As development in the Marcellus shale region in the USA once again accelerates, wastewater treatment remains a key challenge as the current infrastructure is stretched to its limitations.
The region’s sustainability necessitates both long-term solutions and short-term answers to meet today’s obstacles. Only ten approved disposal wells in Pennsylvania are currently operational or accept oil and gas waste, thus most of the wastewater is shipped to Ohio, which has over 200 brine disposal wells.
Moreover, recent links between brine injection and induced seismicity in Ohio and growing competition for wastewater disposal sites from Utica shale development will likely reduce storage space accessible to PA operators. In the future, there may also be fewer chances to reuse produced water in developing new wells. When the amount of produced water exceeds the demand for internal reuse, producers in the region will be forced to look for opportunities for external reuse, which usually requires desalinizing produced water.
There is good news however because today there are new, emerging solutions as multiple vectors justifying more beneficial reuse of produced water converge. Operators could potentially be sitting on top of significant revenue-generating mineral streams contained in their waste brines. The extraction of lithium from produced water, for example, may not be the only way to assist the United States in establishing an independent supply chain for its battery-electric vehicle industry. It might become quite lucrative for Marcellus and Utica operators as well as midstream players.
LBCG believe the combination of these factors makes Shale Gas Water Management Marcellus & Utica 2022 one of the most significant water management conferences since American Business Conferences debuted its pioneering series in 2011.
Speakers at this event include:
Andrew Murphy, Vice President, Equitrans Midstream
Randy Blood, Co-founder, Medoqua Resources
Kevin Rownsey, Physical Scientist, US EPA Region 3
Dave Rectenwald, Environmental Scientist, United States Environmental Protection Agency
Jason E. Oyler, General Counsel & Secretary, Susquehana River Basin Commission
Dr. Bonnie McDevitt, Geology, Energy and Minerals Science Center, US Geological Survey
Madalyn S. Blondes, Research Geologist, US Geological Survey
Thomas B. Murphy, Director, Penn State Marcellus Center For Outreach & Research
Larry C. Taylor, Executive Advisor, Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, State of Kentucky
Mark Peavy, President & Founder, Peavy Energy Ventures LLC
Katherine Schmid, Senior Geoscientist, Bureau of Geological Survey
David Yoxtheimer, Assistant Research Professor, Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research
James Bennett, Section Chief for the Source Water and UIC Section, US Environmental Protection Agency
Darin Chaffee, Water Foreman – Marcellus, Chesapeake Energy
Caleb Bloyd, Staff Facilities Engineer, Chesapeake Energy
Agenda at a glance:
DAY 1 – CASE STUDIES IN ACTUAL PRACTICE TO ADDRESS LIMITED DISPOSAL
CAPACITY
DAY 2 – BEST PRACTICE SOLUTIONS FOR REDUCING COSTS AND IMPROVED
EFFICIENCY
Shale Gas Water Management Marcellus & Utica 2022 will take place live in Pittsburg USA, November 1-2, 2022, and is also available online.
The full agenda and registration information can be found at:
