Regional patterns in the geochemistry of oil-field water, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA

McMahon, Peter B.; Kulongoski, Justin T.; Vengosh, Avner; Cozzarelli, Isabelle M.; Landon, Matthew K.; Kharaka, Yousif K.; Gillespie, Janice M.; Davis, Tracy A.

doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2018.09.015

Cited by 46 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…The injection and long production history have resulted in temporal variations in the total amount of hydrocarbons and produced waters being produced in the Fruitvale oil field (McMahon et al, ). The average reservoir temperature is 51 0 C and salinity is 0.095 M (Division of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), ).…”

Section: Produced Water Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The average reservoir temperature is 51 0 C and salinity is 0.095 M (Division of Oil Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), ). The relatively low salinity of the field compared to many oil‐field waters is a result of the significant recharge over geologic timescales from the Kern River and other smaller streams draining the high altitude Sierra Nevada (McMahon et al, ). There has been no significant change in reservoir salinity since injection began (Stephens et al, ).…”

Section: Produced Water Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Novel Method for the Extraction, Purification, and Characterization of Noble Gases in Produced Fluids

Tyne

Barry

Hillegonds

et al. 2019

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Hydrocarbon systems with declining or viscous oil production are often stimulated using enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques, such as the injection of water, steam, and CO2, in order to increase oil and gas production. As EOR and other methods of enhancing production such as hydraulic fracturing have become more prevalent, environmental concerns about the impact of both new and historical hydrocarbon production on overlying shallow aquifers have increased. Noble gas isotopes are powerful tracers of subsurface fluid provenance and can be used to understand the impact of EOR on hydrocarbon systems and potentially overlying aquifers. In oil systems, produced fluids can consist of a mixture of oil, water and gas. Noble gases are typically measured in the gas phase; however, it is not always possible to collect gases and therefore produced fluids (which are water, oil, and gas mixtures) must be analyzed. We outline a new technique to separate and analyze noble gases in multiphase hydrocarbon‐associated fluid samples. An offline double capillary method has been developed to quantitatively isolate noble gases into a transfer vessel, while effectively removing all water, oil, and less volatile hydrocarbons. The gases are then cleaned and analyzed using standard techniques. Air‐saturated water reference materials (n = 24) were analyzed and results show a method reproducibility of 2.9% for 4He, 3.8% for 20Ne, 4.5% for 36Ar, 5 .3% for 84Kr, and 5.7% for 132Xe. This new technique was used to measure the noble gas isotopic compositions in six produced fluid samples from the Fruitvale Oil Field, Bakersfield, California.

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Section: Produced Water Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Produced Water Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel Method for the Extraction, Purification, and Characterization of Noble Gases in Produced Fluids

Tyne

Barry

Hillegonds

et al. 2019

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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“…For management and protection, deep groundwater should be characterized and continually monitored in California and elsewhere. Following concerns with aquifer exemptions, produced water injections, and renewed attention to protect groundwater from oil and gas development across the United States and internationally (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45)(46)(47), there is a move toward increasing the TDS threshold for groundwater protection from 3,000 mg/L to 10,000 mg/L (38,48). Because this move has just begun, studies of the depth to which groundwaters have TDS < 10,000 mg/L are limited to a few localized studies (38), and previous regional characterizations (20) remain at too coarse of a scale to be useful for regulators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because this move has just begun, studies of the depth to which groundwaters have TDS < 10,000 mg/L are limited to a few localized studies (38), and previous regional characterizations (20) remain at too coarse of a scale to be useful for regulators. Characterization is possible using a combination of historic groundwater quality data (20,21,38), new groundwater monitoring (7,46), and oil and gas data, including geophysical logs and production activities (such as injections for enhanced recovery and wastewater disposal) (38). There are challenges to relying solely on oil and gas data, particularly because they are limited to oil-and-gas-producing regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Base of fresh water, groundwater salinity, and well distribution across California

