Anadarko plans $50 million project to reinject CBM water in Wyoming

Anadarko Petroleum has announced a $50 million project to reinject coalbed methane water back into the ground in Wyoming.

It’s one way to deal with water released by drilling companies to ease the pressure holding methane in coal seams.

Some conservationists and ranchers contend the water can be salty or of poor quality and can harm crops. Concerns have also been raised about potential drawdown of aquifers and water wells due to development.

Anadarko officials say plans include transporting water discharged from coalbed methane wells in their County Line field in Campbell and Johnson counties in Wyoming through a 48-mile pipeline to injection wells near Midwest.

If the project is approved by state and federal regulators, the water would be reinjected into the Madison aquifer in the company’s Salt Creek Field area.

“We’re hoping all the plans come together so that the pipeline can be fully operational by the first quarter of 2006,” Anadarko spokesman Rick Robitaille said, adding that the company tested an injection well at the field earlier this year.

Plans are to drill three additional wells during the first year followed by two more in 2007 or 2008, he said.

The project with its 24-inch pipeline could reinject up to 400,000 barrels of water per day at the projected peak of County Line water production in 2010.

The quality of water coming out of the field is similar to the water in the aquifer, said Brad Miller, Anadarko’s coalbed methane area manager.

—The Associated Press