Abstract
Produced water is the largest volume waste stream in the exploration and production process. Over the economic life of a producing field, the volume of produced water can exceed by ten times the volume of hydrocarbon produced. During the later stages of production, it is not uncommon to find that produced water can account for as much as 98% of the extracted fluids. During 1990, Gulf of Mexico oilfield operations produced 866,514,000 barrels of water (Reilly, 1991). With volumes of this magnitude, the disposal of produced water becomes an important issue to both the operator and the environment. The optimum method for disposing of produced water is one that protects the environment while imposing the least economic burden on the operator. Often, regulatory controls limit the options available to the operator. However, the methods dictated by regulatory controls may not be necessary or appropriate to protect the environment.
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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Stephenson, M.T. (1992). A Survey of Produced Water Studies. In: Ray, J.P., Engelhardt, F.R. (eds) Produced Water. Environmental Science Research, vol 46. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2902-6_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2902-6_1
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