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Drought prompts suspension of water permits
By Scott Simpson,
Vancouver Sun August 13, 2010
Sustained drought conditions in northeast B.C. have prompted the Oil and Gas Commission to suspend 80 water withdrawal permits on basins in the Peace River watershed.
"The Peace River basin is experiencing a persistent and severe summer drought," the commission said in a directive that bars 20 companies from four river systems that have been particularly hard hit. "Precipitation has been 30 per cent of normal rainfall since mid-May and river levels are unusually low," the commission said, noting that long-range weather forecasts call for dry conditions to persist.
Natural gas explorers use water during drilling operations, and water is of particular value for deep underground formations such as shale, which are fractured using high-pressure injections of drilling fluids to release gas. The industry has access to hundreds of public and private water sites across the province.
The Oil and Gas Commission grants short-term water withdrawal permits. Longer-term water-use activities require authorization from the B.C. environment ministry.
"Suspension of previously approved short-term water use is required to maintain river flows for community water supply, and for critical fish habitat," the commission said. "The suspension will be lifted when drought conditions ease due to rainfall."
Commission communications manager Lee Shanks said operators were aware that the directive was coming and some had already voluntarily halted withdrawals from the four basins involved: Kiskatinaw, Pine, Halfway and Moberly.
"While some operations will be affected by [the] directive, the commission will work with industry to identify alternative sources for water withdrawal and expedite appropriate Section 8 [water withdrawal permits]," Shanks said.
Companies affected by the directive include some of the largest operating in B.C. -- EnCana and Talisman Energy. The latter has a substantial gas exploration position in the vast Montney region near Fort St. John.
"We have quite a big plan in the Montney and as part of that we have a comprehensive water strategy," Talisman spokeswoman Phoebe Buckland said.
One of Talisman's tactics is to recover the flowback, the water and drilling fluids that flow back up out of a well, and recycle it in subsequent drilling operations.
"What we have achieved in the Montney so far is that we are able to recycle 100 per cent of our flowback, which is really good news. We have two [fractures] happening right now. We are managing the amount of water we use by using flowback water and water that we had in storage."
Travis Davies, spokesman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, noted the commission's interest in working with companies to find alternative sources of the water they need to continue exploration.
"The ruling is [also] indicative of the fact that regulation is in place to protect water in B.C. and that regulation is enforced. Industry respects the system and doesn't want to negatively impact future access to water because it's a critical part of our operations," Davies said.
A report released this week by the Oil and Gas Commission shows that B.C.'s mining and petroleum sectors in total account for one per cent of total surface water allocated by sector.
ssimpson@vancouversun.com
