The new facility in Kingfisher County is expected to recycle 30,000 barrels of water a day. Photo credit: Newfield Exploration
Newfield Exploration Company announced on Friday, 31st March, that it has begun construction of a new water recycling facility in its Sooner Trend Anadarko Basin Canadian and Kingfisher Counties (STACK) play located in the Anadarko Basin, Kingfisher County, Oklahoma, United States (US). The plant, named the Barton Water Recycle Facility, is projected to be able to process an estimated 30,000 barrels (4.7 litres) of water a day when it is completed in the third quarter of 2017.
“The new Barton facility will be capable of recycling both the flowback and produced water currently generated by our STACK wells and hydraulic fracturing operations,” Newfield Chairman, Lee K. Boothby, said. “Today’s innovative technologies are allowing us to more cost-effectively recycle and reuse the water we produce from our operations. This is good for our economies and good for the environment.”
The plant will use aerated biologic treatment technology in order to convert produced water into recycled water that can be used for hydraulic fracturing operations. Using enhanced and natural bioremediation, or nutrients and good bacteria, the treatment process will be able to breakdown and separate any extant contaminants in the produced water. Consequently, the processed water will be of a high quality largely free of contaminants and pollutants.
“The time when the procurement and disposal of water in oil and gas operations was viewed as routine is over,” Chairman of the Oklahoma Corporate Commission, Dana Murphy, said. “Water has now become an absolutely critical component that demands careful planning for environmental, conservation and business reasons. This facility is a step in the continuing evolution of the industry.”
To date, Newfield Exploration Company has invested an excess of US$40 million in water management infrastructure. The new plant for recycling water will be linked to seven pits with an estimated 6.5 million barrels (1 billion litres) of water storage capacity using more than 70 miles (112 kilometres) of underground pipelines by end 2017.
Source: Oil & Gas Investor; Petroleum Listing Service
