The impact of water scarcity on support for hydraulic fracturing regulation: A water-energy nexus study

Energy Policy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 111718
Author(s):  
Bryce Hannibal ◽  
Kent Portney
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Energy Nexus ◽  
The Impact

Evaluation of Hydraulic Fracturing Models and Their Limitations to Predict No-Drill Zones for Horizontal Directional Drilling

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Delara ◽  
Kendra MacKay
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Safety Factor ◽  
Standard Procedure ◽  
Accurate Determination ◽  
Strength Properties ◽  
Analytical Models ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Directional Drilling ◽  
Horizontal Directional Drilling ◽  
The Impact

Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) has become the preferred method for trenchless pipeline installations. Drilling pressures must be limited and a “no-drill zone” determined to avoid exceeding the strength of surrounding soil and rock. The currently accepted industry method of calculating hydraulic fracturing limiting pressure with application of an arbitrary safety factor contains several assumptions that are often not applicable to specific ground conditions. There is also no standard procedure for safety factor determination, resulting in detrimental impacts on drilling operations. This paper provides an analysis of the standard methods and proposes two alternative analytical models to more accurately determine the hydraulic fracture point and acceptable drilling pressure. These alternative methods provide greater understanding of the interaction between the drilling pressures and the surrounding ground strength properties. This allows for more accurate determination of horizontal directional drilling limitations. A comparison is presented to determine the differences in characteristics and assumptions for each model. The impact of specific soil properties and factors is investigated by means of a sensitivity analysis to determine the most critical soil information for each model.

The impact of water scarcity on Chinese inter-provincial virtual water trade

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Deng ◽  
Cai Li ◽  
Ling Wang ◽  
Shuxia Yu ◽  
Xu Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
Virtual Water Trade ◽  
The Impact

Advanced Multi-Disciplinary Simulation Workflow for Well Placement, Hydraulic Fracturing and Production Optimization Applied to the Diyab Unconventional Play in Onshore UAE

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Pourpak ◽  
Samuel Taubert ◽  
Marios Theodorakopoulos ◽  
Arnaud Lefebvre-Prudencio ◽  
Chay Pointer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Reservoir Characterization ◽  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Production Optimization ◽  
Production Performance ◽  
Well Placement ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Sector Model ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The Diyab play is an emerging unconventional play in the Middle East. Up to date, reservoir characterization assessments have proved adequate productivity of the play in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this paper, an advanced simulation and modeling workflow is presented, which was applied on selected wells located on an appraisal area, by integrating geological, geomechanical, and hydraulic fracturing data. Results will be used to optimize future well landing points, well spacing and completion designs, allowing to enhance the Stimulated Rock Volume (SRV) and its consequent production. A 3D static model was built, by propagating across the appraisal area, all subsurface static properties from core-calibrated petrophysical and geomechanical logs which originate from vertical pilot wells. In addition, a Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) derived from numerous image logs was imported in the model. Afterwards, completion data from one multi-stage hydraulically fracked horizontal well was integrated into the sector model. Simulations of hydraulic fracturing were performed and the sector model was calibrated to the real hydraulic fracturing data. Different scenarios for the fracture height were tested considering uncertainties related to the fracture barriers. This has allowed for a better understanding of the fracture propagation and SRV creation in the reservoir at the main target. In the last step, production resulting from the SRV was simulated and calibrated to the field data. In the end, the calibrated parameters were applied to the newly drilled nearby horizontal wells in the same area, while they were hydraulically fractured with different completion designs and the simulated SRVs of the new wells were then compared with the one calculated on the previous well. Applying a fully-integrated geology, geomechanics, completion and production workflow has helped us to understand the impact of geology, natural fractures, rock mechanical properties and stress regimes in the SRV geometry for the unconventional Diyab play. This work also highlights the importance of data acquisition, reservoir characterization and of SRV simulation calibration processes. This fully integrated workflow will allow for an optimized completion strategy, well landing and spacing for the future horizontal wells. A fully multi-disciplinary simulation workflow was applied to the Diyab unconventional play in onshore UAE. This workflow illustrated the most important parameters impacting the SRV creation and production in the Diyab formation for he studied area. Multiple simulation scenarios and calibration runs showed how sensitive the SRV can be to different parameters and how well placement and fracture jobs can be possibly improved to enhance the SRV creation and ultimately the production performance.

Does Water Scarcity Affect Environmental Performance? Evidence from Manufacturing Facilities in Texas

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suresh Muthulingam ◽  
Suvrat Dhanorkar ◽  
Charles J. Corbett
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Operations Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Full Sample ◽  
Toxic Releases ◽  
Manufacturing Operations ◽  
Toxic Emissions ◽  
Manufacturing Facilities ◽  
The Impact

It is well known that manufacturing operations can affect the environment, but hardly any research explores whether the natural environment shapes manufacturing operations. Specifically, we investigate whether water scarcity, which results from environmental conditions, influences manufacturing firms to lower their toxic releases to the environment. We created a data set that spans 2000–2016 and includes details on the toxic emissions of 3,092 manufacturing facilities in Texas. Additionally, our data set includes measures of the water scarcity experienced by these facilities. Our econometric analysis shows that manufacturing facilities reduce their toxic releases into the environment when they have experienced drought conditions in the previous year. We examine facilities that release toxics to water as well as facilities with no toxic releases to water. We find that the reduction in total releases (to all media) is driven mainly by those facilities that release toxic chemicals to water. Further investigation at a more granular level indicates that water scarcity compels manufacturing facilities to lower their toxic releases into media other than water (i.e., land or air). The impact of water scarcity on toxic releases to water is more nuanced. A full-sample analysis fails to link water scarcity to lower toxic releases to water, but a further breakdown shows that manufacturing facilities in counties with a higher incidence of drought do lower their toxic releases to water. We also find that facilities that release toxics to water undertake more technical and input modifications to their manufacturing processes when they face water scarcity. This paper was accepted by David Simchi-Levi, operations management.

