By David A. Hill, Executive Editor at Colorado Energy News
Doug White will tell anyone who will listen that “wastewater recycling is happening now, every day in the Niobrara.” He’s not blowing smoke.
As Vice President of High Sierra Water Services’ business in Colorado, Doug sees the daily progress his company is making
in this critical area, and how it is positively impacting water management in the increasingly thirsty Denver/Julesburg
(DJ) Basin.
in this critical area, and how it is positively impacting water management in the increasingly thirsty Denver/Julesburg
(DJ) Basin.
This good news story, however, isn’t widely known, even among the oil and gas choir. In fact, at this year’s COGAEpicenter Conference, White and his colleagues had a hard time containing themselves when a speaker-attendee panel included dialogue that urged that water recycling get started in the Niobrara.
“We looked at each other, and wanted to shout out … ‘Hey, it’s already here, and we’re doing it successfully every day, for the industry and the environment,’ “ he explains.
Rest assured, Niobrara Report is here to get the word out, Doug.
The High Sierra name has been in the news this year. This past spring Denver’s High Sierra Energy LP and its general partner, High Sierra Energy GP LLC, were acquired by NGL Energy Partners LP of Tulsa, Oklahoma for about $583 million. High Sierra Water Services, LLC is a core business segment for the company, with seven disposal plants operating in Weld County, two of which include water treatment and recycling capabilities of up to 20,000 barrels per day. Their customers are the oil and gas production companies that are producing in the basin.
THE BEGINNING
To get the true picture of produced water handling and recycling in the Niobrara, you’ve got to go back to its roots, and that means Bruce White (no relation to Doug), a fourth generation Coloradoan from Ault. Bruce got his first taste of the oil and gas industry in the early 80’s as an investor, and then in 1984 raised enough money from family and friends for his first well, which was the beginning of Conquest Oil Company. The company’s well ownership grew, but interestingly, it was the water side of the business that intrigued Doug and his partner, Dale Butcher, the most.
The fact that all oil and gas drilling operations produce a wastewater byproduct that is regulated by the state was seen as an opportunity by White and Butcher. “Over time, we became more and more interested in water handling issues and recycling, and we eventually became convinced that it was the future of our company,” Bruce explains.
White and Butcher used a business model that was the opposite of oil drillers. Conquest sought dry holes, deep dry holes, in which they could inject the produced water from drilling in the DJ Basin.
Before Conquest Water Services came along, the water produced from Weld County’s wells was stored in evaporation pits, which regulators regarded as environmentally hazardous.
“We were the first commercial water production facility in Weld County to inject (water into the ground),” White points out. Conquest eventually took in between 80 to 90 percent of the water produced by Weld County wells. “The process involves injecting the water 10,000 to 12,000 feet down, into a sandy, porous reservoir ─ a big ocean bottom,” he adds.
GEARING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME
High Sierra’s purchase of Conquest in 2011 injected money, management and technology into the efforts to bring real scalability to wastewater disposal and recycling in the Niobrara. Today, the company employs 100 people at its facilities across the DJ Basin, with three shifts of three people working the injection disposal operations 24/7. A total of eight injections wells are owned by High Sierra, and they are currently drilling an additional two wells in the next six months
Horizontal drilling is king in the Niobrara, and that means a greater water demand for more fracs and completions. In a drought-stricken year, High Sierra’s ramp-up of it water treatment operations couldn’t come at a better time — for the industry and our environment.
“With fewer water resources available to municipalities and industry and other stakeholders in Colorado, the ability to recycle wastewater that producers and service companies can purchase for use in new frac jobs becomes even more important,” according to White. “They buy less water, which is a good thing, obviously.”
for complete coverage http://coloradoenergynews.com/2012/11/the-future-now-water-recycling-niobrara/
AN EXPANDING FOOTPRINT
Operators of the High Sierra water treatment facilities are state-licensed water and wastewater operators, with significant municipal and industrial expertise. All told, the company has a wastewater disposal capacity of 50,000 barrels per day (BPD), with commercial disposal capacity in the D/J Basin of 65,000 BPD. Recycling capacity is currently 20,000 BPD, but the company says the figure can increase to 30,000 depending on incoming water quality.
High Sierra accepts Class II oilfield wastewater from more than 100 customers in the DJ Basin, spanning a nearly 100-mile radius. “We are either injecting or recycling it from more than 17,000 wells out of a total of more than 22,000 in the Basin. Measured by anyone’s standards, this is an impressive percentage.
TOUR DE FORCE
Niobrara Report magazine was recently invited to tour the company’s C-7 disposal well and recycling facility on County Road 74 and Highway 398 in Weld County. The “Big Hat, No Cattle” acronym clearly does not fit to this operation, where a small modular office is overwhelmed by large water tanks, loading docks, trucks, pipelines and a high-tech recycling center. Out on the dry, dusty fields of eastern Colorado, wastewater injection wells and recycling get top billing, and cushy offices are elsewhere.
White and his team are particularly proud of their efforts here. “We’re now recycling 6,000 barrels of produced and flowback water daily and have the capability of doing up to 20,000 barrels a day,” he explained during our on-site visit. “What’s more, we know where every barrel of wastewater comes from because we track it back from the well and report it to the regulators and our customers.”
The insides of the recycling facility feature a maze of piping, tanks, pumps, and filters all being monitored by licensed operators from computer consoles. The highly engineered system would impress even the most ardent techno geek, maybe even environmentalists, if they dare venture out this way. Their method includes both mechanical and chemical processes to effectively turn wastewater into a clear saltwater, which can be reused by the drilling companies to drill and frac new wells. High Sierra has worked hand in hand with the major operators to produce water that is fully compatible with drilling and frac fluid chemistries.
“Engineers lead the recycling efforts here,” says White, who came to his current position from the corporate side of High Sierra. “Their backgrounds are in wastewater treatment, not oil and gas. Our combined experience from water treatment and the oil field has brought us to where we are today.”
GREEN IMPRINT ON REGION
The Weld County plants are not High Sierra’s only imprint on the region. Crafting better solutions for produced water recycling is the job description at High Sierra’s research facility in Commerce City, because, as White, reminds us, water is different in each shale play. “We have been recycling gas field wastewater in Western Wyoming for more than four years and have returned almost 32 million barrels to the field for reuse.”
The “green “benefits don’t end at the water’s edge. Recycling practices at High Sierra’s Briggsdale and Grover plants in Weld County are eliminating more than two million miles a year of truck traffic. The strategic locations near several high activity areas of production have saved both impact on the roads and bridges and truck emissions.
The locations of the facilities were not by accident but strategically planned to provide efficiencies in water transport operations.
In close proximity to heavily populated communities in the Front Range of Colorado, the arid Niobrara has its own set of water issues that impact all stakeholders in the region. Improving the management of this precious commodity is essential for our citizens and the environment. Fortunately, High Sierra Water Services is doing just that, while meeting the needs of a growing industry. That benefits everyone.
