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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T





SPONSOR: Pearce DATE TYPED: 1/24/00 HB 25
SHORT TITLE: Recycle Produced Water in Lea County SB
ANALYST: Valenzuela


APPROPRIATION



Appropriation Contained
Estimated Additional Impact
Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY00 FY01 FY00 FY01
$ 100.0 Non-recurring General Fund



(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)



SOURCES OF INFORMATION



LFC Files



SUMMARY



Synopsis of Bill



House Bill 25 appropriates $100.0 from the general fund for the Oil Conservation Division of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) to conduct a research and demonstration project to apply reverse osmosis or another appropriate technology to recycle produced water from oil or gas well drilling. The appropriation would be applicable to projects that occur within Lea County.



Significant Issues



During the process of drilling and producing oil or natural gas, a significant amount of water is produced, which is contaminated with salt and hydrocarbons. Consequently, the water is unusable and must be re-injected back into a subsurface salt zone. This re-injection process is costly and prohibitive when oil prices are low. Researchers have had success in other parts of the country by processing the produced water to a level suitable for boiler operations. House Bill 25 seeks to apply the same technical concepts to production operations in Lea County, as an effort to test the feasibility of this approach.







FISCAL IMPLICATIONS



House Bill 25 will have a one-time non-recurring fiscal impact of $100.0.



ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS



The Oil Conservation Division does not employ researchers or scientists, who are capable of carrying out the scope of this project. The division would have to contract this project out.



POSSIBLE QUESTIONS