Water Management in Albertas Oilfields Issues and Opportunities

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• Water Management in Albertas Oilfields Issues
  and Opportunities
• (Recovery and Reuse of Produced Water in Alberta
  Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities)
• Greg Shyba, BA, LLB
• APEGGA April 17, 2008

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This presentation does not necessarily reflect
the views or policies of ARC
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• Albertas freshwater resources are facing
  increased pressure and there is a desire to
  reduce the amount of water lost through deep well
  injection.

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How much water is deep well injected?

• Produced water disposal injection volumes are
  significant
• 265 million m3 per year - approximately 720,000
  m3/day.

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An Outline of Produced Water Regulations in
Alberta
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• In Alberta, ownership of water vests with the
  Crown by virtue of the Water Act. Permits to
  divert and use water are granted by legislative
  authority.

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Applicable Alberta Legislation and Authorities

• Water Act
• ERCB
• Oil and Gas Conservation Act
• Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act

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Federal Fisheries Act

• Prohibits the deposit of a deleterious substance
  in water frequented by fish or in fish habitat
  without a permit.

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What is happening in other jurisdictions, the
USA, for example?

• I think the bill will change an energy-industry
  problem into an opportunity, not just for oil and
  gas producers but for everyone else who would
  benefit from increased supplies of useable water.
  Developing beneficial uses for produced water
  could reduce costs of oil and gas development,
  while also easing demand for water by alleviating
  drought conditions in Colorado and the west and
  providing water for agriculture, industry, and
  other uses
• HOUSE PASSES UDALL WATER BILL Industry, Bush
  administration support More Water and More
  Energy Act

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What are the drivers influencing current
practices and how might they influence future
practices ?

• Economics
• Deep well injection is relatively inexpensive and
  transportation costs are a factor
• Challenge recovering treatment costs as many
  users - agricultural users in particular - pay
  very little, if anything, for their water
• Regulatory environment
• At present, the precautionary principle may be
  limiting beneficial reuse opportunities and
  tighter water conditions may result in new rules
  and regulations
• Liability

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Legal Liability is an Important Issue

• Not much in the way of legal precedent in
  Canada.

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Nuisance

• Damage to property
• Risk to health and safety
• Interference with use

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Negligence

• Foreseeable
• Relationship between the parties
• Reasonable standard of care

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Strict Liability

• A non-natural use or application of produced
  water
• Liability may be found even when every reasonable
  precaution has been taken

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• So far, there have really only been two safe
  ways to deal with produced water in Alberta
• Water flooding and enhanced oil recovery
• Deep well injection

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What opportunities does this present?

• New water treatment technologies have been and
  are being developed to allow for the beneficial
  use of produced water (besides utilizing existing
  technologies to reduce the amount of water being
  produced)

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Opportunities

• Agricultural use (caution here regarding the
  principle of reliance)
• Livestock watering
• Irrigation
• Silva culture
• Potable water
• Aquifer recharge
• Frac fluids
• Completion fluids
• Dust suppression
• Enhancing stream flows
• Wetland creation and enhancement

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ERCBs Position

• ERCB welcomes applications for beneficial use
  of produced water and requests applicants to
  demonstrate that environmental impacts have been
  assessed and appropriate mitigation, if
  necessary, is in place, management of wastes and
  the product is appropriate, and monitoring
  systems are in place to confirm impact is not
  occurring.

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For further information

• CBM Produced Water- The Emerging Canadian
  Regulatory Framework, Ingelson, McLean and Gray,
  ISEEE, University of Calgary http//www.iseee.ca/f
  iles/iseee/ABEnergyFutures-04.pdf
• Produced Water Beneficial Re-Use High TDS
  Waters, Fossil Water for PTAC http//www.ptac.org/
  etalk/dl/HighTDS.pdf
• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Treating Saline
  Groundwater, AENV, AMEC http//environment.gov.ab.
  ca/info/library/7816.pdf

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• Questions and Discussion