Spatiotemporal and stratigraphic trends in salt-water disposal practices of the Permian Basin, Texas and New Mexico, United States. Who knows what that even means? Lucky for us all, our Director of Geoscience, Casee Lemons knows! We had the opportunity to sit down with Casee as she broke down her newest publication for us. Here, she explains what it means in her field as well as for the industry as a whole.

This publication — published on December 4th of this year by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, in the Environmental Geosciences journal — is the first and only research that identifies the formations that are being used for saltwater disposal. 

Our CEO, Josh Adler, speaks to the importance and relevance of this study and how it shapes the direction in which this industry is moving.

“For about 150 years, geologists have been studying the subsurface to figure out where the oil is and how to get it out. Until now, no one has rigorously studied the subsurface to figure out where to put the water produced with the oil back down. Casee and her team at Sourcewater are pioneering this new field of saltwater geoscience.”

No matter which part of the industry you represent and role you play, this is substantial news, especially for SWD operators and prospectors. This knowledge serves to help you identify potential targets for disposal and initiate capacity analyses, in addition to conveying necessary information for hazard & risk mitigation.

With this, Casee, explains that “we can begin to understand the capacity that exists and remains for saltwater disposal”.

What’s most unique about this study is that it is the first and only published Permian Basin stratigraphic column outlining injection stratigraphy from surface to basement. Put differently, and in Casee’s words, it is “comprehensive across both time and space”. When it is put in that scope, we can begin to understand just how much of an impact this study will have.

You can read Casee’s  full publication here.