BACKGROUND
The abundance of shale formations in the United States has completely changed our country’s domestic oil and gas production outlook over the past few years. Much of the nation’s untapped reserves can only be effectively produced using hydraulic fracturing or other unconventional completion methods. These techniques require massive volumes of water – on average, a typical frac uses 3 to 5 million gallons of water.
However, because the industry currently relies upon costly outside laboratories and complicated and error-prone field kits, it does not have an effective means to quickly, reliably, and accurately test hydrochemistry in the field. Therefore, operators and service companies are unable to accurately screen and compensate for numerous interferences from various contaminants in the water and the formation itself. Additionally, because of the large volumes of water being used and the need to reduce the use of fresh waters, the industry is under extreme pressure to reuse/recycle the water from frac-to‐frac. Today, companies need to make real time decisions, on site, about whether it is more cost‐effective to treat and reuse the water or dispose of it.
monitoring water quality during the Life Cycle of a well Reduces risk in the following applications:
DRILLING/CEMENTING
- Water from different sources may introduce unfamiliar minerals, contaminants, and logistical issues.
- Improper cement setting times due to poor water quality
FRACTURING
- Poor water quality can cause improper fluid viscosity
- Incompatible waters from multiple sources can cause irreparable damage to the formation
- Corrosive or scaling waters can cause damage to tubing and equipment
- Biocide effectiveness inhibited by poor water quality
FLOWBACK/PRODUCTION
- Sub-optimal production caused by scaling or corrosion
- Avoid wasting money on excessive production chemical treatments
ENVIRONMENTAL
- Avoid stressing local freshwater reserves by improving produced water recycling efficiency
- Reduce down time and steer clear of fines from government agencies by being proactive in your water testing program