529,934 13 141,167 2,136,033 2,277,200 33 5,807,134 17

Injection -

disposal

70,679 3,493,527 3,564,206 13 1,879 653,945 655,824 9 4,220,030 12

Residual 

waste 

processing 

and reuse

30,612 105,358 135,970 0.5 0 0 0 <0.1 135,970 0.4

Reuse other 

than 

roadspreading

8,149,339 11,418,150 19,567,489 72 2,996 2,975,695 2,978,691 43 22,546,180 66

Storage 

waiting for 

disposal or 

reuse

63,981 256,948 320,929 1.2 0 5,100 5,100 <0.1 326,029 1.0

Landfill 6,366 278 6,644 <0.1 0 109 109 <0.1 6,753 <0.1

Discharge 105 105 210 <0.1 4,100 775,554 779,654 11 779,864 2.2

Roadspread 425 425 850 <0.1 79 265,867 265,946 4 266,796 1.0

Total 9,719,945 17,406,287 27,126,232 100 150,221 6,812,303 6,962,524 100 34,088,756 100

To combine this into the tabular format in Table 5-52, the last two columns on the right from 

Table 5-51 were used. The Injection-Disposal and Discharge totals were used directly. The 

Centralized Treatment for Reuse, Residual Waste Processing, Reuse Other than Roadspreading, 

Storage, and Roadspread categories were combined and placed into the Beneficial Reuse row. 

The very small volume shown in the Landfill category was not included in Table 5-52.

Pennsylvania shows a far higher percentage of beneficial reuse than any other state. This was 

driven primarily by the comparative economics of each of the available water management 

methods. The cost to provide modest treatment followed by reuse was typically lower than the 

cost of all other management options. As a result, the companies chose to follow that 

management practice at most wells. 

5.24.1 Changes from 2007 to 2012

Oil and gas activity in Pennsylvania changed dramatically between 2007 and 2012. The 

Marcellus Shale went from being a new promising play in 2007 to a major gas-producing play in 

2012. Conventional production also increased. In 2007, Pennsylvania produced oil and gas 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 94 

from about 71,000 wells – nearly all were conventional wells. In 2012, Pennsylvania operated 

86,670 conventional wells and 6,173 Marcellus Shale wells.

Table 5-52 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Pennsylvania

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

no data 0 0

Injection for disposal no data 4,220,030 12.4%

Surface discharge no data 779,864 2.3%

Evaporation no data 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

no data 0 0

Beneficial reuse no data 29,082,109 85.3%

Total Volume Managed 34,082,003

In 2007, gas production was 172,367 Mmcf (Pennsylvania was the 16th highest gas-producing 

state). In 2012, the conventional gas production was 218,141 Mmcf, plus there was a large gas 

production from Marcellus Shale wells of 2,041,753 Mmcf. The total gas production was 

2,259,894 Mmcf, which was 13 times larger than the 2007 total. This moved Pennsylvania into 

4

th place among gas-producing states. 

In 2007, the oil production (presumably including any condensate) was 1,537,347 bbl. This put 

Pennsylvania in 25th place in oil production among the states. In 2012, the oil and condensate 

production from conventional wells was 2,448,527 bbl. The Marcellus Shale wells contributed 

another 1,851,772 bbl. The combined total of 4,300,299 bbl was 2.8 times larger than oil 

production in 2007. This moved Pennsylvania into 19th place among oil-producing states. 

The total produced water volume in 2007 was 3,912,456 bbl. This water volume ranked 

Pennsylvania 28th among the 31 producing states. The conventional water volume in 2012 was 

6,962,524 bbl, and the Marcellus Shale wells contributed another 27,126,232 bbl for a total of 

34,088,756 bbl (8.7 times larger than the 2007 total). This moved Pennsylvania into 22nd place 

among produced water generating states. 

To gauge the impact of the Marcellus Shale wells, they can be studied separately from the 

conventional wells. The increase in production from 2007 to 2012 for conventional wells was 

27% for gas, 59% for oil, and 78% for water. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 95 

Only minimal production came from Marcellus Shale wells in 2007. In 2012, Marcellus Shale 

wells produced 2,041,753 Mmcf of gas, 1,858,772 bbl of oil and condensate, and 27,126,232 bbl

of water. The increase in produced water from Marcellus Shale wells in 2012 was significant 

compared to the total produced water generated in 2007. But putting it in perspective of water 

production in all other states, it was not a substantial increase (Pennsylvania remains in the 

bottom third of state produced water volumes).

Another way of looking at the data was to evaluate production on a per-well basis. On average, 

each conventional well generated 2.5 Mmcf of gas, 28 bbl of oil and condensate, and 80 bbl of 

water per year. In comparison, each Marcellus Shale well generated 331 Mmcf of gas, 300 bbl 

of oil and condensate, and 4,394 bbl of water (64% of the water was produced water). Each 

Marcellus Shale well produced 11 times more oil, 132 times more gas, and 55 times more water 

than each conventional well.

 

5.25 South Dakota

The South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Geological Survey 

Program provided information on production and management of produced water related to 

oil and gas activities.

41

 The data are shown in Tables 5-53 and 5-54. 

