Water-Related Issues Affecting Conventional Oil and Gas Recovery and Potential Oil Shale Development in the Uinta Basin, Utah

Funded by National Energy Technology Laboratory

Goal || Topics || Publications
Presentations || References || Links || Contact

Overall Goal

This Uinta Basin water study will help alleviate problems associated with produced saline water as a means to facilitate increased conventional hydrocarbon production and help resolve water-related environmental barriers to possible oil shale development.

• Project Summary (pdf - updated July 2009)
• Project Overview Presentation (pdf) - NETL Project Kickoff Meeting, 12/08
• Proposal (pdf)

Topics

• Moderately Saline Aquifer Study

  Goal: Re-map the base of moderately saline water in the Uinta Basin to better facilitate water disposal permitting and to protect fresh-water resources.

• Geologic Examination of the Birds Nest Aquifer

  Goal: Study the spatial and stratigraphic extent of the Birds Nest aquifer to determine the possible impacts of saline water disposal on future oil shale development.

• Baseline Water Quality and Quantity Database

  Goal: Create a baseline water quality and quantity GIS database for lands in the Uinta Basin identified by the BLM as having oil shale development potential. (click here for larger map)

Publications (pdf's)

• Technology Status Assessment
• Water Quality Assurance Project Plan
• Quarterly Reports
• July - September 2009
• April - June 2009
• January - March 2009
• October - December 2008
• Abstracts
  
  • Understanding the Aquifers in the Uinta Basin, Utah: A Key to Solving the Basin’s Saline Water Disposal Problem (submitted), AAPG annual meeting, April 11-14, 2010
  • Saline Water Disposal into the Birds Nest Aquifer in Uintah County, Utah: Implications for Potential Oil Shale Development, 29th Oil Shale Symposium, October 19-21, 2009
  • Understanding the Birds Nest Aquifer in Uintah County, Utah: A Potential Source for Large-Scale Saline Water Disposal, Water/Energy Sustainability Symposium, GWPC, September 13-17, 2009
  • Saline water disposal in the Uinta Basin, Utah: The single most pressing issue with regard to increasing petroleum production and protecting freshwater aquifers, AAPG annual meeting, June 7-10, 2009
  • Comparing the depositional characteristics of the oil-shale-rich Mahogany and R-6 zones of the Uinta and Piceance Creek Basins, GSA-RMS, May 11-13, 2009

Presentations

Year 1 Review Meeting Presentations

Michael D. Vanden Berg, Utah Geological Survey
Paul B. Anderson, Consulting Geologist
Janae Wallace, Utah Geological Survey
Presented October 8, 2009.

	Project Overview
	Task 2: Base of the Moderately Saline Aquifer (2.5MB)
	Task 3: Birds Nest Aquifer (3MB)
	Task 4: Baseline Water Quality Study (3MB)

Understanding the Birds Nest Aquifer in Uintah County, Utah:  A Potential Source for Large-Scale Saline Water Disposal

Michael D. Vanden Berg, Utah Geological Survey
Presented at the Ground Water Protection Council - Water/Energy Sustainability Symposium, Salt Lake City, UT, September 2009

pdf file, Poster (6MB)

Saline water disposal in the Uinta Basin, Utah: The single most pressing issue with regard to increasing petroleum production and protecting freshwater aquifers

Michael D. Vanden Berg, Utah Geological Survey
Presented at the AAPG Annual Conference, Denver, CO, June 2009

	pdf file, Poster panel 1 (6MB)
	pdf file, Poster panel 2 (6MB)

References

• Base of the Moderately Saline Ground Water in the Uinta Basin, Utah: Utah DNR Technical Publication No. 92, 1987

Links

• National Energy Technology Laboratory
• Produced Water Management Projects
• Colorado School of Mines NETL produced water project

Contact

• Michael Vanden Berg, Principal Investigator, 801.538.5419, michaelvandenberg@utah.gov
• Roger Bon, Public Outreach, 801.537.3363, rogerbon@utah.gov