STW Resources, Inc. (“STW”) is a newly formed Corporation located in Midland, Texas. STW was created to utilize a cost-effective Patented Thermal Evaporation Technology developed by GE Water Process and Technologies (“GE”) to reclaim approximately 70% of the fresh water from highly contaminated Oil & Gas Hydraulic Fracture flow-back salt water that is produced in conjunction with the production of oil & gas. Through an agreement with GE, STW has been working to establish contracts with Oil & Gas Operators for the deployment of multiple water reclamation systems throughout Texas, Arkansas, and the Appalachian Basin. STW and GE, in conjunction with energy producers, operators, State of Texas Agencies, and legislators, are working to create the most efficient and economical solution to this complex problem. STW Resources will purchase the required equipment from GE and operate to reclaim the water.
STW’s evaluation of existing water reclamation processes has shown that GE’s proven Patented Thermal Evaporation Technology provides the first truly volume-capable and economic solution to the problem of cleaning contaminated oilfield water for re-use. This technology is being used worldwide in the following industries: Electric Power, Synfuels, Primary Metals Processing, Microelectronics, Chemical, Pulp & Paper, Coal Mining, Uranium Mining, Petroleum & Petro Chemical, Oil Refining, Oil & Gas Production, Co-generation, Fertilizer, Solid Waste (leachate and secondary sewage effluent), in over 130 locations worldwide from the Middle East to the oil sands of Canada.
GE's Quest to Reclaim Water
GE has made a major commitment for the reclamation of fresh water from contaminated oilfield water in the oil & gas arena. The company has 130 water reclamation units utilizing its Patented Thermal Evaporation Technology in use worldwide for as long as 30 years. Since 2002, GE has spent $4+ billion to buy companies and/or their technologies that can clean water, either through manufacturing equipment or chemistry. The units that will be used in STW’s projects will range in capacity from 100 to 500 gallons a minute. At 500 gallons per minute, a unit could process 17,142 barrels of produced water per day. The large units in use in Canada's oil sands can process 2,000 gallons per minute or 68,571 barrels per day. The initial goal is to reclaim the contaminated frac flow-back or produced water so it can be used in future hydraulic frac projects, for people, aquifer recharge, livestock, crops, and other uses to be determined.
Contaminated Oilfield Water
Oil and gas reservoirs are usually found in porous rocks, which also contain saltwater. Fresh water and polymer hydraulic fracture fluid is used to fracture and stimulate oil & natural gas wells, such as the Barnett Shale natural gas play near Fort Worth, Texas and is used to fracture tight shale to release gas trapped in the shale. Oil and gas operators are using approximately 4 to 8 million gallons of fresh water to frac each well. When the water flows back, it is contaminated with polymer additives and very high amounts of salt. This saltwater, which accompanies the oil and gas to the surface, is unusable and requires safe disposal in salt water disposal wells.
More than 250 billion gallons of produced water are taken out of Texas soil every year, 35% of which is unfit for use. (1) Texas is the nation’s largest oil and gas producer with greater than 216,000 active oil and gas wells. The state has more than 50,000 permitted oil and gas injection and disposal wells which service approximately 6 billion barrels (one barrel equals 42 US Gallons) of produced water each year. Water placed in disposal wells is lost forever. A portion of these 6 billion barrels of water is used in oilfield water floods.
"Save The Water"
The oil and gas producing industry desires lower costs related to production, transportation, and disposal of produced brine water which results from hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells. The government’s environmental oil and gas regulatory authority (Texas Rail Road Commission) is charged with preservation of natural resources and protection of the environment. A cost-effective reclamation process would prevent waste of natural resources, protect the environment (e.g., fouled aquifers and a contaminated water table), provide cost savings to oil and gas producers, and help alleviate some potentially serious environmental problems in the future.
Rather than disposing of 100% of contaminated water, some with total dissolved solids as high as 100,000+ parts per million, about 70% can be reclaimed with the proper reclamation equipment. Only the remaining 30 percent is disposed and it could be reclaimed but at a much higher cost of energy. GE water treatment equipment and processes have the capability to remove all contaminated materials from produced and frac water from oil and gas wells. The proper equipment is selected and specifically designed for the water chemistry being returned from the gas and oil wells.
More Fresh Water for Our Future
STW will contract with operators for a prearranged fee per barrel of water, and will provide desalinization and purification services. The operator will be able to re-use the water for future projects. The oil and gas industry will embrace a cost effective means of the processing and reclamation of produced water to lower trucking and disposal costs. Waste handling costs are a significant cost associated with production of oil and gas. All of the expenses involved with disposal of produced water —permitting of disposal wells and waste haulers, transport facilities, injection facilities, and financial assurances. If a significant percentage of produced water can be reclaimed and returned to productive use, then some of the potential future water shortage problems are alleviated and the potential of future environmental problems are lessoned as well.
(1)Environmental Protection:
Produced Water – Getting more water for Texas http://www.rrc.state.tx.us/commissioners/williams/environment/producedwater.html