South Dakota had 253 active oil and gas wells in 2012, with all wells producing from 

conventional formations. 62% of the wells produced oil and 38% produced gas. The Geological 

Survey estimated a total gas production of 15,108 Mmcf. 555 Mmcf came from gas wells – the 

remainder was associated gas from oil wells. The Geological Survey maintains a detailed 

production database on its website at http://denr.sd.gov/des/og/producti.aspx. 

During 2012, South Dakota wells generated 5,296,179 bbl of produced water. Nearly all the 

water came from the oil wells. The WOR was 3 bbl/bbl. The volume of water from gas wells

was so small (642 bbl) that calculation of a WGR was not meaningful. 

According to the Geological Survey, all produced water was injected. The total water managed 

by injection (5,981,240 bbl) was greater than the total volume of produced water generated. 

The Geological Survey acknowledged that some of the water used for water flood projects 

comes from other sources. The actual enhanced recovery water volume provided by the 

Geological Survey was 3,709,852 bbl. That total can be allocated to make produced water 

volumes balance. 3,024,791 bbl was assumed to be produced water, with the remaining 

685,061 bbl being makeup water. 

 

41 Emails from South Dakota Geological Survey to John Veil on July 18, 2014 and February 23, 2015. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 96 

Table 5-53 – 2012 Production for South Dakota

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

158 5,295,537 1,754,207 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

95 642 15,108 Mmcf/yr

(includes gas from 

the 95 gas wells and 

associated gas from 

the oil wells)

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Total 253 5,296,179 1,754,207 bbl/yr

15,108 Mmcf/yr

Table 5-54 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for South Dakota

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

34 3,024,791 bbl 

(produced water 

portion)

3,709,852 bbl total

57%

Injection for disposal 15 2,271,388 43%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 5,296,179

Clark and Veil (2009) reported that South Dakota managed 4% of produced water in 2007 

through surface discharge or beneficial reuse as water for livestock. These alternate 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 97 

management practices were not identified in the Geological Survey’s reply in 2014. The 

Geological Survey noted that these alternate practices were not tracked through oil and gas 

production data. He also added that it was unlikely that produced water would be used for 

livestock purposes.

 

5.26 Tennessee

The Tennessee Oil and Gas Program in the Department of Environment and Conservation 

provided information about oil and gas production.

42

 This information and other information 

compiled by the author are shown in Tables 5-55 and 5-56.

Tennessee had 2,339 active oil and gas wells in 2012. About 53% of these wells produced oil 

from conventional formations. The other 47% of the wells produced gas from conventional 

formations. 

Table 5-55 — 2012 Production for Tennessee

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

1,236 1,480,405 

(extrapolated)

372,251 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

1,103 5,891 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

0 0

Total 2,339 1,480,405

(extrapolated)

372,251 bbl/yr

5,891 Mmcf/yr

Tennessee does not collect produced water information on oil and gas wells. Most of the oil 

and gas production in Tennessee is located in the north central portion of the state along its 

border with Kentucky. An extrapolation procedure based on using Kentucky’s oil, gas, and 

water volumes was used to estimate a produced water volume for Tennessee. The volume of 

oil produced in Kentucky in 2012 was 8.6 times larger than in Tennessee. The volume of gas 

produced in Kentucky in 2012 was 18 times larger than in Tennessee. Water production for 

Kentucky was estimated as a single number, without allocating volumes to oil production and 

 

42 Email from Tennessee Oil and Gas Program to John Veil on December 9, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 98 

to gas production. The 2012 water production for Tennessee is likely to be somewhere 

between 8.6 to 18 times lower than Kentucky’s volume. 

Without any other basis for evaluating those ratios, the two numbers were averaged, yielding 

an estimated state-to-state differential factor of 13.3. Kentucky’s 2012 water production 

volume (19,689,387 bbl) was divided by 13.3. The resulting extrapolated estimate was 

1,480,405 bbl of produced water generated in Tennessee during 2012. 

The Tennessee Oil and Gas Program reported that produced water was not injected for 

enhanced recovery or for disposal in 2012. The Program noted that surface discharge, 

evaporation, and offsite commercial disposal were the practices used in Tennessee, but she had 

no information on the volumes managed by each practice. 

The Tennessee Oil and Gas Association explained that most oil and gas production in Tennessee 

comes from gas-drive formations (gas in the formation helps maintain downhole pressure). As 

a result, very little produced water comes to the surface. Typically, the small amounts of 

produced water were placed in pits where much of the water evaporates43. For the sake of this 

report, all produced water for 2012 was assumed to be evaporated from pits. 

Table 5-56 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Tennessee

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

0 0 0

Injection for disposal 0 0 0

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation common 1,480,405

(estimated)

100%

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 1,480,405

 

43 Telephone conversation between the Tennessee Oil and Gas Association and John Veil, on December 

18,2014. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 99 

5.27 Texas

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) provided information on produced water and 

hydrocarbon production.

44

 The data are shown in Tables 5-57 and 5-58. Oil and gas activity in 

Texas was far larger than in any other state. The RRC reported 270,082 active oil and gas wells 

in Texas during 2012. Oil wells made up 62% of the total wells. The oil and gas production data 

and well counts did not distinguish between conventional and unconventional production. 

The total volume of produced water reported from all wells was 7,435,659,156 bbl – much 

larger than the volume reported for any other state. The RRC was unable to provide a breakout 

of water production from oil well vs. gas wells or from conventional vs. unconventional wells. 

As a result, it was not possible to calculated WORs or WGRs.

