HOUSTON (Reuters) – Huge volumes of dirty water produced by U.S. shale firms are driving up investment in water-handling specialists, as cash-conscious oil and gas companies try to trim costs.
FILE PHOTO: Workers hired by U.S. oil and gas company Apache Corp drill a horizontal well in the Wolfcamp Shale in west Texas’ Permian Basin near the town of Mertzon, Texas, U.S. on October 29, 2013. REUTERS/Terry Wade/File Photo
For every barrel of crude, drillers generate up to six barrels of brackish water containing chemicals used to release oil and gas from shale rock. The water is trucked or piped to disposal wells, or recycled.
Transporting and disposing of water is costly for energy producers who are cash-strapped after more than two years of slumping oil prices, and some are opting to sell pipelines and wells to wastewater companies and then pay them to manage water. Read more…