Produced Water Society Conference Brings Industry Together in Midland

The Produced Water Society conference in Midland, Texas, brought together hundreds of oil and gas industry professionals to discuss solutions for managing produced water, a byproduct of oil extraction.

Jonna Smoot, Permian Basin Chapter President of the Produced Water Society, explained that produced water comes out of the ground with oil, ranging from 5 to 10 barrels of water per barrel of oil. Treating produced water could reduce the industry's reliance on freshwater sources.

'Treat the water, and you can use it again for fracking, so you're not pulling freshwater out of the ground to do fracking, which allows us to go deeper and be more efficient in oil extraction processes,' Smoot said.

Steve Coffee, President of the Produced Water Society, noted that the industry's view of produced water has shifted from seeing it as a waste product to viewing it as a commodity. 'Now it is seen almost as a commodity, much like natural gas was years ago,' Coffee said.