Advanced Well Completion Strategies to Improve Gas Production Deliverability in Marginal Tight Gas Reservoirs from an Onshore Abu Dhabi Gas Field

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajar Ali Abdulla Al Shehhi ◽  
Bondan Bernadi ◽  
Alia Belal Zuwaid Belal Al Shamsi ◽  
Shamma Jasem Al Hammadi ◽  
Fatima Omar Alawadhi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Horizontal Wells ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Tight Gas ◽  
Production Rates ◽  
Well Productivity ◽  
Gas Saturation ◽  
Well Design ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Reservoir X is a marginal tight gas condensate reservoir located in Abu Dhabi with permeability of less than 0.05 mD. The field was conventionally developed with a few single horizontal wells, though sharp production decline was observed due to rapid pressure depletion. This study investigates the impact of converting the existing single horizontal wells into single long horizontal, dual laterals, triple laterals, fishbone design and hydraulic fracturing in improving well productivity. The existing wells design modifications were planned using a near reservoir simulator. The study evaluated the impact of length, trajectory, number of laterals and perforation intervals. For Single, dual, and triple lateral wells, additional simulation study with hydraulic fracturing was carried out. To evaluate and obtain effective comparisons, sector models with LGR was built to improve the simulation accuracy in areas near the wellbore. The study conducted a detailed investigation into the impact of various well designs on the well productivity. It was observed that maximizing the reservoir contact and targeting areas with high gas saturation led to significant increase in the well productivity. The simulation results revealed that longer laterals led to higher gas production rates. Dual lateral wells showed improved productivity when compared to single lateral wells. This incremental gain in the production was attributed to increased contact with the reservoir. The triple lateral well design yielded higher productivity compared to single and dual lateral wells. Hydraulic fracturing for single, dual, and triple lateral wells showed significant improvement in the gas production rates and reduced condensate banking near the wellbore. A detailed investigation into the fishbone design was carried out, this involved running sensitivity runs by varying the number of branches. Fishbone design showed considerable increment in production when compared to other well designs This paper demonstrates that increasing the reservoir contact and targeting specific areas of the reservoir with high gas saturation can lead to significant increase in the well productivity. The study also reveals that having longer and multiple laterals in the well leads to higher production rates. Hydraulic fracturing led to higher production gains. Fishbone well design with its multiple branches showed the most production again when compared to other well designs.

The Water Gap Risk Index – a novel approach for spatially distributed and sector-specific water scarcity risk calculations in urbanized catchments

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Umit Taner ◽  
Dimmie Hendiriks ◽  
Lieke Huesken ◽  
Niels Mulder ◽  
Diana Morales Irato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Water Demand ◽  
Risk Index ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variability ◽  
The Novel ◽  
User Group ◽  
User Groups ◽  
Urban Catchments ◽  
Gap Risk ◽  
The Impact

<p>An increasing number of mega-cities, such as Cape Town, Lima, and São Paulo, are confronted with increasing droughts as well as an increase in water demand. Inevitably, this leads to increasing pressure on the available water resources and associated risks and economic impact for the water-dependent sectors (eg. drinking water supply, industry, energy production, agriculture, nature) and different user groups within the sectors (eg. low, middle- and high-income households, self-subsistence farmers, large farms). To address these problems and to develop targeted mitigation strategies, risk analyses are required that quantify the impact of water scarcity on the various sectors and users-groups in different parts of the catchment.</p><p>Here, we present the Water Gap Risk Index (WGRI) that quantifies water scarcity and its impacts on a variety of economic sectors and user groups. The WGRI provides a normalized score to reflect high spatial and temporal variability typical for urban catchments that apply to different settings and problems. Index calculation involves the combination of unmet water demand and its characteristics with socioeconomic aspects related to vulnerability and exposure. The Water Gap term quantifies water system performance over a defined time period taking into account the frequency, persistence, and severity of unmet water demand.  Vulnerability metrics provide a score for each sector and user-group separately using context-specific vulnerability indicators of each sector and user-group.</p><p>In the novel WGRI special attention is paid to the vulnerability of different water user-groups, based on their socio-economic status level (expressed in income, consumption, or other indicators) and respective water use. We consider that 1 liter of water does not have the same utility for different user groups, based on the principle of the diminishing marginal utility curve. As a result, the impact of water scarcity and mitigation measures will also play out differently for these different user groups.</p><p>The novel WGRI is being applied in the context of the WaterLOUPE approach[1], to the catchment of Sao Paolo, Lima, and Chennai.</p><p>[1] https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-20505</p>

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