Technical and Economic Evaluation of the Molecular Organic Rejection (MOR) Technology for Hydrocarbon Recovery and Produced Water Reconditioning
Abstract
Produced water is the largest waste stream generated in upstream oil and gas operations, and its management remains a resolute operational and economic challenge. In many mature fields, water production can far exceed oil output, with water cuts reaching 80-90%. Although the concentration of residual "skim oil" per barrel is small, the cumulative volume across billions of barrels of produced water each year results in a substantial recoverable quantity. This represents a significant opportunity for hydrocarbon recovery that is commonly lost in conventional treatment systems. This paper provides a technical and economic evaluation of the Molecular Organic Rejection (MOR) technology, a solution that simultaneously recovers these lost hydrocarbons and recondition produced water for reuse. The MOR technology is composed of nanotechnology-enhanced ceramic membranes and downstream ultrafiltration technology to selectively reject dispersed organics without the use of chemicals, media, or extreme temperatures. Furthermore, performance assessments from laboratory testing, pilot trials and field applications quantify the MOR technology's efficiency in removing fine emulsions and dissolved organics. The results show that the MOR technology achieved >95% hydrocarbon recovery, 99.99% Total Suspended Solid (TSS) reduction, 90.95% iron reduction, while producing treated water with oil-in-water concentrations of ≤ 10ppm (compliant with NUPRC standards). An economic assessment for processing 80,000bbl/d and 100,000bbl/d of produced water shows strong financial performance, with annual returns on investment of 213.4–266.8% under conservative assumptions (3% skim oil recovery) and 426.8–533.6% in optimized scenarios (6% skim recovery), corresponding to payback periods of 2–6 months. A sensitivity analysis was further performed to confirm that the technology remains profitable under adverse price conditions. These findings demonstrates that MOR technology offers a robust technical and economic strategy for maximizing the value of mature oil and gas assets.