Looking at how that water was managed, the RRC was able to provide a total volume of water 

injected during 2012 (7,435,659,156 bbl). The RRC data broke out the volume injected into 

commercial disposal wells (795,024,609 bbl). Unfortunately the RRC’s databases could not be 

queried in a way to provide separate estimates of the volume of water injected for enhanced 

recovery and the volume injected for disposal in non-commercial wells. The total volume for 

both types of injection was shown as a single estimate (6,640,634,547 bbl).

Table 5-57 — 2012 Production for Texas

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

and unconventional 

formations

167,864 7,435,659,156 608,213,317 bbl

Natural gas from 

conventional and 

unconventional formations

102,218 8,136,884 Mmcf

Total 270,082 7,435,659,156 608,213,317 bbl

8,136,884 Mmcf/yr

Although about 95% of the produced water in Texas was managed by injection, about 5% of 

produced water (having the low salinity) was managed by discharge to surface water bodies. 

The RRC also characterized the low salinity produced water discharge as a beneficial reuse of 

the water. In addition to the produced water that was discharged, the RRC estimated that 15% 

to 20% of Texas flowback water was reused – no specific volume was provided for the 

flowback. 

 

44 Email from RRC to John Veil on November 7, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 100 

Because of the size of Texas’ oil and gas industry, the Texas data were very important 

proportionally in developing the national estimates. Additional inquiries were made within the

RRC to learn if the proportions of water injected for enhanced recovery vs. disposal could be 

estimated. The individuals contacted were unanimous in confirming that the RRC databases 

could not be queried to segregate water estimates in those two categories. In a follow-up 

inquiry to J-P Nicot, oil and gas water specialist at the University of Texas, Bureau of Economic 

Geology, Dr. Nicot agreed that the RRC database could not be readily sorted or queried to 

distinguish the type of injection. 

Table 5-58 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Texas

Management Practice # Wells 

Using 

That 

Practice

Total Volume of Produced 

Water Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

24,717 6,640,634,547(RRC estimate)

3,717,829,578 (redistributed) 

48%

Injection for disposal -

noncommercial

6,455 2,922,804,969 (redistributed) 37%

Surface discharge 

(this was put to a 

beneficial reuse)

60 371,178,296 5% (fresh produced 

water)

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal- injection

1,006 795,024,609 10%

Beneficial reuse uncertain uncertain Estimated 15-20% of 

flowback fluid

Total Volume Managed 7,806,837,452

In his reply to the author,

45 Dr. Nicot provided the results of several queries he ran on the RRC’s 

Annual Disposal/Injection Well Monitoring Report (Form H-10) database. The data highlighted

the challenges in querying massive databases. The outputs should accurately reflect the query 

settings, but the person making the query may not use exactly the same sets of settings or 

assumptions on different queries. When the same database was queried in different ways, the 

resulting outputs could yield results that were similar but not exactly the same. Likewise, when 

alternate databases that are intended to house the same information were queried, they often 

 

45 Email from Jean-Phillipe Nicot, University of Texas, Bureau of Economic Geology, to John Veil, on 

December 13, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 101 

provided results that were close to, but not the same as the first database. Table 5-59 shows 

the differences in 2012 injection volume estimates using different queries and sources.

Table 5-59 — Injection Volume Estimates from Different Sources

Data Source Total Injected 

Volume (bbl/yr)

Questionnaire provided by RRC 7,435,659,156

H-10 Database – query for fluid type volumes (includes Salt Water, 

Fresh Water, Fracture Water Flow Back, Steam, and Other fluids)

7,435,586,803 

Same as above, but omit Other fluids 7,377,220,312

H-10 Database – query for injection volumes 7,437,897,785

Separate Vendor-Compiled Database 7,421,046,425

The difference between the highest and lowest estimates was about 60 million bbl. For the 

Texas total volume, that was just a fraction of a percent difference. But compared to the total 

produced water volumes from many other states, 60 million bbl was a significant volume. For 

example, the entire 2012 produced water volume for Nebraska was about 58 million bbl –

virtually the same as the difference between the highest and lowest Texas estimates. 

5.27.1 Alternate Method to Determine Proportion of Water Injected for Enhanced Recovery 

vs. Disposal

The RRC’s website provides some background on underground injection 

(http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/about-us/resource-center/faqs/oil-gas-faqs/faq-saltwater-disposalwells/). 

“There are three different categories of underground injection used to manage the 

disposal of oil and gas produced wastewater:

1. Oil and gas produced wastewater may be returned to the reservoir where it 

originated by injection for secondary or enhanced oil recovery. These injection wells are 

referred to as “injection wells” or wells involved in “secondary recovery/injection wells” 

(permit applications are filed on Form H-1/H-1A); 

2. Oil and gas produced wastewater may be disposed of by injection into underground 

porous rock formations not productive of oil or gas that are isolated from useable quality 

groundwater and sealed above and below by unbroken and impermeable strata. 

Injection wells of this type are referred to as “disposal wells” or are wells involved in 

“disposal into a non-productive zone” (permit applications are filed on Form W-14); or 

3. Oil and gas produced wastewater may be disposed of by injection back into the 

productive zone where it originated with the associated oil or natural gas that it was 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 102 

produced with. This type of waste management is referred to as “disposal” because it 

occurs without the added benefit of “secondary recovery” as in the first category, and is 

also referred to as “disposal into a productive zone” (these permit applications are also 

filed on Form H-1/H-1A).

