Oilfield Water Weekly

Today’s newsletter is overflowing with good reads and big developments. The oilfield water newscycle seems to be heating up now after a relatively slow start to the year.

While gathering this batch of news, we noticed tons of familiar faces and names – speakers and sponsors of Oilfield Water Connection events factor heavily into this week’s headlines (in a positive way). Some newsmakers that stand out this week include these good folks involved with our upcoming May 26-28 Oilfield Water Markets conference: 

  • B3 Insight (Platinum Sponsor & Speaker) weighed in on UIC cap reductions
  • Nathan Holland from Baker Hughes (Golf Sponsor & Speaker) was interviewed about water midstream trends
  • Winston & Strawn (Gold Sponsor & Speaker) advised on one of the biggest oilfield water M&A deals announced in recent months
  • Michael Teague wrote a thought piece on seismicity in Oklahoma, and we are thrilled to announce today that Michael Teague will be a speaker on our Legislation & Regulation Update Panel on May 28 in Dallas. Michael was Oklahoma’s first Secretary Of Energy And Environment and is now a strategic advisor at Adamantine Energy. Stay tuned for more big speaker announcements next week!
  • Also, a shout-out to some past participants from our two 2019 events who are also making news this week including Gabe Collins who released some thoughtful new analysis yesterday, Expedition Water Solutions, Goodnight Midstream, Chevron, and Sourcewater to name a few… What newsmakers will you meet in Dallas this May?

One final conference note today before diving into the news digest… we are thrilled to welcome CarboNet to the May 26-28 Oilfield Water Markets conference as a new Silver+Case Study Presenting sponsor. CarboNet is the maker of NanoNet Fe, the industry’s low-cost, highly effective, and sustainable water treatment option for efficiently removing oil, TSS, and iron compounds from produced and flow back water.

And now, here are the top oilfield water industry headlines of the week…


News Digest

Centennial Resource Sells Reeves County Water System For $225mm To... You Guessed It, WaterBridge!

The deal was announced in the E&P's earnings release Monday evening...

WaterBridge’s Buying Spree Extends Into 2020 As Another Large E&P System Is Divested [Free Trial Unlocks]

This Centennial transaction is the 10th water system acquisition tracked by Infill Thinking for WaterBridge over the past few years. Half of these acquisitions were...

WaterBridge Claims Title Of "Largest Pure Play Water Midstream Company"; Quantifies Post-Deal Produced Water Network

Upon closing the Centennial transaction, WaterBridge will have over 600,000 acres operated by over 23 blue-chip producers under long-term dedication in the Southern Delaware Basin. WaterBridge's network provides nearly 2mmbpd of water handling capacity via 1,140 miles of large-diameter pipelines and 87 handling facilities...

UIC Cap Reductions

B3 Insight writes: "Concerns about induced seismicity related to saltwater disposal have driven fresh approaches for evaluating new and amended underground injection control (UIC) permit applications at the TX Railroad Commission (RRC). A key result of the new scrutiny placed on permit applications in areas with observed seismicity is..."

Solving Oklahoma’s Earthquake Problem

Oklahoma's first Secretary of Energy & Environment Michael Teague (who will be speaking at our May 26-28 event) writes: "We had a major earthquake problem. My immediate thought was the safety of the over forty dams we were responsible for. On November 5, 2011, at almost 11 p.m., a magnitude M5.7 earthquake occurred near Prague, Oklahoma. At the time it was the largest earthquake in the state’s history, and I was..."

Doing More With Less: O&G Water Management Technology Discussion With Nathan Holland Of Baker Hughes

"The water management market is still in a define mode so I think we will also see some opportunities for this technology that we might not be considering today," said Nathan Holland, Global Product Line Director for HPump and Water systems at Baker Hughes...

We're On Their Calendar. Are We On Yours?

The Texas Water Journal maintains a great calendar of all sorts of relevant water meetings in Texas. Our May 26-28 Oilfield Water Markets Conference at the Gaylord Texan has been added to their calendar. Is it on yours yet?

