Produced Water Management & Treatment

Dr. Yasmeen Al LawatiProduced Water Management & Sustainable

Development AdvisorOman Water Society

Outline Introduction Produced Water Treatment Produced Water Management Greening the Desert Initiative at Petroleum Development

Oman Outcome of Desktop Study on Potential What are the Produced Water Management challenges?

Water in the GCC...Towards Efficient Management

Outline

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Produced Water (PW) Definition

Water trapped in reservoir (or below Oil zone) and brought to surface along with oil & gas production

It usually contains oil (dispersed & dissolved), metals, (heavy metals), NORM, Salt, Chemical additives used during drilling, Suspended Solids….etc

Quantities of Produced Water increase as Oil producing field matures

Treatment of produced water is a major cost component of Oil production

H2OH2O

H2O

H2O H2O

H2O

H2O

OIL

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Oil Production Growth

Excludes Associated Gas Production

Oil, Condensate & Gas Production

1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012

BO

O p

er d

ay

Oil

Gas

Condensate

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0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

Wat

er &

Oil

Prod

uctio

n (k

b/d)

INJECTION WATER / RESERVOIR SUPPORT

DEEP WATER DISPOSAL

Wells in 1994: 2340

Wells in 2011: 5088

Wells in 2020: ~7700

Oil Water Production Forecast

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Worldwide Quantities of PW

In the US, average water-to-oil ratio is 10 (2010)*

Kuwait Oil Company produces 500,000 bbl/day of water Compared to 2.5 million bbl of oil

ARAMCO produces approximately 5 Mbbl/day in comparison to 12 million bbl of Oil

Oman (PDO) produces 5 Mbbl/day of water versus 550,000 bbl/day Oil

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Oman: Largest Produced Water Quantities in Shell

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

MM

m3

EPE - UK (Expro)

EPE - Norway (SEPNo)

EPE - Netherlands (NAM)

Nigeria (SPDC)

Nigeria (SNEPCO)

Gabon (SHLGB)

Cameroon (PECTEN)

Russia Sakhalin (SEIC)

Russia (Salym)

Oman (PDO)

EPM-AFPC-Syria

USA (Sure)

Venezuela (SVSA)

USA (SEPCo)

Shell Brazil (SBEP)

Canada (SCAN)

Canada (AOSP)

Philippines (SPEX)

New Zealand (STOS)

Malaysia (SMEP)

Brunei (BSP)

The highest water producer within Shell

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Oman Highest Water Producer

Oman Oil fields reached maturity Oman has started exploring and implementing new

technologies to extract difficult Oil Produced Water treatment and management are

the major challenges in Enhanced Oil RecoveryPolymer InjectionSteam Injection

Oman with all their experience and challenges faced, is an excellent candidate for Center of Excellence on Produced Water treatment & management

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Fate of Produced Water (Petroleum Development Oman)

One bbl of oil => 10 bbl produced water

4.5 bbl Water Injection, Enhanced Oil Recovery to produce more Oil

5.5 bbl Deep Water Disposal, Energy Intensive Operation up to 3 km deep into ground at 120-170 bar pressure - wasted energy & resource

Nimr Water Treatment Plant (Reed Beds) is handling~100,000m3/d

Alternatives are investigated for efficient utilisation of produced water - Aquifer Recharge, Bio-saline Agriculture, Trans-Oman Water line….

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Produced Water Treatment Challenges in the Oil Industry

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Oil Produced

Water DWD/WI

Water EOR

Produced Water Treatment Stages

Primary

Secondary

• Corrugated Plate Interceptors (CPIs)• Tilted Plate Interceptors (TPIs)• Skim Tanks

• Hydro cyclones• Gas Flotation Tank (GFT)• Induced Gas Flotation (IGF)• Centrifuges

• Nutshell Filters• Ceramic Membranes• Ion Exchange• Double Pass RO

Polishing/Tertiary

DWD

WI/DWD

EOR/ Polymer Injection/Steam Injection

Water quality varies from one field to the other across Oman In past most Oil fields used Skim or settling tanks and CPIs for bulk water treatment Currently; water flood projects & Enhanced Oil Recovery projects require stringent

water specifications and hence more complex water treatment equipment

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Water Treatment Challenges

Improving Primary Separation Performance of secondary and tertiary WT equipment depends on

design and operation of primary separation Increasing residence time improves primary separation and reduces

cost of water treatment Troubleshooting of New Water Treatment Equipment Some new technologies are being implemented for the first time e.g.

