Texas energy group takes issue with Duke University water study

Dusty Read checks the clean water tank Dec. 5, 2017 at Challenger Water Solutions’ water recycling system demonstration facility. Consisting of a control room container and two containers that do the actual water cleaning, the entire system can be transported on two semi trucks. The system, primarily focused on oil fracking operations at the moment, is price competitive with pumping ground water according to the company. Photo: William Luther, Staff / San Antonio Express-News

A Texas energy group has taken issue with the conclusions of a recent Duke University that water use in the booming Permian Basin oil field of West Texas skyrocketed between 2011 and 2016.

The study, published in mid-August, said water use in the Permian had increased 767 percent between 2011 and 2016, and that water use across all six of the U.S. shale plays studied had increased. The report was compiled by researchers at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and was published by science journal Science Advances.

In a statement, John Tintera, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, said his group "appreciates" the resources that Duke University put into the studies on hydraulic fracturing, the process used to crack shale rock and extract oil and gas. But he noted that North Carolina, where the university is located, does not have an crude oil reserves or production.

Tintera made his own summary of the Duke University report — "If you use water to drill oil wells, and you drill more and bigger oil wells, you will use more water."

He pointed to the […]

Full article: Texas energy group takes issue with Duke University water study

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