Enviro Friendly...
Our area of the country is rich in oil and gas deposits, primarily because 300 million years ago, we were the bed of the Permian Sea, an area of shallow ocean now long gone. Left with the biological deposits of flora and fauna that became oil, were vast amounts of salt water now located at varying depths below us, some quite deep.
When we drill oil wells we usually encounter this brine to greater or lesser degrees, and it comes flowing up with the oil. Before the oil can be sold the water must be seperated which we do in large heat treating tanks, the oil floating to the top. Of course, then the problem becomes what to do with the brackish water. In the old days of the business, the water was simply flowed out onto the ground, and in fact in some less developed areas of the world, I'm sure they still practice this method. However, it is catastrophic to the soil and plant life, effectively making the area a salt desert.
Today there are two options of dealing with this water. In many areas the water is held in storage tanks to be trucked away for safe disposal, such as to man made salt lakes where shrimp are raised. This costs around one dollar a barrel. The other option, an injection well, is pictured above. Where there are old non producing wells in proximity, the brine can be re-injected down the old well bore to be placed back in the bowels of the earth where it came from. The injection well above, handles water from 8 wells and is 14,000 ft. deep. The two lines with their solar powered meters running into this injection system come from two of our wells, and from six wells owned by another company in the area. The eight wells flow approximately 900 barrels of water per day back to the Ellenberger formation far below, and costs us 28 cents a barrel to dispose of. One of the ancillary costs of producing oil, but worth it.
Our area of the country is rich in oil and gas deposits, primarily because 300 million years ago, we were the bed of the Permian Sea, an area of shallow ocean now long gone. Left with the biological deposits of flora and fauna that became oil, were vast amounts of salt water now located at varying depths below us, some quite deep.
When we drill oil wells we usually encounter this brine to greater or lesser degrees, and it comes flowing up with the oil. Before the oil can be sold the water must be seperated which we do in large heat treating tanks, the oil floating to the top. Of course, then the problem becomes what to do with the brackish water. In the old days of the business, the water was simply flowed out onto the ground, and in fact in some less developed areas of the world, I'm sure they still practice this method. However, it is catastrophic to the soil and plant life, effectively making the area a salt desert.
Today there are two options of dealing with this water. In many areas the water is held in storage tanks to be trucked away for safe disposal, such as to man made salt lakes where shrimp are raised. This costs around one dollar a barrel. The other option, an injection well, is pictured above. Where there are old non producing wells in proximity, the brine can be re-injected down the old well bore to be placed back in the bowels of the earth where it came from. The injection well above, handles water from 8 wells and is 14,000 ft. deep. The two lines with their solar powered meters running into this injection system come from two of our wells, and from six wells owned by another company in the area. The eight wells flow approximately 900 barrels of water per day back to the Ellenberger formation far below, and costs us 28 cents a barrel to dispose of. One of the ancillary costs of producing oil, but worth it.