The vast majority of wells in Texas are injection wells, not disposal wells. As of calendar 

year 2013, Texas has more than 50,000 permitted oil and gas injection and disposal 

wells with approximately 35,000 currently active as of calendar year 2013. Of these 

35,000 active injection and disposal wells, about 7,500 are wells that are disposal wells 

and the remainder are injection wells.”

The estimated number of injection wells indicated in the completed questionnaire submitted by 

the RRC (32,178 in 2012) was compatible with the estimate of approximately 35,000 active 

wells in 2013 shown above. 

In order to make a rough estimate of the volume of water injected for enhanced recovery and 

or disposal, the only piece of evidence available was the distribution method used in Clark and 

Veil (2009). The person who managed the UIC program for the RRC at that time (he has since 

retired) provided an estimate that 32% of the produced water was injected into a nonproducing formation for disposal and 18% was injected into a producing formation for disposal. 

The remaining 50% was injected for enhanced recovery. Clark and Veil (2009) combined the 

percentage disposed into producing formations with the percentage injected for enhanced 

recovery. This portion (68%) was assumed to be injected for enhanced recovery. However, in 

this current report, that allocation was revisited and changed. The 50% injected for enhanced 

recovery remains. The 32% and 18% of water injected for disposal were combined for a total of 

50% injected for disposal. This assumed distribution of 50% enhanced recovery and 50% 

disposal was also used for several other states that do not break out the two types of injection. 

Note: This set of assumptions does not necessarily reflect actual 2012 data. But in the absence 

of any other way to make an estimate, it was used here. The decision to combine the 18% of 

water injected for disposal in a producing formation with the 32% injected for disposal into a 

non-producing formation was a different approach than the one used in Clark and Veil (2009). 

The author believes the revised approach is more representative, but acknowledges that it will 

make comparison of the 2007 data to the 2012 data more complicated.

Following those assumptions estimates were revised. The total injected volume in 2012 was 

7,435,659,156 bbl. 50% of the total injected water (3,717,829,578 bbl) was assumed to be used 

for enhanced recovery The volume injected at commercial disposal facilities (795,024,609 bbl)

was all injected for disposal. The difference (2,922,804,969 bbl) was assumed to be the volume 

injected for disposal at non-commercial facilities. 

As a further caveat, it is worth noting that the produced water generated volume exactly 

matched the produced water injected volume – those were the figures provided by the RRC. 

The volume of produced water discharged augmented the total injected volume, thereby 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 103 

making the total produced water managed volume slightly larger than the total generated

volume. Given the range of other assumptions already employed to estimate volumes for 

Texas, no further attempt was made to balance the water generated volume with the water 

managed volume. 

5.28 Utah

The Utah Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining (DOGM) provided 

data on oil, gas, and water production and on how the produced water was managed.

46

 The 

data are shown in Tables 5-60 and 5-61. 

Utah had 11,014 active wells during 2012. 62% of the wells produced gas, and 38% produced

oil. During 2012, these wells generated 166,945,372 bbl of water. The DOGM did not 

differentiate between conventional and unconventional production, nor did it have separate 

water volumes for oil and for gas wells. Therefore, it was not possible to calculate WORs and 

WGRs.

The DOGM provided water management data for the year 2013 (not for 2012). Presumably the 

numbers were not much different between the two years. Utah managed 181,626,602 bbl of 

produced water during 2013. 47% of the water was injected for disposal, and 40% was injected 

for enhanced recovery. The DOGM noted that the volume shown in Table 5-60 for enhanced 

recovery represented only produced water (therefore no reduction was made to account for 

the presumed makeup water). In actual practice, other sources of makeup water were added 

to augment the total volume.

Table 5-60 — 2012 Production for Utah

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to 

Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year or 

Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional

and unconventional

formations

4,232 166,945,372 30,194,727 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional and 

unconventional formations

6,782 490,857 Mmcf/yr

Total 11,014 166,945,372 30,194,727 bbl/yr

490,857 Mmcf/yr

 

46 Email from Utah DOGM to John Veil on November 19, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 104 

Another 6% of the produced water was discharged to surface waters in the Ashley Valley field. 

The water from that formation has low salinity and can be used for irrigation and later 

discharged. The discharged volume in 2013 (11,589,167 bbl) was only about half of the volume 

discharged in that field in 2007 (Clark and Veil 2009). Utah producers send 7% of the state’s 

produced water to offsite commercial disposal facilities that employ large evaporation ponds. 

The DOGM indicated that 0.5% of the produced water was managed for beneficial reuse. They 

did not provide any details. Clark and Veil (2009) reported that 476,945 bbl of produced water 

were reused in drilling and workover fluids in 2007. The use of the Ashley Valley water for 

irrigation was also a beneficial reuse as well as a surface discharge.

Table 5-61 — 2013 Produced Water Management Practices for Utah

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

1,881 71,534,655 40%

Injection for disposal 118 85,534,167 47%

Surface discharge no data 11,589,301 6%

Evaporation no data 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal (evaporation 

ponds)

no data 12,968,479 7%

Beneficial reuse no data uncertain 0.5%

Total Volume Managed 181,626,602

5.29 Virginia

The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy (DMME) provided oil, gas, and water 

production information as well as produced water management information.

