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Monday, April 28, 2008

Lea County Works To Reuse Oilfield Water


Associated Press
      
    HOBBS — Lea County has been awarded a $1.8 million grant to help the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology research ways to reuse some the water used in oilfield production.
    The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, starts this summer.
    The research is expected to last about two years. The Petroleum Recovery Research Center at New Mexico Tech has been researching oilfield production water reuse for several years.
    The project will include three corporate partners who will pay some costs.
    County grant writer Eva Sanchez said salts can be removed from some produced water by algae or bacteria. Officials estimate southeastern New Mexico produces about 400 million barrels of brine water annually. transportation.
    Sanchez said the reused water may not be safe enough for human consumption but could be reused in the oilfield.
    "We have large amounts of produced water,'' she said. "If we can find a way to clean it up so that it's usable again, I think it will really help us with the amount of withdrawals from Lea County.''

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