- The NE App Water team moved ~184,000 barrels of produced water out of storage and into EXE frac operations within one month of the merger.
- The company uses 100% reused produced water for its frac operations in NE App.
- We have a robust water sharing program with various local operators, which offsets freshwater volumes and operational expenses.
As the merger closed, the Northeast Appalachia Water team had a specific goal in mind — to move legacy Southwestern’s stored produced water supply into frac operations as efficiently as possible. They achieved this goal in under a month, putting ~184,000 barrels of previously stored brine water to work within Expand Energy’s operations. This synergy has removed the need for EXE produced water storage or disposal in NE App and reduced operational costs and environmental risks associated with increased water handling.
“Storing water has both financial impacts and environmental concerns,” said Chris Lee, Expand Energy’s NE App Water Foreman. “Ideally, we only want to handle fluid one time — transferring it from one site to another. If you have to store it, you’re handling it at least twice which increases costs and risks.”
Prior to the integration, Southwestern had a supply of stored fluid ready for its next frac job. Since legacy Chesapeake had continuous operations (meaning there was always a frac operation taking place in the area), the company was able to redirect its produced water from storage or disposal to immediate downhole use. Post integration, Expand Energy has maintained continuous operations with 100% produced water reuse.
“For us, it was about efficiency,” said Chad Garrison, Expand Energy Water Specialist – NE App. “The entire Water team really put their brains on this and developed a solution that allowed us to deploy water not only in the fastest way possible, but also considering location so we didn’t overspend with hauling.”
The company pumps about 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of produced water downhole each day. In another example of efficiency, the NE App Water team utilizes water sharing agreements to offset freshwater needs. These agreements are partnerships with other industry operators in which they pay Expand Energy a fee to take and reuse their produced water. Through these agreements, we are promoting water stewardship among our industry and reducing freshwater usage within our NE App operations.
We also partner with experienced water haulers local to our NE App BU. Through the integration, the NE App Water team reviewed every water-related business partner to help ensure we maintained partnerships with the most seasoned and safest. The team is now reorganizing production hauling routes to make them more efficient and cost effective.
“It’s our example of disrupting,” said Lee. “There are always ways we can improve. We’re not limited by how we’ve historically operated; we can disrupt status quos to continuously improve for Expand Energy as a new company.”
Part of the team’s work has included decommissioning six water storage sites. There is also a commitment to share key learnings among our BUs, recognizing that each area has different water and operational needs.
Garrison mentions that the team’s motivation is in part the company’s core value of stewardship.
“We live in one of the most beautiful areas of the country and any release or spill could impact this,” said Garrison. “We hold the reputation of the company in our department, and we think about this responsibility every day.”