scholarly journals The Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing on Groundwater Quality in the Permian Basin, West Texas, USA

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 796 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose Rodriguez ◽  
Joonghyeok Heo ◽  
Kee Han Kim
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Groundwater Quality ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Quality Analysis ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Normal Probability ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of hydraulic fracturing on groundwater quality in Ector, Midland, and Martin Counties located in the Permian Basin, West Texas. Chemical fluids used in hydraulic fracturing and groundwater quality parameters (chloride, fluoride, calcium carbonate, nitrate, pH, and total dissolved solids), were statistically analyzed assuming a normal probability function distribution and through a one-way analysis of variance of the parameters. Additionally, the depth of groundwater well versus water quality analysis as well as historical analysis of groundwater quality parameters of wells were performed. The result for each county was individually examined and contrasted with the other two counties, in order to make inferences about groundwater quality and oil and gas activities for the three counties. Potential risks to human health from the abnormal levels of the groundwater quality parameters studied were also discussed based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) standards. This research provides important information on groundwater quality in the Permian Basin and contributes on understanding the response to development in hydraulic fracturing.

Study the effect of casting temperature on details from thermo-plastic materials

2020 ◽  
pp. 42-45
Author(s):  
J.A. Kerimov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Mold Temperature ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Casting Temperature ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Field Equipment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Impact

The implementation of plastic details in various constructions enables to reduce the prime cost and labor intensity of machine and device manufacturing, decrease the weight of design and improve their quality and reliability at the same time. The studies were carried out with the aim of labor productivity increase and substitution of colored and black metals with plastic masses. For this purpose, the details with certain characteristics were selected for further implementation of developed technological process in oil-gas industry. The paper investigates the impact of cylinder and compression mold temperature on the quality parameters (shrinkage and hardness) of plastic details in oil-field equipment. The accessible boundaries of quality indicators of the details operated in the equipment of exploration, drilling and exploitation of oil and gas industry are studied in a wide range of mode parameters. The mathematic dependences between quality parameters (shrinkage and hardness) of the details on casting temperature are specified.

scholarly journals Comment on “The intensification of the water footprint of hydraulic fracturing”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. eaav2110
Author(s):  
Daniel Raimi
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
Energy Production ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Natural Gas ◽  
Water Intensity

Kondash et al. provide a valuable contribution to our understanding of water consumption and wastewater production from oil and gas production using hydraulic fracturing. Unfortunately, their claim that the water intensity of energy production using hydraulic fracturing has increased in all regions is incorrect. More comprehensive data show that, while the water intensity of production may have increased in regions such as the Permian basin, it has decreased by 74% in the Marcellus and by 19% in the Eagle Ford region. This error likely stems from an improper method for estimating energy production from wells: The authors use the median well to represent regional production, which systematically underestimates aggregate production volumes. Across all regions, aggregate data suggest that the water intensity of oil and natural gas production using hydraulic fracturing has increased by 19%. There also appears to be an error in estimates for water consumption in the Permian basin.

scholarly journals Billboards and Petrocultures In West Texas

MediaTropes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-104
Author(s):  
Giovanni Frigo
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Travel Writing ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
Road Trip ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Rugged Individualism

This article explores how fossil fuels are expressed on the surface of specific media: billboards. It is based on observations made during a “scholarly” road trip to West Texas aimed at studying the protests surrounding the construction of the Trans-Pecos Pipeline. Blending travel writing with a theoretical analysis of billboards, the article investigates the philosophy behind the Shale Revolution and examines the specific petroculture of the Permian Basin. Given their necessary conciseness, clarity and effectiveness, billboards contain both straightforward messages and profound subliminal cultural references. This makes them meaningful means to understand how oil and gas are embedded in the culture of Oil Country. It is argued that billboards related to fossil fuel extraction constitute nuanced forms of “petromedia” whose semantics and design reinforce a specific “philosophy of energy.” The petrocultural philosophy of West Texas is strongly anthropocentric and promotes ideas such as the instrumentality of nature, domination over untamed land, technoscientific power, drilling prowess, rugged individualism, and masculinity.

