Oilfield Water Weekly

What happened to holiday weeks being light on news flow? No days off in this active corner of the oilpatch!

Today’s newsletter is a cornucopia full of important oilfield water reads on Federal land lease sales, M&A, the 2020 oilfield outlook, corporate strategy, field-level trends, C-Suite turnover, and more. After digesting all this news and analysis, we hope you are able to enjoy some time to unwind this Thanksgiving. So in the holiday spirit, we wrap things up today with some “infotainment” in the final section of the newsletter – there are some good watery diversions at the end of today’s edition that just may intrigue you, make you shake your head, and make you smile.

The Oilfield Water Connection Team wishes you and yours a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! This season, we are grateful for everything you do to make the oilfield great and sustainable – what you do day in and day out is essential to the quality of life we all enjoy in this country.

And a special thank you goes out today to a recent sponsor signup, Locke Lord. Their water legal / contracting experts will be supporting and participating in our May 2020 Oilfield Water Market Conference

And now, here is your oilfield water business news digest for the past seven busy days…


News Digest

Tight Oil Water Infrastructure Booms

This deep dive article on the ongoing water infrastructure revolution is worth a read from top to bottom. Published yesterday by the Petroleum Economist, the author quotes several leading analysts in the sector (who may be familiar names to regular readers of this newsletter and attendees of our events). While it's a great piece, the "shale boom" references in the article will come across as tone deaf to readers who work in the rapidly contracting drilling and completions markets. Current production volumes are relatively well insulated, but the heady growth forecasts for both barrels of oil and water are at increased risk of rolling over as the drillbit boom goes bust...

Infill Thinking's 2020 Vision US Oilfield Outlook Survey Results Are In! [Free Trial To Read]

145 oilfield decision makers answered 23 questions about the 2020 E&P and oilfield service outlook. In general, the results capture the negative sentiment that is sweeping the Lower 48 today. Answers show widespread appreciation among industry participants for the contraction and uncertainty in the US onshore oilfield service market....

BLM Seeks Input On Proposed O&G Lease Sale On Federal Lands In New Mexico & Texas

The Bureau of Land Management has scheduled a public scoping period for input on 112 parcels (53,436 acres) of Federal minerals proposed for the May 2020 competitive oil and gas lease sale. The public scoping period began November 25, 2019 and concludes on December 9, 2019. The lease sale is tentatively scheduled for May 21, 2020, and it will undoubtedly be a hot topic of conversation at our May 2020 oilfield water market conference being held one week later...

A Look At O&G Drilling Trends By State On Federal Lands [Chart(s) Of The Day]

Over the past three years, Infill Thinking estimates that O&G wells spud on Federal Land have comprised approximately 10% of US onshore drilling activity. Here’s how O&G wells spud and O&G wells permitted on Federal Lands break down by state over time...

Reuters: Chevron CEO Plans Major Cost-Cutting Overhaul Of Production Teams

Per Reuters sources, the relatively new Chevron CEO’s changes could lead to the departure over time of several hundred employees now assigned to overlapping production technology groups likely to be consolidated or folded...

Keystone Clearwater Sold To SC Water LLC

American Water announced an agreement to sell its Keystone Clearwater Solutions operations to SC Water LLC, a Pennsylvania-based natural gas and oil industry investment group...

M&A In Canadian Oilfield Water Management As White Water Acquires Catalyst

White Water Management Inc, a water logistics specialist to the Western Canadian oil & gas industry, announced the acquisition of Catalyst Production Systems Ltd., a completion water treatment and production chemical company. Headquartered in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Catalyst serves oil & gas customers operating in the Western Sedimentary Basin with the provision of specialty production chemicals, pipeline risk management services and bulk methanol sales...

Tallgrass Energy CEO Steps Down As Questions Swirl Around His Controversial Side Letter Agreement In The Blackstone Take Private Deal

Tallgrass Energy, LP announced that the Board of Directors of the general partner has appointed Bill Moler as Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. David G. Dehaemers Jr. is retiring and stepping down as CEO effective immediately. The press release doesn't mention the side letter, but it's been a contentious issue for investors...

Halliburton Looks To Export US Frac Water Specs To Saudi Wells

“We have started working on how we can use not only fresh water, but saline water for fracking,” Ahmed Kenawi, senior vice president of the Middle East and North Africa for Halliburton says. “We have performed two trials but not yet on a large scale—we’re still working on those technologies.”

B3 Insights Makes The Energy CIO Insights "Top 10 Digital Oilfield Solution Companies Of 2019" List

Innovators in oilfield water management have racked up quite a few awards this year, and this is the latest...

Putting More Water On Pipe In The Bakken Has Reduced Motor Vehicle Accidents

The number of motor vehicle crashes and fatalities in North Dakota in 2018 continued a downward trend that began about five years ago. North Dakota added about 6,100 miles of new gathering pipeline for crude oil and produced water from 2012 through 2018...

Is The Bakken Inactive Well Count Surging Because Of Water Logistics Bottlenecks?

A North Dakota official said he wasn’t sure what caused the recent spike in inactive wells, although one cause may be closed roads interfering with the transportation of produced water to saltwater wells.

Josh Adler Joins The Oil And Gas Startups Podcast [1 Hour Listen]

In this episode, the podcast hosts sit with Josh Adler, CEO of Sourcewater, to talk about how they offer the leading geospatial database for water in the upstream energy industry...

