Assessment of water and proppant quantities associated with petroleum production from the Eagle Ford Group, Gulf Coast, Texas, 2019

Gianoutsos, Nicholas J.; Haines, Seth S.; Varela, Brian A.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Birdwell, Justin E.; Burke, Lauri A.; Drake, Ronald M.; Finn, Thomas M.; French, Katherine L.; Jenni, Karen E.; Kinney, Scott A.; Le, Phuong A.; Leathers-Miller, Heidi M.; Marra, Kristen R.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Paxton, Stanley T.; Pitman, Janet K.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Shorten, Chilisa M.; Tennyson, Marilyn E.; Woodall, Cheryl A.

doi:10.3133/fs20203037

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“… a Reproduced from ref (public domain 2020) [F95 represents a 95% chance of at least the amount tabulated; other fractiles are defined similarly. Mgal, million gallons]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Four of the seven AUs were suitable for the water and proppant assessment because the area within the AUs contained sufficient data to conduct this assessment . These four AUs, which are all south of the San Marcos Arch (Figure ), are the (1) Eagle Ford Marl Continuous Oil AU, (2) Submarine Plateau-Karnes Trough Continuous Oil AU, (3) Submarine Plateau-Karnes Trough Continuous Gas AU, and (4) Eagle Ford Marl Continuous Gas AU (Figure ; ref ). The updip boundary of the oil AUs is defined as the 0.6% R oe thermal maturity line representing the onset of oil generation, whereas the boundary between the oil and gas AUs is defined as the 1.3% R oe thermal maturity line, representing the onset of oil cracking to gas .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Assessment units (AUs) selected from the petroleum assessment for use in this water assessment of the Cenomanian–Turonian Eagle Ford Group in South Texas. Adapted from refs and (public domain 2018 and 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… a Reproduced from ref (public domain 2020) [AU, assessment unit; Mgal, million gallons, lb/gal, pounds per gallon, bbl, barrel; mcf, thousand cubic feet]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Examining Water and Proppant Demand, and Produced Water Production, Associated with Petroleum Resource Development in the Eagle Ford Group, Texas

Gianoutsos,

Haines,

Varela

et al. 2024

Energy Fuels

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More than 20,000 horizontal wells have been drilled and hydraulically fractured in the Eagle Ford Group since the discovery well in 2008, but a considerable amount of undiscovered petroleum remains. Recently, drilled wells have been hydraulically fractured with an average of nearly 13 million gallons of water and 16 million lb of sand, yielding a million or more gallons of produced water. To inform future petroleum development in the Eagle Ford, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a water and proppant assessment using a geology-based approach that builds on the 2018 USGS assessment of undiscovered technically recoverable petroleum. Using probabilistic input values and a Monte Carlo simulation, we determined that production of the remaining undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas in the Eagle Ford Group would require approximately 687,565 Mgal (millions of gallons) of water and 839,702,000,000 lb of proppant (both are mean values of output distributions). This possible future petroleum production would also include 176,817 Mgal (mean value) of produced formation water. On average, oil wells require water volumes that are approximately twice the volume of oil that will be produced, and Eagle Ford gas wells require approximately 5.21 Mgal of water per billion cubic feet of gas (bcfg). Produced formation water volumes are approximately 60% of the produced oil volume and, for gas wells, will yield approximately 1 Mgal formation water per bcfg. Understanding the water and proppant requirements associated with petroleum exploration and the resulting volume of produced water can inform decisions regarding the future of Eagle Ford development.

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“… a Reproduced from ref (public domain 2020) [F95 represents a 95% chance of at least the amount tabulated; other fractiles are defined similarly. Mgal, million gallons]. …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… a Reproduced from ref (public domain 2020) [AU, assessment unit; Mgal, million gallons, lb/gal, pounds per gallon, bbl, barrel; mcf, thousand cubic feet]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Examining Water and Proppant Demand, and Produced Water Production, Associated with Petroleum Resource Development in the Eagle Ford Group, Texas

Gianoutsos,

Haines,

Varela

et al. 2024

Energy Fuels

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…The amount of water and proppant used to fracture a well can vary depending on reservoir conditions, horizontal length, number of fracture stages, and chosen fracture fluid chemistry. For example, mean water use for wells fractured in two of the largest unconventional oil and gas (O&G) plays, the Eagle Ford Group (Texas) and the Bakken and Three Forks Formations (Montana, North Dakota), was estimated at 12.6 and 4.17 Mgal/well, respectively, with mean proppant-to-water ratios of 1.25 and 1.2 lb/gal, respectively. , …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Composition of Leachates from Hydraulic Fracturing Proppants from Surficial Releases in Southeastern New Mexico

Varonka,

Gregston,

Villalobos

et al. 2024

Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett.

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Resin-coated proppants (RCPs) are used in hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells to improve well performance; however, these proppants could be a cause for environmental concern if they are disposed of improperly. In this study, we investigate the water-leachable organic and inorganic constituents from proppants collected from surficial releases of RCPs in southeastern New Mexico. Significant concentrations of nonvolatile dissolved organic matter (>100 mg C/L) and phenolic compounds (>50 mg phenol/L) were identified in one of the proppant leachates, with further gas chromatography−mass spectrometry analysis identifying isomers of bisphenol F, a known endocrine disruptor analogous to bisphenol A, as the main organic constituents within this leachate. Fluorescence excitation−emission matrices analyses of proppant leachates identified several peaks associated with phenolic compounds, similar to previously studied oilfield wastewaters. Precursors of polyurethane production, including the inhalation sensitizer methylene diphenyl diisocyanate, were identified in the leachate from another proppant sample. An understanding of leachable compounds from RCPs is vital to management of environmental contamination from surficial releases, protecting the public and industry workers from associated hazards, and identifying the sources of organic compounds in oilfield wastewaters.

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Implications of unconventional oil and gas development on groundwater resources

Arciniega-Esparza¹,

Hernández-Espriú²,

Young³

2022

Current Opinion in Environmental Science & Health

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Assessment of water and proppant quantities associated with petroleum production from the Eagle Ford Group, Gulf Coast, Texas, 2019

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Examining Water and Proppant Demand, and Produced Water Production, Associated with Petroleum Resource Development in the Eagle Ford Group, Texas

Examining Water and Proppant Demand, and Produced Water Production, Associated with Petroleum Resource Development in the Eagle Ford Group, Texas

Chemical Composition of Leachates from Hydraulic Fracturing Proppants from Surficial Releases in Southeastern New Mexico

Implications of unconventional oil and gas development on groundwater resources

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