21/04/2015 00:31 AST
Oman is exploring ways to better utilise the 10 million barrels of water that is inevitably produced as a byproduct in its oil fields every day, said a senior official at the Ministry of Oil and Gas.
The accompanying water, which is termed 'oilfield produced water', is pumped up when oil is extracted from underground, and now with the increasing amount of produced water, the Sultanate is studying various ways to use it for beneficial purposes, such as agriculture.
"(On average), nine barrels of water are produced for every barrel of oil per day," Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas, told Times of Oman in an interview.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the first Middle East Oilfield Produced Water Management Conference, which opened at Golden Tulip Seeb Hotel on Monday and concludes on Wednesday.
The conference, which has brought together around 100 participants including senior officials and speakers, is organised by NEFT event management company in coordination with the Ministry of Oil and Gas and is supported by the Oman Water Society.
Produced water disposal
Al Aufi explained that currently the produced water is not being treated for agriculture or similar purposes but part of it is being re-used for extraction operations, and part of it goes into evaporation ponds.
The issue is becoming more serious as the amount of produced water is on the rise and it costs a lot of money to dispose it, he said, adding that treating the water can be a better option than disposing it or injecting it to the reservoir again.
"If you inject it back again into the reservoir, you are only increasing the water production. The aquifer also produces water so the volume of produced water is increasing," the official noted.
According to him, Oman has one of the highest rates of oilfield water production in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Asked whether it would be economical to treat the produced water given the fact that it requires advanced technologies, Al Aufi said, "It costs us today a lot of money to dispose the water so what should be taken into account is not only how much it will cost us to treat the water but also how much money will be saved by not having to inject (it again into the reservoir)." He added that gas wells also produce water but in smaller proportion than in oil fields.
In the opening speech of the conference, the undersecretary stated that the ministry is in talks with other bodies to find the best solutions for oilfield produced water treatment, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Research Council, the Oman Water Society and oil producers.
Hamdan Al Wahaibi, from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, said at the conference that produced water is one of the non-conventional water recourses for agriculture purposes, along with treated wastewater and saline groundwater.
Treated produced water can be used for agricultural purposes (non-food, non-feed crops) or industrial crops such as cotton, he said.
According to Al Wahaibi, contaminants in produced water including heavy metals is a challenge in the face of water treatment for drinking purposes.
Times of Oman
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