Produced Water Management

& Treatment

Dr. Yasmeen Al Lawati

Produced Water Management & Sustainable
Development Advisor
Oman Water Society
 Outline

 Introduction
 Outline
Produced Water Treatment
 Produced Water Management
 Greening the Desert Initiative at Petroleum Development
Oman
 Outcome of Desktop Study on Potential
 What are the Produced Water Management challenges?

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 Produced Water (PW) Definition

 Water trapped in reservoir (or below Oil zone) and brought

to surface along with oil & gas production
 It usually contains oil (dispersed & dissolved), metals,
(heavy metals), NORM, Salt, Chemical additives used
during drilling, Suspended Solids….etc
 Quantities of Produced Water increase as Oil producing
field matures
 Treatment of produced water is a major OIL
cost component of Oil production
H2O
H2O
H2O H2O

H2O H O H2O
2

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 Oil Production Growth

Oil, Condensate & Gas Production

BOO per day

Gas

Condensate

Oil

1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012

Excludes Associated Gas Production

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 Oil Water Production Forecast

Wells in 1994: Wells in 2011: Wells in 2020:

2340 5088 ~7700
8,000
Water & Oil Production (kb/d)

7,000

6,000
DEEP WATER
5,000 DISPOSAL

4,000

3,000

2,000

INJECTION WATER / RESERVOIR SUPPORT

1,000

0
1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020
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 Worldwide Quantities of PW

 In the US, average water-to-oil ratio is 10 (2010)*

 Kuwait Oil Company produces 500,000 bbl/day of

water Compared to 2.5 million bbl of oil
 ARAMCO produces approximately 5 Mbbl/day in
comparison to 12 million bbl of Oil

 Oman (PDO) produces 5 Mbbl/day of

water versus 550,000 bbl/day Oil

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 Oman: Largest Produced Water Quantities
in Shell
The highest water producer within Shell
EPE - UK (Expro)
EPE - Norway (SEPNo)
EPE - Netherlands (NAM)
Nigeria (SPDC)
Nigeria (SNEPCO)
Gabon (SHLGB)
500
Cameroon (PECTEN)
450 Russia Sakhalin (SEIC)
400 Russia (Salym)
350 Oman (PDO)

300 EPM-AFPC-Syria

250
USA (Sure)
MM m3

Venezuela (SVSA)
200
USA (SEPCo)
150
Shell Brazil (SBEP)
100
Canada (SCAN)
50
Canada (AOSP)
0 Philippines (SPEX)
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
New Zealand (STOS)
Malaysia (SMEP)
Brunei (BSP)

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 Oman Highest Water Producer

 Oman Oil fields reached maturity

 Oman has started exploring and implementing new
technologies to extract difficult Oil
 Produced Water treatment and management are
the major challenges in Enhanced Oil Recovery
Polymer Injection
Steam Injection
 Oman with all their experience and challenges
faced, is an excellent candidate for Center of
Excellence on Produced Water treatment &
management
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 Fate of Produced Water (Petroleum
Development Oman)
 One bbl of oil => 10 bbl produced water
 4.5 bbl Water Injection, Enhanced Oil Recovery to
produce more Oil
 5.5 bbl Deep Water Disposal, Energy Intensive
Operation up to 3 km deep into ground at 120-170 bar
pressure - wasted energy & resource
 Nimr Water Treatment Plant (Reed Beds) is
handling~100,000m3/d
 Alternatives are investigated for efficient utilisation of
produced water - Aquifer Recharge, Bio-saline Agriculture,
Trans-Oman Water line….

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Produced Water Treatment Challenges in the
Oil Industry

Water
Oil DWD Water
Produced /WI EOR

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 Produced Water Treatment Stages
 Water quality varies from one field to the other across Oman
 In past most Oil fields used Skim or settling tanks and CPIs for bulk water treatment
 Currently; water flood projects & Enhanced Oil Recovery projects require stringent
water specifications and hence more complex water treatment equipment

• Corrugated Plate Interceptors (CPIs)

• Tilted Plate Interceptors (TPIs) Primary
• Skim Tanks DWD

• Hydro cyclones
• Gas Flotation Tank (GFT)
• Induced Gas Flotation (IGF) Secondary
• Centrifuges
WI/DWD

• Nutshell Filters
• Ceramic Membranes Polishing/
• Ion Exchange Tertiary
• Double Pass RO EOR/ Polymer Injection/Steam Injection

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 Water Treatment Challenges

 Improving Primary Separation

 Performance of secondary and tertiary WT equipment depends on
design and operation of primary separation
 Increasing residence time improves primary separation and reduces
cost of water treatment
 Troubleshooting of New Water Treatment Equipment
 Some new technologies are being implemented for the first time e.g.
GFT, Electro-coagulation and electro-floculation
 This requires advanced expertise on Engineering, Maintenance &
Operation
 Vendor Experience and Contracting Strategy
 Vendor experience and references are of most importance
 Investigating possibility of DBO&T, DBOO for water treatment

