EXAMINING WATER AND PROPPANT DEMANDS ASSOCIATED WITH PETROLEUM PRODUCTION FROM THE EAGLE FORD SHALE, GULF COAST, TEXAS

In the exploitation of hydrocarbons in low permeability reservoirs, large volumes of water and sand are required for hydraulic fracturing in order to produce oil and natural gas. As we plan for the future, it is essential to anticipate the demands for water (typically potable, or nearly so) and sand resources that will be required to produce oil & gas. Quantifying future tradeoffs between unconventional petroleum resources and water and sand, will help to lower costs of hydrocarbon production and reduce demand for fresh water and sand resources, whose extraction has an impact on local watersheds that support municipalities, agriculture and regional ecosystems.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Produced Waters project, as part of the Energy Resources Program, has developed a methodology for estimating water and proppant requirements associated with hydrocarbon production. The methodology is built on USGS oil & gas assessments of technically recoverable hydrocarbons in continuous (unconventional) accumulations. The objective of the USGS water and proppant assessments is to quantify the needed resources to recover the assessed oil & gas resources, based upon historical completion data including water and proppant used for hydraulic fracturing. Every water and proppant assessment is built upon and directly linked to a geology-based hydrocarbon assessment of the undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous oil & gas resources performed by the USGS Energy Program.

Having recently completed the first such water and proppant assessment for the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, we are currently assessing the water and proppant demand for the unconventional petroleum accumulation in the Eagle Ford Shale of southern Texas in conjunction with the USGS Energy Team’s ongoing oil & gas assessment. This presentation will explore the quantities of water and proppant historically used to complete oil & gas wells in the Eagle Ford Shale and compare with the results of the recent Bakken and Three Forks Formations in which water, proppant and water production volumes have been assessed.