Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 08/2014

Produced Water: Asset or Waste?

Blythe Lyons

May 2014

Atlantic Council

Abstract

US national security is enhanced by energy security and currently the United States is enjoying a unique opportunity to bolster both by increasing domestic production of oil and gas resources. The recent explosion in domestic unconventional production will allow an expanded bandwidth of US responses to the turmoil in the Middle East and Europe. If further exploited, the move toward energy self-sufficiency would give the United States a cushion to reassess its global strategic policies.

In Produced Water: Asset or Waste, Blythe Lyons focuses on the water-related issues impacting the United States’ ability to unleash domestic energy resources. Sustainable and publicly acceptable water management practices are essential for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas production. This report, based on a workshop held at the Atlantic Council, promotes the idea that sustainable water strategies require that produced water be considered as an asset rather than as a waste.