January Luncheon Meeting

Abstract

Every day, oil and gas operators in the Permian Basin recover, as an unwanted co-produced fluid, tens of millions of barrels of saline waste water. During the early years of production, this waste water was recognized as a nuisance and, eventually, a hazard. Until the present day, the recovery of minerals from this waste water for commercial production has been largely

untested. This presentation will outline the technical basis for the exploration for these minerals, and illuminate recent technological developments for economically recovering these minerals.

Previous generations of geologists have recognized that in the Permian Basin the connate water in the oil-bearing rocks is in motion. Carol Hill in 1996 published a comprehensive study on the interdependence between the motion of theses fluids with the chemistry of the rocks, the chemistry of the fluids and the dissolution and deposition of minerals. Later work by Art Saller and co-workers illuminated the origin of the fluids through the examination of the water chemistry.

Permian Basin operations have, for many years, unintentionally recovered some of the minerals from this hyper-saline water. Scale in the form of calcium and magnesium sulfates and calcium and magnesium carbonates have been a nuisance in the oil field from the beginning. Additionally, barium in solution is incorporated into this scale as the mineral

barite, and is a Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material.

Also known to exist at measurable concentrations in Permian Basin water are boron,cadmium, cobalt, lithium, potassium, rubidium and strontium. Other potentially recoverable metals whose presence in Permian Basin waters is unknown are beryllium, copper, molybdenum, nickel, silver, thorium and uranium.

Lithium mining in the past has been mostly by way of the hard-rock mining of spodumene (which contains lithium) and the evaporative precipitation of LiCl and Li2CO3 from brines. Recent advances in membrane technology have successfully recovered lithium from brines without the need for the broad footprint of an evaporative pan. In this way the recovery of

lithium from Permian Basin water is possible, and under certain conditions could become a significant secondary revenue stream.

In 1976 the USGS convened a symposium on “Lithium Resources and Requirements by the Year 2000”, within which oil field waste water was identified as a probable source of recoverable lithium. The exploration for lithium and other metals will require the sampling of waters over a broad geography in the Permian Basin, and across a broad spectrum of strata, with analysis by way of atomic emission spectrometry.

Bio

Steve Melzer is a consulting engineer in Midland, Texas specializing in CO2 injection projects, enhanced oil recovery (EOR), reservoir properties and horizontal well reservoir depressuring projects.  He also provides engineering and business planning services for a variety of U.S. and International commercial clients in the oil and gas, industrial gas, coal and power sectors as well as advising policy makers and non-governmental organizations on the subject of CO2 EOR and carbon capture and storage.  He has also originated and operated many exploration and production projects in the oil and gas sector.  He has conducted research on the origin and distribution of residual oil zones and their commercial exploitation through the use of both CO2 EOR and horizontal wells. 

He has been the director of the 26 years of the annual CO2 Flooding Conference and assists in organizing the EOR Carbon Management Workshop, both held each year in December in Midland, Texas.  He has served on the Governor of Texas’ FutureGen Board, as a past Director of The University of Texas of the Permian Basin’s Petroleum Industry Alliance, and continues to serve on several out of state Technical Advisory Boards as well as local Advisory Boards and Councils.

Steve resides in Midland, Tx.  He has a BS in geological engineering from Texas A&M and a MS degree in Engineering from Purdue University.