47 The 

information is shown in Tables 5-62 and 5-63. Virginia had 7,858 active oil and gas wells during 

2012. 75% of the wells produced CBM (unconventional gas), and 25% produced conventional 

gas. Three wells produced conventional oil. 

Virginia wells generated 3,231,508 bbl of produced water during 2012. 98% of the water came 

from the CBM wells. The conventional gas wells generated the remaining 2% of produced 

water. No produced water was associated with the 3 conventional oil wells. Therefore no WOR 

 

47 Email from Virginia DMME to John Veil on August 25, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 105 

could be calculated. The WGR for CBM wells was 22 bbl/Mmcf. The WGR for conventional gas 

wells was 2 bbl/Mmcf. The WGR for combined gas was 22 bbl/Mmcf.

Table 5-62 — 2012 Production for Virginia

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

3 0 9,659 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

1,931 54,427 26,300 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

0 0 0

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

(CBM)

5,927 3,177,081 119,900 Mmcf/yr

Total 7,858 3,231,508 9,659 bbl/yr

146,200 Mmcf/yr

The DMME reported that all produced water was injected for disposal into 4,879 disposal 

wells. 

Table 5-63 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Virginia

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

0 0 0

Injection for disposal 4,879 3,231,508 100%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal

0 0 0

Beneficial reuse 0 0 0

Total Volume Managed 3,231,508
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 106 

5.30 West Virginia

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) Office of Oil and Gas 

provided information on production activities and produced water management.

48 The data 

are shown in Tables 5-64 and 5-65. The data provided by the WVDEP showed 70,588 wells in 

four categories, but the WVDEP noted that just 60,002 of them were active in 2012. Of the 

total number of wells, 83% produced conventional gas, and 15% produced conventional oil. 

The remaining 2% of wells (306 oil wells and 1,050 gas wells) produced from unconventional 

formations. However, the unconventional wells showed considerably higher production rates. 

The 1,050 unconventional gas wells produced 62% of all West Virginia gas in 2012. The 306 

unconventional oil wells produced 39% of West Virginia’s oil. 

The WVDEP did not track produced water generation volumes. They were unable to provide 

those volumes directly. But the WVDEP did provide information on how the produced water 

was managed. For the sake of this study, the total volume of produced water managed was 

assumed to equal the volume generated (13,772,094 bbl). While this is not an exact 

comparison, it serves as a reasonable estimate. The WVDEP indicates that much of the 

flowback water from fracturing operations was reused for future frac jobs. No information was 

provided for those volumes. 

Table 5-64 — 2012 Production for West Virginia

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily 

That Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations

10,280 13,772,094 (based on 

total water managed)

1,559,883 bbl

Natural gas from 

conventional formations

58,952 202,910 Mmcf

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations

306 1,001,324 bbl

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations

1,050 336,570 Mmcf

Total 60,002 13,772,094 (based on 

total water managed)

2,561,207 bbl

539,481 Mmcf

Nearly 80% of the produced water was managed by injection. 27% was injected for enhanced 

recovery. 28% was injected to non-commercial disposal wells, and 25% was injected into 

 

48 Email from WVDEP to John Veil on November 12, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 107 

commercial disposal wells. The remaining 20% of produced water (representing water from 

CBM wells) was managed by land applications, which allowed produced water of a certain 

quality to be dispersed on the ground under authority of a water pollution control permit 

(http://www.dep.wv.gov/oil-and-gas/Documents/Fact%20Sheet%20GP-WV-1-07.pdf). 

Table 5-65 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for West Virginia

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery

450 3,660,000 27%

Injection for disposal 64 3,875,957 25%

Surface discharge 0 0 0

Evaporation 0 0 0

Offsite commercial 

disposal (disposal 

wells)

16 3,390,587 28%

Other (land application 

of CBM water)

41 2,845,550 20%

Beneficial reuse Much of the 

flowback water in 

frac operations was 

recycled for other 

frac jobs

uncertain uncertain

Total Volume Managed 13,772,094

5.31 Wyoming

The Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) provided information on 

production activities and produced water management.

49

 The data are shown in Tables 5-66

and 5-67. Wyoming had 39,389 active oil and gas wells in 2012. The WOGCC noted that it did 

not specifically track conventional vs. unconventional oil and gas wells. For the purposes of the 

submitted data, the WOGCC included all horizontal well as unconventional and all vertical wells 

as conventional. The EIA oil and gas total production volumes were reasonably close to the 

total oil and total gas volumes provided by the WOGCC. However, the proportions of 

conventional gas vs. unconventional gas were quite different between the two sets of 

estimates. Nevertheless, the WOGCC data are used in Table 5-65.

 

49 Email from WOGCC to John Veil on August 12, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 108 

About 60% of the wells produced conventional gas, and another 25% produced conventional 

oil. 12% of the wells produce unconventional gas, and 3% produced unconventional oil.

In 2012, Wyoming wells generated 2,178,065,378 bbl of produced water. The conventional oil 

wells generated 62% of the total, with conventional gas wells producing 23% of the water. 14% 

of the water came from unconventional oil wells, with the remaining small portion coming from 

unconventional gas wells. 

