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demonstrate that through strategic planning and cost-effective preliminary engineering, the operator could reduce its current water-related completion costs by over 50 percent. MWH evaluated numerous options for water acquisition and water infrastructure design to meet the anticipated E&P; development activity. In this area of the Niobrara, operators have recently had access to inexpensive surface water as a result of overly wet conditions. However, Colorado is typically arid, and as a result reliance on current water supplies is risky, in terms of both supply and cost, for continued development. Moreover, during wintertime operations traditional water transfer can be risky because long transfers are subject to freezing. MWH's solution included developing a plan to secure water rights for use by the operator and to convey this water via pipeline to strategic locations within the operator's acreage. Utilizing strategic storage of water and placement of pipelines, MWH was able to provide a "screening level" analysis of the water system for evaluation by the E&P; company. MWH initial engineering design and construction cost estimates for an approximate 23-mile pipeline, 600,000 bbls of in-ground storage, and groundwater wells to supply between 25 and 100,000 bbls/day ranged from $1.00 to $0.30/bbl, depending on volume and term commitment. Costs did not include transfer off the pipeline or from the in-ground storage to the pad or water costs. Comparing these costs to costs for traditional conveyance and storage methods in the greater Wattenberg area of $1.65/bbl, MWH was able to demonstrate to the E&P; company that it would save between $0.65 and $1.35/bbl, or 40 to 80 percent. Moreover, as with the Delaware project, MWH evaluated the use of private capital to fund the project so the client could preserve its capital for core operations and incorporate the costs for the water solution in its drilling and completion costs. Conclusion In the current market of continued low commodity prices, it is critical that costs are reduced to improve operating margins and profitability for E&P; companies. One innovative avenue for those companies to achieve improved profitability is by reducing total water management costs associated with UCOG development. Total water management cost reduction was not a driver 18 months ago when oil prices were in the $100/bbl range, as operating margins were being driven by the revenue side of the equation and water management costs were a smaller percentage of the total well D&C; costs. By employing holistic water management solutions that include decision support tools, such as MWH has developed, to better plan and forecast E&P; life cycle water management costs, provide preliminary engineering analysis, and perform financial modeling, E&P; companies can greatly reduce water-related costs associated with UCOG development. On the basis of current U.S. UCOG water management projects that we are pursuing, MWH has demonstrated cost savings of 30 to 70-plus percent on D&C; water management costs. In addition, future acceptance by E&P; companies of treatment and reuse of flowback and produced water has the potential to provide reduced water management costs for both D&C; (water supply) and production (water disposal) operations. This technique has not been widely used due to treatment costs and availability of fresh water for fracs. Less than 5 percent of flowback and produced water is treated for reuse in the industry. If this practice becomes accepted by operators, it could reduce total water management costs (completions and production) and provide sustainable frac water during full field development and the "well factory" approach. n References: 1. Goodwin, Stephen, PhD. 2015. Modeling Software Predicts Water Infrastructure Scenarios for Changing Oil & Gas Fields, Upstream Pumping, May/June 2015 Issue http://www.upstreampumping.com/article/2015/modeling-software-predicts- infrastructure-scenarios-changing-oil-gas-fields 2. Adapted from Shaffer, Devin L, et al. "Desalination and Reuse of High-Salinity Shale Gas Produced Water: Drivers, Technologies, and Future Directions." Environmental science & technology 47.17 (2013):9569-9583. 3. Russell Fontaine, P.E. 2015. IHS Vantage Analyses of Unconventional Type Well Costs, Delaware Basin, Bone Spring, November 20, 2015. wateronline.com n Water Innovations 27 PRODUCEDWATER Jeffrey A. Anderson, PG, has more than 30 years' experience solving oilfield water management problems and developing petroleum hydrocarbons. As MWH Global' s Upstream O&G; Sector leader, he provides holistic water management solutions for oil and gas opera- tors across the globe. About The Authors William H. Fronczak, Esq., PE, has over 25 years of experience involv- ing water matters, including eight years as an attorney and seven years as the chief of water supply for the State of Colorado Division of Water Resources. As MWH Global's Oil and Gas Business Development Director, he provides the company strategic leadership to successfully develop total water solutions for the oil and gas industry. Stephen A. Goodwin, PhD, specializes in water management and reuse for unconventional oil and gas development. At MWH he developed mFlowPlan, a water management software tool that allows operators to better plan water management and reuse strategies to reduce cost and increase planning efficiency. At the end of the day, with the current low commodity price environment that appears to be in place for the longer term, it is critical that water management solutions achieve a significant reduction in overall water costs to be effective.