Silica Gel Fracturing Fluids an Alternative to Guar Systems that Allows the use of West Texas Produced Water

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl Harman ◽  
Michael McDonald ◽  
Paul Short ◽  
William Ott
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Silica Gel ◽  
Fumed Silica ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Field Trials ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Fracturing Fluids ◽  
The Cost

Abstract The use of freshwater, near freshwater, or treated water in hydraulic fracturing represents an ever-increasing cost in the Permian Basin. Environmental concerns add to the pressure to develop methods to use significantly higher volumes of produced water in hydraulic fracture fluids. To solve the challenge of viscosifying untreated, high total dissolved solids water a move was made away from organic-based viscosifiers to silica-based technology. Fumed silica is highly effective as a viscosifier for high-density brines that has demonstrated excellent low-end rheology, exceptional suspending ability, and a nominal filter cake. However, the high cost of fumed silica and operational challenges have precluded commercial adoption. This paper describes thatsimilar rheology is achievable at a fraction of the cost using a silica gel. The focus of the paper is on the field trials in West Texas where untreated produced water was viscosified with silica gel and run as alternatives to a standard 20 lb/Mgal crosslinked guar fluid made with fresh water. Low cost and operational efficiencies were obtained bypreparingthe silica gel on-location using standard and readily available hydraulic fracturing equipment. Procedures for making the silica gel-based frac fluid were similar to those of making a crosslinked guar fluid. Field trials have demonstrated that silica-gel carries high loadings of 20/40 mesh sand even at low pump rates. Production data from the trials has varied from exceeding expectations to being similar to existing production results.On a chemical cost basis, silica gel is comparable to a borate-cross-linked guar frac fluid. The economics tip very much in favor of silica gel when factoring in the savings using untreated produced water.

ESTIMATING THE SUPPLY OF FRESH AND BRACKISH GROUNDWATER FOR HYDRAULIC FRACTURING IN THE PERMIAN BASIN OF WEST TEXAS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Acevedo ◽  
◽  
Peter S.K. Knappett ◽  
Peter S.K. Knappett ◽  
Gabrielle Obkirchner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
West Texas

Temporal variation in groundwater quality in the Permian Basin of Texas, a region of increasing unconventional oil and gas development

2016 ◽  
Vol 562 ◽  
pp. 906-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zacariah L. Hildenbrand ◽  
Doug D. Carlton ◽  
Brian E. Fontenot ◽  
Jesse M. Meik ◽  
Jayme L. Walton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Quality ◽  
Temporal Variation ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Permian Basin ◽  
Oil And Gas Development ◽  
Unconventional Oil ◽  
Unconventional Oil And Gas

Induced Seismicity in the Delaware Basin, West Texas, is Caused by Hydraulic Fracturing and Wastewater Disposal

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 2225-2241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandros Savvaidis ◽  
Anthony Lomax ◽  
Caroline Breton
Keyword(s):  
Hydraulic Fracturing ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Fort Worth ◽  
Wastewater Disposal ◽  
Delaware Basin ◽  
West Texas ◽  
Oil And Gas Operations ◽  
Epicentral Location ◽  
Different Sources

ABSTRACT Most current seismicity in the southern U.S. midcontinent is related to oil and gas operations (O&G Ops). In Texas, although recorded earthquakes are of low-to-moderate magnitude, the rate of seismicity has been increasing since 2009. Because of the newly developed Texas Seismological Network, in most parts of Texas, recent seismicity is reported on a daily basis with a magnitude of completeness of ML 1.5. Also, funded research has allowed the collection of O&G Op information that can be associated with seismicity. Although in the Dallas–Fort Worth area, recent seismicity has been associated mostly with saltwater disposal (SWD), in the South Delaware Basin, West Texas, both hydraulic fracturing (HF) and SWD have been found to be causal factors. We have begun to establish an O&G Op database using four different sources—IHS, FracFocus, B3, and the Railroad Commission of Texas—with which we can associate recent seismicity to HF and SWD. Our approach is based on time and epicentral location of seismic events and time, location of HF, and SWD. Most seismicity occurs in areas of dense HF and SWD-well activity overlapping in time, making association of seismicity with a specific well type impossible. However, through examination of clustered seismicity in space and time, along with isolated clusters of spatiotemporal association between seismicity and O&G Ops, we are able to show that a causation between HF and seismicity may be favored over causation with SWD wells in areas of spatially isolated earthquake clusters (Toyah South, Reeves West, Jeff Davis Northeast, and Jeff Davis East). Causality between SWD and seismicity may be inferred for isolated cases in Reeves South and Grisham West.

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