Table 5-66 — 2012 Production for Wyoming

Type of Hydrocarbon # Wells 

Producing 

Primarily That 

Type of 

Hydrocarbon

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Brought to Surface 

(bbl/year)

Volume of 

Hydrocarbon 

Produced (bbl/year 

or Mmcf/year)

Crude oil from conventional 

formations 9,988 1,344,497,804 32,006,166 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

conventional formations 23,500 497,836,513 1,268,498 Mmcf/yr

Crude oil from 

unconventional formations 1,134 302,103,202 13,375,817 bbl/yr

Natural gas from 

unconventional formations 4,767 33,627,859 810,571 Mmcf/yr

Total

39,389 2,178,065,378

45,381,983 bbl/yr

2,079,070 Mmcf/yr

The Wyoming data allowed calculation of WORs and WGRs. The WOR for conventional oil was 

42 bbl/bbl, and for unconventional oil it was 23 bbl/bbl. The WGR for conventional gas was 392

bbl/Mmcf, and for unconventional gas it was 42 bbl/Mmcf. If conventional and unconventional 

production volumes were combined, the overall WOR was 36 bbl/bbl, and the overall WGR was 

256 bbl/Mmcf. 

The WOGCC provided data on produced water injection. A total of 1,168,699,739 bbl of water 

was injected during 2012. 73% of the water was injected for enhanced recovery through 2,759 

wells. The remaining 27% was injected for disposal. 

The total volume of generated produced water in 2012 exceeded the volume injected by about 

1 million bbl. The WOGCC acknowledged that some produced water was managed by each of 

the other methods in Table 5-66, but added that it did not track those volumes. From prior 

experience studying CBM activities in the Powder River Basin region of Wyoming, the author is 

aware that the CBM water has low salinity allowing it to be discharged to surface water bodies 

or reused for irrigation or livestock watering. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 109 

Table 5-67 — 2012 Produced Water Management Practices for Wyoming

Management Practice # Wells Using That 

Practice

Total Volume of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice (bbl/year)

Percentage of 

Produced Water 

Managed by That 

Practice

Injection for enhanced 

recovery 2,759 855,755,837

73%

Injection for disposal 335 312,943,902 27%

Surface discharge uncertain uncertain uncertain

Evaporation uncertain uncertain uncertain

Offsite commercial 

disposal

uncertain uncertain uncertain

Beneficial reuse uncertain uncertain uncertain

Total Volume Managed 1,168,699,739

The following text was included in the Wyoming summary in Clark and Veil (2009):

“Information on historic trends that was provided for produced water management in 

the Powder River Basin indicate that since 1987, 4.784 billion bbl have been produced 

from coal beds. Approximately 54% has been discharged to ephemeral and perennial 

streams, 35% has been managed using off-channel pits, 5% has been reused for 

irrigation projects, 3% has been managed through injection, and 3% has been treated 

and then discharged into streams. Much of the produced water from conventional gas 

activities in the Big Horn Basin was also managed through agricultural reuse, although 

the actual volume is unknown.”
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 110 

Chapter 6 — Federal and Tribal Summary

This chapter provides information on produced water associated with production activities on 

federal lands (onshore), offshore production in federal waters, and tribal lands. Federal onshore 

mineral leasing activities are managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. DOI’s 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages the oil and gas leasing on the Outer 

Continental Shelf. Its sister agency, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSSE),

maintains production data from offshore leases. 

The DOI Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) is responsible for management of all 

revenues associated with mineral leases on federal onshore, federal offshore, and tribal lands. 

The oil, gas, and water volume information in this chapter were obtained from ONRR, BOEM, 

and directly from DOI. Several regional offices of the EPA provided produced water 

management information. EPA Regions 9 and 10 provided volumes of produced water 

discharged to the ocean from offshore wells. Regions 4 and 6 did not respond to similar 

requests for discharge volumes from offshore wells to the Gulf of Mexico. Regions 2 and 4

provided information on UIC injection volumes for New York and Kentucky respectively. 

6.1 Federal and Tribal Onshore Lands

Production data for federal onshore lands was provided by the ONRR.

50

 In 2012, onshore oil 

production on federal lands was 126,390,609 bbl. Onshore gas production was 3,674,718 

Mmcf, and onshore water production was 2,174,518,759 bbl. 

A subsequent request for production data on tribal lands was made to ONRR. The author was 

directed to file an FOIA request to the DOI. The FOIA request was made, the data were 

provided by DOI,

51 and the author was billed for the FOIA processing time. In 2012, oil 

production on tribal lands was 36,443,082 bbl. Gas production was 309,411 Mmcf, and water 

production was 258,168,746 bbl. It was not clear why ONRR provided the federal onshore data 

through a routine request, but insisted on an FOIA request with billing for the tribal data. 

Onshore production on federal lands and production on tribal lands are assumed to be included 

in the total production volumes provided by the state agencies for those states in which the 

federal and tribal lands are located. These production volumes were included in the state 

summaries in the previous chapter. Therefore, the volumes of oil, gas, and water provided in 

this section were not included in the summary table in Chapter 4 to avoid double counting. 

 

50 Email from ONRR to John Veil on July 24, 2014. 

51 Letter from Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, to John Veil, on January 21, 2015.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 111 

6.2 Federal Offshore Production

The BOEM Gulf of Mexico OCS office provided production data for the federal offshore 

activities in the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico.

52

 The 2012 production included

465,095,235 bbl of oil, 1,536,101 Mmcf of gas, and 509,159,846 bbl of water. 

