Drillinginfo & B3 Insight Announce Permian Water Outlook

From availability to disposal, joint effort addresses water challenges and opportunities in America’s most prominent oil and gas basin

Drillinginfo, the leading energy SaaS and data analytics company, announced today a new collaboration with B3 Insight, the leading SaaS oilfield water intelligence data and platform company. The two companies completed a multi-phased study addressing the challenges associated with produced water, backed by extensive data analysis and the engagement of industry participant stakeholders. Volume I of the four-part study will be available May 2019.

Produced water could be the obstacle that finally slows oil and gas development in the Permian Basin. While this seemed improbable a couple of years ago, the industry faces a different reality today.

“Next to pipeline bottlenecks and constraints, water is the single most important issue in the Permian right now,” said Bernadette Johnson, Vice President of Market Intelligence at Drillinginfo. “Price forecasts for crude, natural gas, and NGLs will always drive production and dictate forecast scenarios. As water becomes increasingly expensive to handle, thus, important to production costs, this collaborative effort will help us further assist our clientele,” said Johnson.

“Price is the ultimate determinant of growth, decline, and operational decisions for producers and the water industry that serves them across the Permian Basin,” added Kelly Bennett, Co-founder & President of B3. “This analysis will highlight the impacts of production economics over the next decade on water issues based on high-price and low-price scenarios. Collaborating with the Drillinginfo team allows us to tie our analysis of current and future oilfield water issues to the best economic modeling and production forecasts in the industry. It is of utmost importance to us that this work ties back to price scenarios and production forecasts that represent real economics in the Permian. Accessing Drillinginfo’s vast geologic database and experienced science team also gives us additional insight into the structures that the industry is using for disposal.”

In 2008, the Permian Basin in Southwest Texas produced around 875 MBPD of oil, accounting for just under 20 percent of the total U.S. production in the Lower 48. The same year, natural gas production was 4.7 Bcfd, accounting for approximately 8 percent of the total U.S. production in the Lower 48. Over the next 10 years, crude production in the Permian tripled to 3.3 MMBPD while natural gas production more than doubled. Drillinginfo forecasts oil and natural gas production in the Permian to grow another 79 percent and 41 percent respectively by 2028. The growth is just beginning and the implications for produced water are staggering, with the Permian expected to produce between 15MMBld and nearly 18MMBld of water by 2028.

The joint study combines Drillinginfo’s market intelligence forecasts of oil and natural gas with B3’s comprehensive oilfield water data, focusing on the period from 2018 through 2028. Subscribers will gain access to information necessary to make more informed, responsible, and profitable water management decisions. Benefits include:

1. A comprehensive understanding of potential water needs, and disposal volumes related to specific production scenarios for the Permian Basin and sub-regions
2. Assessment of current and future disposal and reuse capacity across the Permian
3. Assessment of current approaches to water management, including integrated and service business models and practices
4. Sensitivity analysis regarding the impact of recycling, seismicity, and other regulatory concerns on projected needs for fresh/brackish water and alternative disposal capacity
5. Identification of areas where handling capacity is inadequate to accommodate projected development
6. Assessment of economic impacts of these constraints and the potential opportunities they present

“There are a number of outstanding scientific studies of the Permian; we created an analysis and corresponding data set rooted in economic drivers that the industry can use to assess an array of opportunities and challenges going forward. In many ways, it is a bridge between those rigorous geologic studies and operating economics and strategies in the Permian,” added Bennett. For more information, visit atkbennett@B3insight.com.

About Drillinginfo
Drillinginfo delivers business-critical insights to the energy, power, and commodities markets. Its state-of-the-art SaaS platform offers sophisticated technology, powerful analytics, and industry-leading data. Drillinginfo’s solutions deliver value across upstream, midstream and downstream markets, empowering exploration and production (E&P), oilfield services, midstream, utilities, trading and risk, and capital markets companies to be more collaborative, efficient, and competitive. Drillinginfo delivers actionable intelligence over mobile, web, and desktop to analyze and reduce risk, conduct competitive benchmarking, and uncover market insights. Drillinginfo is a portfolio company of Genstar Capital and serves over 5,000 companies globally from its Austin, Texas, headquarters and has more than 1,000 employees. For more information, visit drillinginfo.com.

About B3 Insight
B3 delivers technology and insight that enable customers to make responsible and profitable decisions about water resources. B3’s flagship product is the leading SaaS oilfield water intelligence platform for upstream energy. B3 provides in-depth water data for producing basins in Texas and New Mexico in a user-friendly, transparent manner that delivers actionable intelligence to water midstream, exploration and production (E&P), oilfield services and finance companies. B3 provides data and analytics to help customers evaluate assets, enhance operational efficiencies, mitigate risk, allocate capital, and benchmark performance. For more information, visit B3insight.com.