All You Need to Know About Fracking with Seawater
There is a need to preserve freshwater for both domestic and agricultural use. This means, it is high time to replace billions of barrels of fresh water which are used every year with seawater. Forget about a few individuals who are skeptical about this because they are simply not willing to accept the challenge. It is possible if the right technology is used and this is a noble investment that everyone should be thinking about.
Sometimes back, the majority thought that high salinity waters could not be used for fracturing. Some even thought that seawater had a lot of dirt for the same use of fracturing. The truth however is, these are just myths that existed in the industry for quite some time and they were very inaccurate. It is good to note that seawater doesn’t contain a lot of bacteria and this can be attested by anyone who has spent time swimming in the seawater where in case one is cut or hurt, he or she can get healed. This leaves you wondering whether water with a lot of bacteria can heal or harm. It is also good to note that oil and gas reservoirs were also formed in the same seawater. This leaves you with a question; can freshwater be better than seawater for a reservoir? Definitely, it is not.
The other thing that you should know is, because seawater is heavier in terms of weight, it makes the fracturing job to cost less to some extent. This means using heavy seawater will add hydrostatic and reduce wellhead pressures, and as a result, this will save operator charges on overall hydraulic horsepower required for the fracturing. This is the reason why seawater fracturing is termed as a cost and energy effective process that is highly recommended.
It is also good to understand various technical aspects when seawater is used as a base fluid during onshore fracturing. One, by the use of seawater, there are more than one hundred thousand offshore frack jobs that have been performed. This means, this is not a new technological approach that is being tried with no surety of tangible results. In other words, no one is testing your faith in trying new things. This is a tried and tested technology that convinces you to discard your old habits and paradigms and consider the ocean as a source of fracturing water. Mother nature is always generous and it is good to take advantage of this wonderful generosity.
Finally, this is how to get started when you decide to use seawater as a base-fluid. In Texas, for instance, TCEO, has provided regulation for the use of all waters which in this case are surface waters; fresh and seawaters. This means, you will be required to make an application so as to use the fluid. The application comes at a cost but the seawater is free of charge. Still, note that it can take around 3-7 months to get approval of your application meaning it is wise to start the application process as early as possible.