GFT, Electro-coagulation and electro-floculation This requires advanced expertise on Engineering, Maintenance &

Operation Vendor Experience and Contracting StrategyVendor experience and references are of most importance Investigating possibility of DBO&T, DBOO for water treatment

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Water Treatment Facts

Water treatment is crucial for Oil production Major cost of Oil production is attributed to water

treatment and management Oil operators are developing more focused approach

towards selecting appropriate water treatment technologies There is a clear gap between the demand in the Oil

industry and what the market and water experts are providing Oil industry has the ability to move fast in developing

new technologies simply because cost effective & continuous energy production is of highest importance

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Produced Water Management (Utilisation) Drivers

Water in the GCC...Towards Efficient Management

Objective: Offset Deep Water Disposal high energy demand operation-Cost Relatively Good Water Quality in South Oman-low

salinity (5000ppm) and increasing water rates An excellent Sustainable Development initiative &

strategic move towards turning PW from a liability into an OpportunityNew business Opportunity for Oil companies by

diversifying core activities; bio-fuels, carbon sinks, bio-saline forestry, water based industries, biomass production, aquifer recharge -Game Changer

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Produced Water Management at Petroleum Development Oman (PDO)

a. Greening the Desert Initiativeb. Desk Top Investigation of Potential

Low Salinity Systems

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Nimr Reed Bed Pilot-2000B-TRAIN

TOTAL AREA = 6 HA

A2

A3

A4

A1

B2

B3

B1

B4

EVAPORATION POND A

A-TRAINC

-Tr

ain

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Pilot Performance Since 2002

Water in the GCC...Towards Efficient Management

Avoid direct food chainFodder- Racing HorsesTimber for wood productionHalophytes for landscapingPlants for CO2 sequestration

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Status of Nimr Reed Bed Pilot 2013

18

Atriplex sp. Sesuvium sp. Conocarpus lancifolius

Salvadora persicaAcacia ampliceps

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Oil-Water Separation

Reed Bed

Evaporation Salt Fields

Sodiumchloride precipitation

area

Residual Storage area

Summer/winter Buffer Area

Nimr Water Treatment Plant

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Nimr Water Treatment Plant

Water in the GCC...Towards Efficient Management

Offset energy used for DWD (10MW pumps) Biomass or Bio-fuel Production

potential Salt Production-base case scenario Currently 110,000 m3/d capacity

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Produced Water Management at Petroleum Development Oman (PDO)

a. Greening the Desert Initiativeb. Desk Top Investigation of Potential

Low Salinity Systems

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Potential Utilisation Options for Produced Water

Excess treated Produced Water can be used for; Agriculture

– Bio-Saline such as Jatropha ,Cotton and halophytes or forages

– Spec B (Cereals, seed crops & fodder) Aquifer recharge Solar desalination

– Fresh Water – Salt

Water Based Industries– CO2 sequestration– Pulp industry– Duqum area development (Industrial Use)

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TDS

(mg/

l)

120,000

20,000

40,000

80,000

Water Quality in terms of salinity, heavy metals & Boron

End Use/Product

Treatment Requirements & Cost Benefit analysis

Contracting Strategies (DBOO & DBOT)

Vision 2020, 2030 (National SD Plans)

PW Management Critical Factors

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Produced Water Management Challenges

Treating produced water as liability rather than resource Lack of recognition from water experts and Decision makers in order to

develop & accelerate the process of PW utilization Full solutions are required from source (produced water) to sink ( value

product) to sustain Oil production Stakeholder serious commitment (Ministry of Water resources, Ministry of

Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce, Regulatory &International bodies to certify the Water Quality, …etc)

Contracting Strategies a sub company of Oil operator, or different players ?!! Oil price fluctuations and National SD plans The legacy of time consuming R&D still prevailing despite the advances made

worldwide Too many initiatives/pilots and lack of follow up Availability and reliability Ease of technology installation, operation & maintenance Continuous monitoring, evaluation and follow up

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Way Forward

An independent specialized Produced Water Center of Excellence has to be established that includes; Water technologists/Experts Government Representatives who are decision makers and able to

influence the National Sustainable Development Plans Industrialists who can manufacture & develop water treatment

technologies – “In Country Value” Initiative Experts that do base line assessment, define, select and assist in

implementation of produced water utilisation options Define & Certify water qualities per end use requirements Guard the intellectual property of these technologies and initiatives

in order to develop into new business portfolio for the country/company

A center that is moving fast with technology taking into account the national and regional SD needs/plans

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Close Out

Oman is the lead in PW utilization field regionally and this in itself is a new business potential The produced water treatment and utilisation should

involve other decision makers on National level There is a strong link between Water industry & Oil

Industry Oil industry is willing to spend money on research and

technology advancement however they need serious commitment & assurance from other key players Need for proper utilisation of Produced Water has to

come from decision makers in the country and not as a courtesy from Oil industry

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