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 Water Treatment Facts
 Water treatment is crucial for Oil production
 Major cost of Oil production is attributed to water
treatment and management
 Oil operators are developing more focused approach
towards selecting appropriate water treatment
technologies
 There is a clear gap between the demand in the Oil
industry and what the market and water experts are
providing
 Oil industry has the ability to move fast in developing
new technologies simply because cost effective &
continuous energy production is of highest importance

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 Produced Water Management (Utilisation)
Drivers
 Objective: Offset Deep Water Disposal high energy
demand operation-Cost
 Relatively Good Water Quality in South Oman-low
salinity (5000ppm) and increasing water rates
 An excellent Sustainable Development initiative &
strategic move towards turning PW from a liability
into an Opportunity
 New business Opportunity for Oil companies by
diversifying core activities; bio-fuels, carbon sinks, bio-
saline forestry, water based industries, biomass
production, aquifer recharge -Game Changer

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 Produced Water Management at Petroleum
Development Oman (PDO)

a. Greening the Desert Initiative

b. Desk Top Investigation of Potential
Low Salinity Systems

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 Nimr Reed Bed Pilot-2000
B-TRAIN A-TRAIN

B1 A1

B2 A2
C - Train

B3 A3

B4 A4

EVAPORATION
POND A

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TOTAL AREA = 6 HA Management 21/10/2014 16
 Pilot Performance Since 2002
Avoid direct food chain
Fodder- Racing Horses
Timber for wood production
Halophytes for landscaping
Plants for CO2 sequestration

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 Status of Nimr Reed Bed Pilot 2013
Atriplex sp. Sesuvium sp. Conocarpus lancifolius

Acacia ampliceps Salvadora persica

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18
 Nimr Water Treatment Plant
Oil-Water Separation

Reed Bed Sodiumchloride

precipitation
area
Summer/winter Buffer Area
Residual
Storage area
Evaporation
Salt Fields

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 Nimr Water Treatment Plant
 Offset energy used for DWD (10MW
pumps)
 Biomass or Bio-fuel Production
potential
 Salt Production-base case scenario
 Currently 110,000 m3/d capacity

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 Produced Water Management at Petroleum
Development Oman (PDO)

a. Greening the Desert Initiative

b. Desk Top Investigation of Potential
Low Salinity Systems

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 Potential Utilisation Options for Produced
Water
 Excess treated Produced Water can be used for;
 Agriculture
– Bio-Saline such as Jatropha ,Cotton and halophytes or
forages
– Spec B (Cereals, seed crops & fodder)
 Aquifer recharge
 Solar desalination
– Fresh Water
– Salt
 Water Based Industries
– CO2 sequestration
– Pulp industry
– Duqum area development (Industrial Use)

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 PW Management Critical Factors

 Water Quality in terms of salinity,

120,000 heavy metals & Boron

80,000  End Use/Product

TDS (mg/l)

 Treatment Requirements & Cost Benefit analysis

40,000
 Contracting Strategies (DBOO & DBOT)

20,000  Vision 2020, 2030 (National SD Plans)

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 Produced Water Management Challenges

 Treating produced water as liability rather than resource

 Lack of recognition from water experts and Decision makers in order to
develop & accelerate the process of PW utilization
 Full solutions are required from source (produced water) to sink ( value
product) to sustain Oil production
 Stakeholder serious commitment (Ministry of Water resources, Ministry of
Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce, Regulatory &
International bodies to certify the Water Quality, …etc)
 Contracting Strategies a sub company of Oil operator, or different players ?!!
 Oil price fluctuations and National SD plans
 The legacy of time consuming R&D still prevailing despite the advances made
worldwide
 Too many initiatives/pilots and lack of follow up
 Availability and reliability
 Ease of technology installation, operation & maintenance
 Continuous monitoring, evaluation and follow up

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 Way Forward

 An independent specialized Produced Water Center of Excellence

has to be established that includes;
 Water technologists/Experts
 Government Representatives who are decision makers and able to
influence the National Sustainable Development Plans
 Industrialists who can manufacture & develop water treatment
technologies – “In Country Value” Initiative
 Experts that do base line assessment, define, select and assist in
implementation of produced water utilisation options
 Define & Certify water qualities per end use requirements
 Guard the intellectual property of these technologies and initiatives
in order to develop into new business portfolio for the
country/company
 A center that is moving fast with technology taking into account the
national and regional SD needs/plans

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 Close Out
 Oman is the lead in PW utilization field regionally and
this in itself is a new business potential
 The produced water treatment and utilisation should
involve other decision makers on National level
 There is a strong link between Water industry & Oil
Industry
 Oil industry is willing to spend money on research and
technology advancement however they need serious
commitment & assurance from other key players
 Need for proper utilisation of Produced Water has to
come from decision makers in the country and not as a
courtesy from Oil industry

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