The BOEM Gulf of Mexico OCS office forwarded information from the BOEM Alaska office 

indicating that no produced water had been generated from offshore wells on the Alaska Outer 

Continental Shelf. Note that Alaska does have some “offshore” production in the Cook Inlet. 

However, Cook Inlet is classified as state waters, not federal waters. Therefore it is not under 

the jurisdiction of the BOEM.

The BOEM Pacific OCS office provided a link to an online database that included production 

data for the federal offshore activities in the Outer Continental Shelf of California53 

http://www.data.bsee.gov/homepg/data_center/production/PacificFreeProd.asp. The 2012 

production included 17,678,497 bbl of oil, 27,262 Mmcf of gas, and 115,601,971 bbl of water. 

While some produced water generated from offshore activities was injected, most was 

managed through discharge to the ocean after treatment on the platforms. It was not clear if 

the injected volume was only produced water or if it also included seawater.

In the Gulf of Mexico OCS region, 52,043,434 bbl of water were injected. The actual discharge 

volume could not be obtained from BOEM or EPA. It was estimated by subtracting the injection 

volume from the total produced water volume (509,159,846 bbl) to give 457,116,412 bbl.

For the Pacific OCS region, 73,363,232 bbl of water were injected during 2012. The EPA Region 

9 office provided the 2012 produced water discharge volumes from 12 offshore California 

platforms (2 others had no discharge).

54

 The total of those discharges was 58,800,000 bbl. 

The total volume from both OCS regions combined was 482,773,732 bbl oil, 1,563,363 Mmcf 

gas, and 624,761,817 bbl water. The volume of produced water injected was 125,406,666 bbl. 

In the absence of any knowledge of the proportion of injected water going to enhanced 

recovery vs. disposal, this report assumes that total volume was split equally between the two 

categories. The total volume discharged was 515,916,412 bbl.

 

52 Email from BOEM Gulf of Mexico OCS Region to John Veil on November 21, 2014.

53 Email from BOEM Pacific OCS Region to John Veil on December 10, 2014. 

54 Email from EPA Region 9 to John Veil on December 19, 2014.
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 112 

Chapter 7 — Findings and Conclusions

7.1 Findings

7.1.1 Produced Water Volume

This report provides an estimate of the volume of produced water generated from oil and gas 

production in the United States during the 2012 calendar year. The volume estimate represents 

a compilation of data obtained from numerous state oil and gas agencies and several federal 

agencies. The total volume of produced water estimated for 2012 was about 21.2 billion bbl or 

890 billion gallons. This equals an average of 58 million bbl/day or 2.4 billion gallons/day. 

Produced water was generated from most of the nearly 1 million actively producing oil and gas 

wells in the United States. 

Several states dominated the total produced water volume estimates. Texas, with more than 

7.4 billion bbl, represented 35% of the national total. Other states with produced water 

volumes exceeding 1 billion bbl included California (15%), Oklahoma (11%), Wyoming (11%), 

and Kansas (5%).

Texas produced the highest volumes of water, oil, and gas. But the other top water-producing 

states were not necessarily in the highest rankings for oil and gas production. 

Many organizations with an interest in water assumed that with the large increase in 

unconventional oil and gas production between 2007 and 2012, the total volume of produced 

water generated would climb significantly. However, the data did not bear out that 

assumption. U.S. oil production increased by 29% between 2007 and 2012, and U.S. gas 

production increased by 22% during those years. During the same period, however, U.S. water 

production increased by less than 1%. 

7.1.2 Produced Water Volume by Hydrocarbon Type

This study attempted to collect produced water generation volumes separately for oil and for 

gas. It also sought separate water volumes from wells producing from conventional formations 

and from unconventional formations. Some states were able to provide separate volume 

estimates. Those are described in detail in Chapter 5. Unfortunately, several of the largest 

water-producing states were unable to provide separate water volumes for hydrocarbon types 

or for conventional vs. unconventional. Therefore, it was difficult to draw any national 

conclusions from the available data. 

Some evidence was available from states like Arkansas, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania, which 

had tremendous growth in unconventional oil and gas production between 2007 and 2012. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 113 

 For Arkansas, 2012 oil production increased nearly 8% over 2007 volumes, and gas 

(mostly from the unconventional Fayetteville Shale) increased by over 400%. But over 

the same period, total water production increased by just 11%. 

 For North Dakota, 2012 oil production (mostly from the unconventional Bakken Shale) 

increased by over 500% compared to 2007 volumes, and gas increased by over 300%. 

But the water production over the same period increased by just 216%. 

 For Pennsylvania, 2012 oil production increased by 280% between 2007 and 2012, and 

gas production (mainly from the unconventional Marcellus Shale) increased by more 

than 1,300%. But the water production increased by 870%.

Another benefit of receiving separated water volume data is that it allows calculation of the 

amount of water generated for each unit of oil (bbl) or gas (Mmcf). The national weighted 

average WOR was 9.2 bbl of water/bbl of oil. The WORs ranged from 0.6 bbl/bbl for New York 

to 36.3 bbl/bbl for Wyoming. Several states with large numbers of older wells producing from 

mature formations were unable to provide data separately for oil wells and gas wells. Had the 

water usage from those states been averaged with the other states, it is very likely that the 

national WOR would have been greater than 10 bbl of water/1 bbl of oil. The weighted average 

WGR was 97 bbl of water/Mmcf of gas. The WGRs ranged from 0.3 bbl/Mmcf for Alaska to 981 

bbl/Mmcf for Indiana. The range of state values for the WGRs was so large that a weighted 

average WGR is probably not a meaningful number. 

