Our Water Record

ConocoPhillips Canada uses and handles water in every aspect of our operations from exploration to production. Since 2007, we managed over 8,000,000 m3 of water every year. The majority, about 80 percent, is produced water.

Produced water is generated during the production of oil and gas and is reported monthly to provincial regulators. Produced water is generally re-injected into the ground to maintain reservoir pressure to enhance the recovery of hydrocarbons or is transported.

In our Surmont oil sands operations, produced water is treated and reused to generate steam. In our Western Canada Gas operations, we piloted the reuse of produced water during the completion of oil and gas wells. We continue to investigate technologies for treating and reusing produced water in our operations.

Non-saline water is used in every area of our operations. In our Western Canada Gas operations, both surface and groundwater are used to drill and complete wells and to enhance oil production through waterflooding. For our Surmont oil sands operations, small volumes of surface water are used to drill wells. Non-saline, non-potable groundwater is used to assist the production of bitumen in our steam-assisted gravity drainage operations.

In 2009, approximately 83.5 percent of the non-saline water we used in our steam-assisted gravity drainage operations was recycled. ConocoPhillips Canada is committed to full compliance with our operating approval that requires achieving a 90 percent recycle rate. We have not yet achieved our 90 percent regulatory requirement due to unforeseen challenges associated with the first phase of the Surmont Project. We are striving to increase this recycle rate and to find alternative sources to non-saline groundwater.

Saline groundwater is used as a substitute for non-saline water in waterfloods in our Western Canada Gas operations. We explore for saline groundwater sources in our Surmont operations, which require treatment before being used to generate steam.

Though we are striving to reduce the amount of water we use, as we expand our oil sands business and explore for unconventional sources of natural gas like shale gas, we expect the total volume of water we use to increase.