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Senate minerals panel approves bill allowing produced‑water reservoirs beyond lease units
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Summary
The Senate Minerals Committee approved Senate File 15 to let the Oil and Gas Commission permit produced‑water reservoirs outside a lease unit or communitized area; the bill keeps surface‑owner permission and retains a ‘‘noncommercial’’ limit for single‑operator use.
At a meeting of the Senate Minerals Committee, legislators unanimously approved Senate File 15 to allow the state Oil and Gas Commission to permit produced‑water reservoirs outside the limits of a lease unit or communitized area.
The bill strikes language in Wyoming Statute 30‑5‑104 that limited commission permitting for certain pits and reservoirs to a lease unit or communitized area, a change supporters said would let operators centralize produced‑water storage and reuse water for drilling and completion operations.
Tom Kropatch, state oil and gas supervisor for the Oil and Gas Commission, told the committee the change would not alter permitting, construction, operation or closure requirements. "What this would do is allow us to permit or look, locate these reservoirs or specifically the produced water reservoirs anywhere," Kropatch said. He said the change responds to industry efforts to reuse produced water to reduce fresh‑water purchases and disposal costs.
Kropatch described the reservoirs as large and sometimes costly to construct. "Some of them now are seeing up to a 1000000 barrels of water," he said, adding they can occupy several acres of surface area. He also said the bill would not remove the requirement for an operator to obtain the surface landowner's permission.
Senator Chris Rothfuss asked about the phrase "noncommercial" in the statute and whether it conflicted with the industry practice of moving or sharing produced water. Kropatch said the noncommercial language limits reservoir use to a single operator and does not authorize operators to accept water for commercial gain or to establish a broader water‑sharing arrangement. He said the commission and the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are exploring whether additional authority or statutory language would be needed to permit inter‑operator water sharing.
Kropatch also discussed water quality and safeguards. He said produced water quality varies; "the total dissolved solids ... are, you know, in the 20 to 60000 part per million range," and that permitted reservoirs include leak detection and monitoring requirements to address spills or leaks.
Committee members moved to pass the bill. Senator Rothfuss moved and Senator Cooper seconded the motion. A roll‑call vote recorded Senators Cooper, Jones, Nethercott, Rothfuss and Chairman Anderson as "aye." The committee gave Senator Rothfuss the floor assignment to carry the bill to the Senate floor.
The committee record shows no public commenters on the item and no amendments were offered during the hearing.
The measure advances to the full Senate with the committee's unanimous recommendation.