7.1.3 Produced Water Management Practices

This report describes the practices used by oil and gas producers to manage produced water

during 2012. Most U.S. produced water was injected. About 93% of produced water from 

onshore wells and about 90% of the produced water from all wells was injected underground. 

Slightly more than half of that was injected into producing formations to maintain formation 

pressure and increase the output of production wells (i.e., for enhanced recovery). Slightly less 

than half of the injected produced water was injected to non-commercial and commercial 

disposal wells. 

About 80% of the produced water from offshore wells was treated on the platform and 

discharged to the ocean. Only about 3% of onshore produced water was discharged. The 

percentage discharged from all wells (onshore and offshore combined) was about 5.4%.

Nearly 7% of produced water was managed by sending it to an offsite commercial facility. Most 

such facilities managed water by injection into disposal wells. Several facilities in Colorado and 

Utah managed water by evaporation from large ponds. 

The 2012 data showed that about 3.6% of all produced water was evaporated, and 0.6% was 

put to a beneficial reuse. Much of the reuse was done by recycling flowback water and 

produced water to make drilling fluids and frac fluids for new wells in the same fields. Other 

portions of produced water may be used for irrigation (when the water has low salinity) or for 

dust and ice control on roads. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 114 

7.1.4 Data Availability and Quality

A few states had readily available precise produced water volume figures. In some states, the 

agencies had very complete data records easily obtainable from online sources. Other states 

had summary-level volume data without much detail or had data available only in in-house data 

repositories. 

Where data were not available through the state agencies, additional efforts were made to 

estimate water volumes and management practices. The state agencies were helpful in

suggesting other resources for obtaining the information. The assumptions, data sets, and 

analyses used to develop the estimates are described separately for each state in Chapter 5. 

Nearly all the water volume data received from the states gave volumes to the individual bbl. 

Since this level of data accuracy could not be validated, figures in the summary tables in 

Chapter 4 were rounded up. There are institutional factors leading to imprecision and 

inaccuracy of the raw data (see discussion in Chapter 4). 

7.2 Conclusions

This report provides the most detailed and current information on the volume of produced 

water generated in the United States and its management. It followed the same procedure 

used in a 2009 report that studied produced water in the 2007 calendar year. Some procedures 

and estimation methods were revised and improved for the 2012 report. 

The total volume of produced water generated in 2012 was slightly greater than the volume 

generated in 2007. Given the inherent limitations of the raw data and the need to apply many 

assumptions and extrapolations, it is unlikely that the 2012 volume can be shown to be 

different from the 2007 volume. Nevertheless, finding a relatively level volume of water during

a period of rapid oil and gas growth was a useful and not necessarily anticipated conclusion. 

Many had assumed that the large increase in oil and gas production (much of it from 

unconventional formations) between 2007 and 2012 would have led to a large increase in 

produced water generation too. 

Information on management practices has not changed significantly from the 2007 data. The 

large majority of onshore produced water was managed through injection, and most offshore 

produced water was treated and discharged to the ocean. The percentages of the 

management practices shifted slightly since 2007, but the major trends remain the same. 

A final important conclusion of this study (this was also highlighted in the 2009 study) is that 

there is no easy way to obtain national estimates of produced water generation and 

management. The estimates presented in this report took months of investigation, numerous

contacts with oil and gas agency staff members, and extensive follow-up. Some states had 

useful produced water information either published in reports or readily available through state 

databases. However, other states had only minimal information about produced water volumes 

or how the produced water was managed. No federal data collection effort (e.g., EIA forms) 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 115 

exists for tracking produced water volume. Consequently, when regulatory and data 

management resources are limited, some states do not maintain produced water information. 

In the absence of a consistent methodology to collect produced water volumes and 

management information, it is unlikely that the challenges of estimating produced water 

volumes and management practices will decrease in the future. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 116 

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges and appreciates the funding from the GWPC through its Ground 

Water Research and Education Foundation to support this project. Mike Nickolaus from the 

GWPC was the primary point of contact. He assisted the author in contacting and reminding 

the state officials to provide data. 

This report would not be possible without the many sets of data compiled and submitted by 

state oil and gas and environmental protection agency managers and staff. Several federal 

employees in the EPA, EIA, and DOI’s BOEMRE and ONRR generously provided supporting 

information too. The author greatly appreciates their efforts. 

Special thanks are in order to Thom Kerr of Thom Kerr, LLC. Mr. Kerr formerly served as a 

manager in the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission before retiring. He was able to 

query the COGCC’s data system to provide concise data sets for Colorado. Without his 

assistance, the Colorado state summary would not have been complete. 

Likewise, special thanks are due to J-P Nicot of the University of Texas, Bureau of Economic 

Geology. Dr. Nicot provided useful insights into the data maintained by the Railroad 

Commission that allowed the author to better understand how Texas manages its produced 

water. 

Several persons with extensive experience in produced water management and water data 

management reviewed a draft version of this report and offered numerous helpful suggestions. 

The constructive comments of those technical peer reviewers were welcomed and appreciated. 
Produced Water Volumes and Management Practices in 2012 Page 117 

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