Water Midstream Partners LLC has completed the southern extension to its Midland County, TX, commercial pipeline system, connecting new oil and gas wells inside and adjacent to the city of Midland to its saltwater disposal well (SWD) on SH 158, north of the Nadine and Tom Craddick Highway.

The extension takes the system south of County Road 60 and west of SH 158, bringing the pipeline system to 9.5 miles, adding to the more than 45 miles of operator-owned pipelines that connect to Water Midstream’s Midland County SWD. This extension will create direct pipeline connections for saltwater disposal for more than 100 existing and planned wells, reducing operator costs for saltwater transportation and disposal, and eliminating as many as 300 daily trips by water-hauling trucks on county and state roads, Water Midstream said.

“Commercial SWDs are sometimes connected to individual operators by a dedicated pipeline, but in most cases water is transported by truck, often representing the largest single operating expense of an oil and gas well,” said Water Midstream President B.G. Clark. “What we are doing is building commercial saltwater pipelines that connect multiple operators, making it possible to connect fields where a dedicated pipeline would be uneconomical.

“In many cases, we are handling the transportation and disposal needs from the initial flowback of a well, eliminating the need for trucks on county and state roads, and saving the public and operators money and traffic headaches.”

Water Midstream, which has offices in Dallas and Midland, currently operates commercial saltwater systems in Midland, Martin, Dawson and Howard counties that include more than 95 miles of pipeline (40 miles owned commercial pipelines) serving 18 different operators with more than 120,000 barrels per day of disposal capacity. Water Midstream has more than 60 miles of commercial saltwater pipelines in various stages of development throughout the Permian Basin.