Oilfield Water Infrastructure Connectivity: The Case For A ‘Hydrovascular’ Network In The Permian Basin

Gabe Collins writes in a new paper this week: "The current phase of oilfield water infrastructure buildout in the Permian Basin generally emphasizes each operator or midstream provider building its own water transportation and disposal systems. Accordingly, the overall market is balkanized and inefficient compared to the performance a more interconnected system could achieve..."

Can We Beneficially Reuse Produced Water From US O&G Extraction?

There is increasing interest in beneficial uses of large volumes of wastewater co-produced with oil and gas extraction (produced water, PW) because of water scarcity, potential subsurface disposal limitations, and regional linkages to induced seismicity. Bridget Scanlon and other researchers quantified PW volumes relative to water demand in different sectors and PW quality relative to treatment and reuse options for the major U.S. shale oil and gas plays...

Perception vs. Reality In Groundwater Contamination

A study led by environmental researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington suggests a disconnect between the perception of groundwater contamination and the extent to which that contamination is attributable to oil and natural gas extraction....

Rattler Midstream Addresses The Nuances Of Recycled Water Use In Fracs

During Q&A, management said: "In Pecos County in some cases we can use 100% recycled water for our fracs in that, you know, in that area because there's so much water production but then you go to an area like Spanish Trail or Midland basin where there's so little water production that you're pulling all the water that you're producing, but you still have to supplement that with some fresh water to complete the frac...."

Huffington Post Deep Dive On The Democratic Primary For TX RRC Seat (Implications For TX Produced Water)

"A March 3rd vote will determine which of four Democrats will take on one of the three commissioners on the Railroad Commission of Texas, a three-person board that has been all-Republican for decades...."

Texas Water Development Board's Eagle Ford Group Just Passed The 2021 State Water Plan & Scheduled Public Hearings

The Region L Planning Group just passed the Initially Prepared Plan (IPP) for the 2021 State Water Plan. This is the draft of the plan that is due in October. Hat tip to Curt Campbell from Westward Environmental for the heads-up...

M 3.3 - 8km SE of Gardendale, Texas

This seismic event occurred on 2/19/2020 and followed several events nearby just a day before that were covered in our previous newsletter...

Cimarex Budgets $100mm For 2020 SWD / Midstream Development

The Midstream / SWD allocation is approximately 8% of the total capex budget....

Subsurface Water and Energy Laboratory Meeting In Houston Tomorrow February 27

At an exploratory meeting for the proposed Subsurface Water and Energy Laboratory (SWEL), the Bureau of Economic Geology will share research and expertise in the area of water resources and challenges...

WATER TALENT POOL: Expedition Water Solutions Hiring Two Key Roles

Expedition recently posted openings for VP of Business Development and Director of Permitting, Compliance and Environmental. The BD role is still open on LinkedIn and as of this writing it had drawn over 200 applicants...

WATER TALENT POOL: Continental Resources Hiring Midstream / Water Facilities Engineer

The position involves engineering support for produced water gathering and disposal systems...

WATER TALENT POOL: Feeling Innovative? Bison Needs You!

Bison Technologies is hiring multiple positions for their "Breakthrough Innovations" team in Oklahoma City...

WATER TALENT POOL: Summit Midstream Seeking Commercial Director

The role is responsible for asset management and business development activities for the Company’s existing assets, which include produced water gathering services pursuant to primarily long-term and fee-based gathering and processing agreements..

Water Reuse Could Be Key for Future of Hydraulic Fracturing

“We need to first maximize reuse of produced water for hydraulic fracturing,” said Bridget Scanlon, lead author on both of the studies and a senior research scientist with the UT Bureau of Economic Geology. “That’s really the message here.”

Oil Industry Is Slowly Finding A Use For Its Wastewater [$]

Oil field wastewater is more often being used for drilling and fracking operations in places such as Texas’ Permian Basin, experts say, helping to preserve freshwater and to solve one of the industry’s persistent problems....

Winston & Strawn Advised On WaterBridge's Centennial Water Asset Purchase

A Winston & Strawn LLP team led by Isaac Griesbaum represented WaterBridge in its definitive agreement to acquire the Southern Delaware Basin produced water infrastructure of Centennial...

