Shale Play Water Management in Pennsylvania: Meeting the Needs With Brine Disposal (60 mins.)

Please read:  After registering on our site, you'll receive a PCPG confirmation email indicating Action Required in the subject line. Your registration is not complete until you click through the unique link in that email directing you to the GoToWebinar web site, where you'll enter your name, email address, consent to terms and conditions, and click the Register button.  Check your spam filter if you do not see the PCPG 'Action Required' mail within 60 seconds of registering, here.

Within 48 hours of conclusion of the webinar PCPG will circulate a PDH certificate documenting registrant’s participation time, not to exceed 60 minutes.

Level: Basic to Intermediate

Marcellus Shale exploration and production operations in Pennsylvania generate large quantities of flowback and produced water.  With continued Marcellus shale development, as well as, Geneseo/Burket Shale and Utica Shale exploration, Pennsylvania is poised to be a major player in shale development for decades to come.  Although there is a strong trend toward recycling waters, not all flowback and produced waters can be cost-effectively recycled due to water chemistry, specific companies lacking a nearby new well or pad at which the water can be recycled (e.g., during drilling slowdowns) and other factors. Brine disposal wells have an important role to play in managing such waters in a cost-effective and environmentally protective manner.  The need for brine disposal wells in Pennsylvania is expected to increase as the industry rebounds from lower commodity prices and Marcellus Shale and other shale plays mature.  Potentially tens of thousands of new, yet to be drilled, wells can be drilled over the coming decades and those wells would begin generating produced water on a daily basis.   Although currently there are approximately fifteen permitted brine disposal wells operating in Pennsylvania, with only three of these being commercial wells (with two more to come), there is potential to develop many additional brine disposal wells within or near Marcellus Shale fields and other producing areas.

Who should attend:  Geologists interested in oil and natural gas development in Pennsylvania as well as geologic and environmental concerns associated with development.

Dan Billman has extensive development and exploration experience in both unconventional and legacy, conventional plays and reservoirs in the Appalachian Basin.  He has performed numerous geologic and economic reviews of natural gas and oil exploration prospects throughout Appalachian Basin, as well as feasibility studies for gas storage, coal bed methane development and saltwater disposal wells. Mr. Billman has written and/or co-authored numerous published papers and technical presentations on the petroleum geology of the Appalachian Basin.