Assessment of Industry Water-Use

in the Barnett Shale Gas Play (Fort Worth Basin)

Jean-Philippe Nicot

Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences,

The University of Texas at Austin, University Station X, Austin, Texas  78713

ABSTRACT

The Barnett Shale play, located in North Texas and currently the most prolific onshore natural gas play in the country, has seen a quick growth in the past decade with the development of new “frac” (a.k.a. fracture stimulation) technologies needed to create pathways to produce gas in the very low permeability shales.  This technology uses a large amount of fresh water (millions of gallons in a day or two on average) to develop a gas well.  There are currently over 10,000 gas wells in the Barnett Shale play with thousands more likely to be drilled in the next couple of decades as the play expands out of its core area.  A typical vertical and horizontal well completion consumes approximately 1.2 and 3.0-3.5 million gallons of fresh water, respectively. 

This has raised some concerns among local communities and other ground water stakeholders, especially in the footprint of the Trinity Aquifer.  This paper presents a summary of a Texas Water Development Board (TWDB)–funded study carried out to estimate water use.  Total water use during the life of the play is highly uncertain, being dependent above all on the price of gas.  Other important factors include geologic risk factors, technological factors (horizontal vs. vertical wells, water recycling), operational factors (number of well completions that can be done in a year, proximity of a fresh water source), and regulatory factors.  Projections for the high water use scenario yields a total ground water use of 417,000 acre-ft, an annual average ground water use of 22,000 acre-ft over the 2007-2025 period for the whole Barnett Shale play.

Nicot, J.-P.,  2009, Assessment of industry water-use in the Barnett Shale gas play (Fort Worth Basin):  Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 59, p. 539-551.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90093 © 2009 GCAGS 59th Annual Meeting, Shreveport, Louisiana