Oman: PDO produced water output to hit record 1.4mln m³/day

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MUSCAT: Faced with a daily deluge of produced water – highly saline oil-contaminated water that comes to the surface along with oil – Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) has revamped its water management strategy to unlock value from this prodigious resource. Besides harnessing this resource for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) operations, potential applications for desert agriculture, notably in the cultivation of oil-bearing plants for biofuel production, are being explored as well.

Majority state-owned PDO, the country’s largest energy company, currently generates around 948,600 m³/day (cubic metres/day) of produced water – volumes enough to fill an estimated 380 Olympic-sized swimming pools daily. This is projected to soar to 1.4 million m³/day (equivalent to 560 Olympic-sized swimming pools) in 2030. Until about a decade ago, much of this output was pumped back into deep aquifers – an energy-intensive process that is progressively being scaled down.

“We have established a comprehensive Water Management Strategy in collaboration with relevant government ministries. This prioritises a three-pronged approach: Reduce, Reuse, and Relocate (3Rs) for produced water. In 2023, this strategy was refreshed to enable better value creation,” said PDO in its 2023 Sustainability Report issued here recently.

As part of its revised strategy, PDO plans to maximize the reuse of produced water for EOR operations, notably through water-flooding and steam injection. Around 70% of produced water is presently utilized towards such EOR initiatives. But going forward, PDO plans to explore alternative, energy-efficient and beneficial applications as well.

Significantly, water disposal into deep aquifers – currently accounting for 13% of total produced water – is proposed to be eliminated by 2030. As for the remaining 17% of the produced water, it is being channeled towards sustainable surface water management initiatives, such as the Nimr Reed Bed and Rima Water Treatment projects.

Both ground-breaking initiatives, the Nimr Reed Beds project can process 175,000 m³/d of produced water, resulting in energy savings of around 40 MW and emission reductions of 113,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum. Likewise, the Rima Water Treatment Plant features innovative biological processes that eliminate the need for the deep aquifer disposal of around 40,000 m³/day of produced water.

“These projects have garnered recognition for their contributions to environmental sustainability efforts, including the greening desert lands, pioneering water solutions and reducing GHG discharges,” according to PDO.

Further, in a bid to create value from this resource, initiatives aimed at extracting salt and minerals are being pursued. Notable examples included the Fahud Salt Making project, the Qarn Alam Steam Hypersaline project and the use of surface water for plantation projects.

As reported by the Observer, a number of Omani start-ups, among other international players, are exploring opportunities for the production of bio-fuel and potentially even Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) through the cultivation of select crops using treated produced water.

Additionally, by piping produced water to oilfield areas with inadequate supplies for EOR operations, PDO is helping reduce its reliance on energy-intensive aquifer abstraction. The construction of a pipeline from Yibal to Lekhwair presently enables the transfer of produced water for water injection at Lekhwair, thereby slashing aquifer abstraction from 36,000 m³/day in 2020 to 28,000 m³/day in 2023 – a move that contributes to the monetization of produced water.