WaterSMART Solutions Ltd.
June 2022
2020-WIPC-02
Executive Summary
The draft Water Conservation Policy for Upstream Oil and Gas (October 2016) requires that the energy industry consider alternative water sources for operations use, when accessible, with the objective of minimizing industry use of high quality non-saline (HQNS) water. As the Alberta energy industry works to reduce HQNS water use, there is growing interest in transporting alternative fluids, including produced and flowback water (referred to as produced water, for simplicity) using temporary surface conveyance materials. Currently, layflat temporary hose (layflat) is considered to be of high interest for the industry, although there is openness to explore additional temporary surface conveyance materials. Layflat can eliminate truck traffic in rural communities, reduce emissions, and lower water management costs for operators. However, Alberta operators are currently unable to transport produced water in layflat for several reasons.
WaterSMART Solutions Ltd. (WaterSMART) was retained to perform research to support future efforts to enable transportation of produced water via layflat in Alberta. CAPP will be presenting recommendations to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), sourced from this research, which are expected to inform policy, guidelines, and processes for the use of layflat to transport produced water.