New Mexico Offers $1 Million Bonus For Qualified Opportunity Zone Projects

Kurt Knewitz writes about the State of New Mexico unveiling an incentive program for Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) projects - offering a $1 million bonus to investments that meet certain benchmarks...

Who Will Emerge As The Winners When The Bloodletting Is Complete In The US Oilpatch? [Free Trial To Read]

This is an incredibly hard time in the completions supply chain. Who will come out as the winners when the bloodletting is complete? Infill Thinking rounded up 70+ answers from industry execs and one of those answers was: "The best of the water management companies." See all the answers and analysis of recurring themes here...

Eon Spuds First Wyoming Well In Powder River Basin; Downplays Wastewater Citing Low Water-Oil-Ratio...

Eon NRG has taken a major step towards becoming an active player in the US energy market with the spudding of its part-owned onshore Govt Kaehne #9-29 oil well in Wyoming’s portion of the prospective Powder River Basin. Powder River’s historic production has shown that during the flowback period of a well’s lifecycle, the average well may produce roughly even volumes of water and oil...

Local Wyoming Headline: "Mayor To Support Proposal To Dump Oilfield Wastewater Into Boysen Reservoir"

"Texas-based Aethon Energy is seeking a permit to dump 8.27 million gallons of oilfield wastewater per day into Badwater Creek which feeds Boysen Reservoir and the Wind and Big Horn rivers. The Casper City Council decided to approve of Mayor Charlie Powell attending an up-coming meeting in Cheyenne in support of the proposal..."

Texas + Water's US Drought Monitor For November Is Out...

Drought coverage decreased from 52 percent to 32 percent. The El Niño Southern Oscillation is expected to remain in neutral conditions through the spring....

An Old Article About Turning A Liability Into An Asset Turned Heads This Week...

Comments escalated this week around a headline from 2018: "Oil and gas well fracking creates a lot of wastewater. Here's where things get interesting..."

People Need ENERGY. People Need WATER. People Can Have BOTH!!

Brent Halldorson writes: "I'm thankful to see the current EPA administration give WATER prominent attention over other politically motivated issues that have dominated EPA attention in the past...."

Fire Contained At Texas Oilfield Site Involving Frac Water Tanks Last Week; One Critically Injured

Four or five frac tanks that typically hold water or proppant were also engulfed in the flames, and a firefighter truck caught fire after fuel spilled onto the ground and spread the blaze, CBS7 news reported...

Reclaim Water Services Grows

CEO Mark Story writes this caption accompanying a picture of the system: "Our new design, 10K barrel recycling system is installed and ready for operation..."

Location, Location, Location – East Duvernay Water Hub

From a water sourcing perspective, the East Duvernay play is challenging since it spans three surface watershed basins: the Red Deer River, North Saskatchewan River and Battle River basins...

Bakken Water Spill "Far Worse Than Feared"

Authorities say a pipeline spill of produced water in western North Dakota was much larger than initially estimated by state inspectors...

Environmentalists Seek to Halt Expansion of California Oilfield

“Oil waste can contain benzene and other cancer-causing chemicals that threaten water supplies and wildlife. Our environmental laws are supposed to prevent this kind of destruction, and we’re going to court make sure they’re enforced,” Packard said...

A Profile Of TETRA Technologies BlueLinx™ Automated Control System

An automated, remotely monitored and controlled, intelligent system closes the loop on water management while increasing efficiency and reducing risk...

Can Fort Stockton Reclaim Its Title As The Spring City Of Texas? [Not Actionable, But Fascinating If You Enjoy Local Water History]

If you had driven through Fort Stockton in the 1940s or ridden with the Conquistadors claiming lands for the Spanish King in the 1600s, something would have stuck out to you: water....

Mysterious Creatures: Exploring The Depths Of Our Karst Aquifers [Not Actionable, But Fascinating If You Enjoy Aquifer Biology]

“These ecosystems harbor some really amazing species,” said Dr. Ben Hutchins at the most recent Texas Water Symposium forum on Wednesday, November 13 at Schreiner University in Kerrville.

Politically Charged Press About New Mexico Produced Water...

Oil and gas production in New Mexico draws millions of gallons of water from deep under the earth to the surface, but only a fraction of that water is put to use – and that use is currently limited to oil and gas production...

More Politically Charged Press About New Mexico Produced Water...

A new report from the liberal Washington, D.C.–based Center for American Progress (CAP) says New Mexico’s oil and gas boom is severely threatening the state’s already limited freshwater supply. The report blames the “narrow margin of water availability” on the industry’s extraction methods, and claims additional federal regulations and monitoring are needed....

Still More Politically Charged Press About New Mexico Produced Water...

What the frack? New Mexico Wants to recycle radioactive wastewater...

SO MUCH Politically Charged Press About New Mexico Produced Water...

WildEarth Guardians official: 'You don't frack your way to cleaner water'...

And Finally, A Little Holiday Week Fun With Oilfield Water Vanity Plates...

The industry's creative minds view their license plates as valuable real estate where they can proudly proclaim their place in the oilfield water value chain. On this page, we've rounded up a few good ones that surfaced on LinkedIn this week, and we shared our own dilemma here at Oilfield Water Connection... Got one we missed? We'll add any good oilfield water vanity plates to the collection here if you drop us a note... Enjoy!

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