Brine Spill In North Dakota With Ties To Goodnight Is Mostly Recovered

Saltwater disposal company Goodnight Midstream reported that a tank leak caused the spill, which occurred about eight miles northeast of New Town. Nearly all of the spilled brine and oil was recovered on-site when the spill was reported to the state on Friday, according to the release, and cleanup continues....

TROUBLE IN SHALE: Chevron Launching April Appalachian Layoffs

Chevron Corp. will be launching a round of layoffs beginning April 6 as it sells its Appalachian natural gas operations, according to a WARN notice the company sent to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry earlier this month....

TROUBLE IN SHALE: Bankruptcy Risks Rise For US Shale [$]

Credit crunch looms for producers as ‘staggering’ amount of debt nears maturity...

New Mexico To Revisit Bonds For O&G Development

It was the 1970s when New Mexico last increased the amount of bond money that oil and gas companies are required to put up before drilling. As development continues at a record pace, State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard says it’s time to take another look....

San Antonio Mayor Talks Water

Texas+Water Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Todd Votteler, interviews Ron Nirenberg, the Mayor of San Antonio, one of the nation’s fastest growing cities in the United States with the seventh largest population...

ArcLight And Rattler Form 50/50 Midstream Joint Venture

ArcLight Capital Partners and Rattler Midstream, a subsidiary of Diamondback Energy, announced today that Amarillo Midstream, an ArcLight Fund V portfolio company, and an affiliate of Rattler have entered into a 50/50 joint venture to own, operate and expand a natural gas gathering and processing system in the Midland Basin...

Mark Papa Retiring From Centennial Resource

Papa, who is the chairman of Centennial as well as Schlumberger, had built independent energy producer EOG Resources Inc into one of the most profitable U.S. shale companies....

Cimarex Ties Executive Pay To Flaring

The management team of Denver-based Cimarex Energy Co., whose operations are concentrated in the Permian Basin and Midcontinent, wants to be an active participant in how national policies are set for environmental stewardship, but first it has to walk the walk, CEO Tom Jorden said last week....

Pioneer Natural CEO Tells Investors To Sell Stocks Of Companies With High Flaring

The chief executive of Pioneer Natural Resources, Scott Sheffield, on Thursday called on energy investors to sell shares or pull funding from companies that have rates of natural gas flaring...

Using Excess Natural Gas For Reverse Osmosis-Based Flowback Water Treatment In US Shale Fields

This work addresses three significant issues associated with hydraulic fracturing in US shale fields: flaring/venting of excess natural gas, disposal of flowback water and freshwater procurement...

Bloomberg: US Can't Afford To Ban Fracing 'For A While'

Michael Bloomberg said last week that the United States cannot afford to ban fracking because the country is not ready to use exclusively renewable energy, positioning himself with centrists who fear such a policy could cost Democrats the election...

Technical Paper: The Intensification Of The Water Footprint Of Hydraulic Fracturing

White paper: "Across all regions, aggregate data suggest that the water intensity of oil and natural gas production using hydraulic fracturing has increased by 19%..."

National Study Examines Environmental Impact Of O&G Operations

Locally, the most prevalent instance of that fight is the state-wide moratorium on oil and gas wastewater spreading on dirt roads, which originated with an appeal out of Farmington Township....

Eagle Field Tech Announces FieldFlow, the Closed-Loop Produced Water Management Solution for the Oil & Gas Industry

FieldFlow is Eagle Field Tech's technology-driven solution for increasing the transparency, accuracy, efficiency and profitability of produced water management...

And In The Middle Of The Desert... Saudi Aramco Sourcing Frac Water From The Sea?

Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said Saudi Aramco had developed fracing using seawater, which will remove the obstacle that a lack of water supply represents to desert fracs...

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Detailed Agenda

Monday - May 5, 2025 | Pre-Conference

Start TimeDescription
2:00 pm

Tuesday - May 6, 2025 | Conference Day 1

Start TimeDescription
8:00 am
in the Exhibit Hall

Wednesday - May 8, 2025 | Conference Day 2

Start TimeDescription
10:00 am

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