TETRA is a leader in the treatment and recycling of produced water, a mineral-rich byproduct of oil & gas production. The company has operations spanning six continents and a growing suite of next generation water treatment technologies.
In the first half of 2022, TETRA recycled over 1 billion gallons of produced water. The company leverages a full suite of best available technologies across the water management value chain to maximize efficiency, sustainability, and profitability for oil and gas companies.
Together, these solutions create TETRA’s Integrated Water Management Solution, as highlighted in the video here: https://tetratec.com/products-and-services/water-management/, and Figure 1 below.
Figure 1: TETRA Integrated Water Management Solution – KMX to Add Beneficial Reuse Capabilities
Source: TETRA Technologies, Inc.
KMX is a leader in vacuum membrane distillation with applications spanning lithium concentration, water treatment, and critical mineral recovery.
The agreement is unique whereby a global diversified energy service company has licensed technology for the purpose of beneficial reuse of oil & gas produced water. The addition of beneficial reuse technology to TETRA’s Integrated Water Management Solution platform paves the way for TETRA to lead the coming era of water management in the energy industry, which is expected to be marked by increased regulatory scrutiny, higher environmental standards, and growing operator interest in maximizing resource recovery.
Zachary Sadow, CEO of KMX, said, “We are proud to partner with TETRA, a leader in traditional energy markets, with a growing portfolio of new energy technologies and solutions.”
He added, “TETRA is outpacing water treatment and recycling growth in the U.S. oil & gas market and is positioned to lead a new era of produced water resource maximization with KMX.”
Brady Murphy, CEO of TETRA, said, “For the very high produced water TDS levels, we have found the KMX vacuum membrane distillation technology to be best in class for cost effective treatment to beneficial reuse water.”
U.S. regulatory agencies are taking steps to differentiate produced waters from oil & gas with high and low total dissolved solids (TDS). Many of the highest growth and largest U.S. oil & gas basins, including the Permian, Haynesville, Bakken, and Marcellus, are all high TDS basins, as illustrated in Figure 2 below.
KMX provides TETRA a unique technology to treat challenging high-TDS produced water from these regions, providing a path to repurposing produced water in arid regions. KMX estimates high-TDS produced water represents the majority of the U.S. market and is positioned to grow further in-line with production expansion in high-TDS basins.
Figure 2: Produced Water TDS Levels by Major U.S. Oil & Gas Basins
Source: Scanlon et al, 2020
Treating produced water with advanced technologies like KMX opens new growth opportunities for arid regions and innovative energy companies, as highlighted in Figure 3 below.
Increased oil & gas company interest in maximizing resources coupled with growing industry and regulatory focus on finding alternatives to saltwater disposal wells (SWDs) has heightened demand for water service platforms capable of delivering beneficial reuse.
Figure 3: Beneficial Reuse of Oil & Gas Produced Water Overview
Source: EPA-New Mexico “Oil & Natural Gas Produced Water Governance in the State of New Mexico – Draft White Paper”
KMX’s proprietary vacuum membrane distillation technology leverages over 15 years of deep technology development and leadership. Manufacturing of core elements by KMX’s strategic manufacturing partner, Sumitomo Electric, provides enhanced durability for demanding oilfield operating conditions.
About KMX Technologies:
KMX Technologies is solving the most critical environmental and energy challenges of the 21st century. Through its proprietary membrane distillation technology, the company sustainably sources critical minerals necessary for next generation supply chains and infrastructure, is advancing wastewater treatment, and is accelerating energy storage with its direct lithium recovery enhancement processes. Visit the Company’s website at https://kmxtechnologies.com/
About TETRA Technologies:
TETRA Technologies, Inc. is an industrial and oil & gas products and services company operating on six continents focused on bromine-based completion fluids, calcium chloride, water management solutions, frac flowback and production well testing services. Calcium chloride is used in the oil and gas, and also has broad industrial applications in addition to the agricultural, road, food, beverage markets and lithium production markets. TETRA is evolving its business model by expanding into the low carbon energy markets with its chemistry expertise, key mineral acreage and global infrastructure. Recently announced initiatives include commercialization of TETRA PureFlow® an ultra-pure zinc bromide for stationary batteries and energy storage; advancing an innovative carbon capture utilization and storage technology with CarbonFree to capture CO2 and mineralize emissions to make commercial, carbon-negative chemicals; and development of TETRA’s lithium and bromine mineral acreage to meet the growing demand for oil and gas products and energy storage. Visit the Company’s website at https://tetratec.com/