Current and future water needs of the shale gas industry in Texas

The Barnett Shale gas play, located in North Texas, has seen a relatively quick growth in the past decade with the development of new “frac” technologies needed to create pathways to produce gas from the very low permeability shales. More plays such as the Haynesville, Woodford, and Eagle Ford are coming online at a steeper rate than the Barnett did, even including the small dip in activity due to the recent economic slowdown. A typical horizontal well completion consumes over 3 millions gallons of fresh water in a very short time (days). The trend in the industry is to increase the length of laterals with an increased water use. Vertical well completion also typically consumes in excess of 1 million gallons. There are currently over 14,000 completed shale gas wells in the State of Texas and many more will be drilled in the next decades. If tight-gas completions are included, the volume of water used is even larger, raising some concerns among local communities and other groundwater stakeholders. However, the volume remains low on average compared to irrigation demand, although locally it can lead to conflicts. Nevertheless, the industry is improving its water footprint by increased recycling, developing alternative sources of water (brackish, treatment plants) and more efficient additives, and other innovative strategies. This paper presents current shale gas water use in Texas compiled from various sources as well as water use projections for the next decades based on recent data and our understanding of shale gas geology. The map shows the 30,000+ wells frac'ed in the past 5 years in Texas