PITTSBURGH, PA Dec. 14, 2011 -- Heckmann Corporation (NYSE: HEK) announced it has begun transporting water through its fresh water pipeline in the Haynesville Shale area, a rock formation that underlies large parts of southwestern Arkansas, northwest Louisiana, and East Texas. The fresh water, repurposed PVC pipeline will be 40 miles long when fully commissioned, representing the largest fresh water pipeline system in the Haynesville Shale area.
Heckmann expects the fresh water pipeline to be fully operational in 2012 with capacity to move up to 60,000 barrels per day. The initial orders for water from the fresh water pipeline are projected to result in the delivery of approximately 16,000 barrels per day beginning in mid-December of 2011.
Heckmann Water Resources' (HWR) fresh water pipeline will initially transport water from HWR's Red River water supply and ultimately be able to deliver water from both the Red River and the Sabine River. HWR has several strategically located reservoirs along the pipeline to provide large quantities of fresh water to meet the peak frac water requirements of HWR customers. The combination of the 40-mile pipeline with multiple sources of fresh water, strategically placed reservoirs, and HWR's ability to move water to customer locations with temporary transmission lines or trucks, provides a comprehensive, cost effective and reliable solution for HWR customers' frac water needs in the Haynesville Shale area.
"Our fresh water pipeline enhances the efficiency and reliability of our total water solutions for HWR customers in the Haynesville Shale area," said Richard J. Heckmann, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Heckmann Corporation. "Having secured fresh water sources and operating a fresh water pipeline in the Haynesville Shale area augments the full range of HWR water services and enables us to provide our customers with even more competitively priced fresh water solutions. Our pipeline is strategically located where we expect continued development and increased flow as new wells are completed. In the first half of 2012, we plan to complete the extension and expansion of our adjacent produced water pipeline, and as we bring both pipelines into service we will be able to give our customers a full service option of fresh water, storage, temporary piping, and produced water transfer through either trucks or pipes, to final disposal, recycle, or treatment."
On average, 6.3 million gallons of fresh water are needed for each drilled frac well in the Haynesville Shale area. The water returns to the surface over time, with approximately 20% returning as flowback water within the first two to three weeks after the fracking has commenced, and the remaining water is generally returned to the surface as produced (salt) water over the life of the well, which can be up to 30 years. As a total water solutions provider, HWR is equipped to manage all of the diverse water needs throughout this cycle including, water delivery and disposal, trucking, fluids handling, treatment and temporary and permanent pipeline facilities, as well as site preparation, water pit excavation and remediation.
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