Allan Ingelson, Arlene Kwasniak, Nickie Vlavianos, Tilly McRae, Gopal Achari, Bernard Mayer, Paul Reid and Cooper Langford
December 31, 2015
Executive Summary
Pursuant to the authority provided to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) under the Responsible Energy Development Act and the associated regulations, the AER approves oil and gas operations and regulates the management and disposal of produced water and flowback. Important provincial acts and the associated regulations administered and enforced by the AER that govern the use and reuse of produced water include the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act and the Water Act. Currently, under the existing provincial and federal regulatory systems that we have reviewed, there are three options selected by oil and gas operators in Alberta for the management and disposal of produced water and flowback. Numerous technologies that are available to facilitate treatment and recycling of produced water are discussed in section 5 of this report. While there is the potential for increased reuse of produced water and flowback for a variety of applications discussed in this report, under the existing provincial and federal regulatory systems there is a lack of incentives for operators to do so. Overall, the provincial regulatory framework in Alberta does not prevent oil industry operators from reusing produced water and flowback, but at the same time the system does not incentivize the oil and gas industry to reuse produced water for a range of beneficial purposes. The existing provincial regulatory system appears to be too cumbersome for most operators to invest the time and corporate resources to obtain regulatory approval for increased recycling of produced water. The Alberta regulatory system lacks certainty with regard to specific requirements for the recycling and reuse of produced water/flowback. There is a lack of water quality requirements for reuse purposes above and beyond those for reuse in agriculture. In addition both the federal and Alberta regulatory systems do not provide specific details on clearly identified applications for produced water reuse. There is the lack of a formal well-defined process to evaluate and approve produced water reuse for a range of beneficial applications in the province.