(THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Aug. 8, 2022 — PRNewswire) — TETRA Technologies, Inc. announced that it has entered into exclusive technology licensing agreements with KMX Technologies and Hyrec Holdings Company for the recycling of produced water for the purpose of beneficial reuse, including such applications as agricultural and crop irrigation, industrial, power generation, construction, groundwater recharge, cooling towers and dust control. TETRA is a leader in the treatment and recycling of produced water from oil and gas wells for reuse in hydraulic fracturing.
TETRA CEO Brady Murphy said, "With increasing water volumes required for unconventional completions and increased seismicity events in key sub-surface disposal locations, advanced water recycling solutions for beneficial reuse are a critical industry need.”
According to Rystad Energy Research, the U.S. will produce close to 23 billion barrels of water from producing oil and gas wells in 2022 with nearly 13 billion barrels being disposed of in saltwater disposal wells (SWDs).
“Our strategic relationships with KMX and Hyrec will allow us to create new, sustainable markets for produced water, reduce the industry's reliance on disposal and preserve precious fresh water resources,” Murphy said. "Produced water in the U.S. has a very wide range of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and mineral compositions and we are pleased to see the regulatory agencies continuing to make progress on defining allowable discharge limits. Delineating the market and providing a cost-effective solution between the very high TDS levels such as those found in the Permian Basin from those with mid-to-low TDS levels, is the best way to effectively address the total market.”
For very high produced water TDS levels, company officials say the KMX vacuum membrane distillation technology is the best in class for cost effective treatment to beneficial reuse water. At the mid-to-lower TDS levels, Hyrec reverse osmosis technology is best in class for cost effectiveness, desirable water quality and volumes.
“These solutions along with our extensive water and flowback services will allow us to meet the growing challenges that oil and gas operators are facing with consuming fresh water and injecting produced water into saltwater disposal wells,” Murphy said. “Although these exclusive license agreements are specific to oil and gas produced water beneficial reuse, we believe both KMX and HYREC technologies could also be effective for our planned lithium extraction and production process in Arkansas.”
