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2215587 
Book/Book Chapter 
Chapter 1 - Produced Water 
Neff, JM 
2002 
Elsevier 
Amsterdam 
Bioaccumulation in marine organisms: Effect of contaminants from oil well produced water 
1-35 
Water remains trapped during millions of years with the oil and gas. This water is derived from ancient fresh or seawater and often is as old as the fossil fuels in the reservoir. When the hydrocarbon reservoir is tapped by a well, the produced fluids may contain water. Also, in some oil fields, fresh or seawater may be injected into the reservoir through injection wells to displace oil into the production wells. Sometimes, this injection water channels through to the production well and is produced with the oil and gas. The water produced with oil and gas is called produced water, formation water, or oilfield brine. Before the crude oil can be refined or the gas processed, the water must be removed. During offshore operations, separation of the produced water from the oil and gas may take place on the production platform, or the oil/gas/water mixture may be sent through a pipeline to a shore facility where the produced water is separated from the oil and gas. If not re-injected into another well, the produced water is treated to meet local regulatory limits for oil and grease before it is discharged to the ocean from the platform or from an ocean outfall from a shore-based treatment facility. In most of the world, national or regional regulatory agencies have set limits on the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons (or total oil and grease) that can remain in produced water destined for ocean disposal. 
978-0-08-043716-3