Kang

Perrone

Wang

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The depth at which groundwaters transition from fresh to more saline—the “base of fresh water”—is frequently used to determine the stringency and types of measures put in place to manage groundwater and protect it from contamination. Therefore, it is important to understand salinity distributions and compare defined bases of fresh water with salinity distributions and groundwater well depths. Here we analyze two distinct datasets: 1) a large set of total dissolved solids concentration (TDS) measurements (n= 216,754) and 2) groundwater well locations and depths (n= 399,454) across California. We find that 19 to 56% of the groundwater TDS measurements made at depths deeper than defined bases of fresh water pump fresh groundwater (TDS < 2,000 mg/L). Because fresh groundwater is found at depths deeper than the base of fresh water, current policies informed by base of fresh water assessments may not be managing and protecting large volumes of deep fresh groundwater. Furthermore, we find that nearly 4% of existing groundwater wells penetrate defined bases of fresh water, and nearly 16% of wells overlie it by no more than 100 m, evidencing widespread encroachment on the base of fresh water by groundwater users. Consequently, our analysis suggests that groundwater sustainability in California may be poorly safeguarded in some places and that the base-of-fresh-water concept needs to be reconsidered as a means to define and manage groundwater.

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“…Outside of the oil field administrative boundaries (Figure 1b), hydrocarbons are not known to occur within the upper 300 m (Gillespie, Davis, Ball, et al, 2019). The median TDS of produced water from the Lost Hills and Belridge fields is about 30,000 and 20,000 mg/L, respectively (McMahon et al, 2018).…”

Section: Description Of Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Probabilistic Categorical Groundwater Salinity Mapping From Airborne Electromagnetic Data Adjacent to California's Lost Hills and Belridge Oil Fields

Ball

Davis

Minsley

et al. 2020

Water Resources Research

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Growing water stress has led to emerging interest in protecting fresh and brackish groundwater as a potential supplement to water supplies and raised questions about factors that could affect the future quality of fresh and brackish aquifers. Limited well infrastructure, particularly in regions where elevated salinity has led to limited historical groundwater development, hinders traditional mapping of salinity distributions through groundwater sampling. This paper presents a quantitative salinity mapping approach of the upper 300 m using high-resolution, regionally comprehensive resistivity models derived from Bayesian inversion of an airborne electromagnetic survey adjacent to the Lost Hills and Belridge oil fields in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley of California. Using local water quality observations as an interpretational foundation, a probabilistic approach yields maps of fresh, saline, and brackish groundwater while quantifying joint uncertainty inherited from the geophysical data and interpretational relations. Saline and fresh regions are mapped with relatively high confidence in many locations, while areas of lower confidence, particularly at depth, can be mapped as their most probable salinity category while reflecting the relative uncertainty in the interpretation. These maps identify a stratified salinity structure, where saline water commonly occurs in the surficial aquifer overlying fresher groundwater in the Tulare aquifer, separated by regional confining clay layers. Downgradient of unlined surface water diversions, recharge of imported surface water results in relatively fresh groundwater throughout the depth of investigation. Plain Language Summary Salinity, a measure of salt concentration, can impact the potential use of groundwater. Salinity can be difficult to map using wells alone, especially where groundwater development has been limited in the past. Dissolved salts are excellent conductors of electricity, and resistivity measurements are commonly used to estimate salinity where wells are not available. Uncertainty in estimating salinity from resistivity data can be introduced into the interpretation by two sources: (1) how well we can estimate salinity from resistivity and (2) how accurately we can measure resistivity. We present a method for mapping salinity that accounts for both sources of uncertainty using regional-scale, high-resolution airborne geophysical data, leading to spatially comprehensive 3-D maps of likely fresh (low salt) and saline (high salt) groundwater. The method is applied in the southwestern San Joaquin Valley of California adjacent to the Lost Hills and Belridge oil fields. Shallow groundwater is shown to have relatively high salinity in much of the study area, and a clay layer protects lower salinity water in the underlying Tulare aquifer. Leaking surface water canals have imported relatively fresh water into the area, resulting in fresher groundwater downgradient of the canals.

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Regional patterns in the geochemistry of oil-field water, southern San Joaquin Valley, California, USA

Cited by 46 publications

References 44 publications

A Novel Method for the Extraction, Purification, and Characterization of Noble Gases in Produced Fluids

A Novel Method for the Extraction, Purification, and Characterization of Noble Gases in Produced Fluids

Base of fresh water, groundwater salinity, and well distribution across California

Probabilistic Categorical Groundwater Salinity Mapping From Airborne Electromagnetic Data Adjacent to California's Lost Hills and Belridge Oil Fields

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