GRAPEVINE, TX, March 15, 2013 -- GreenHunter Energy, Inc. (NYSE MKT: GRH) (NYSE MKT: GRH.PRC), a diversified water resource, waste management and environmental services company specializing in the unconventional oil and natural gas shale resource plays, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, GreenHunter Water, LLC, has closed on the purchase of a 10.8 acre barging terminal facility located in Wheeling, Ohio County, West Virginia. Previously utilized as a gasoline storage facility, GreenHunter has fully engineered plans to convert the location into a water treatment, recycling and condensate handling logistics terminal with operations scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 2013.
The purchase price for the GreenHunter Wheeling Barge facility totaled $750,000. Consideration for this acquisition consisted of a new 10.5 year variable-rate loan facility with a regional bank that also includes an additional $350,000 of borrowing capacity for construction and refurbishing purposes. Management anticipates commencing construction in mid-April 2013. The current plan for the terminal is to convert the existing 11,000 square foot warehouse into a water recycling station and build up to 19,000 barrels of water tank storage. The total construction cost is currently estimated at $1.7 million resulting in approximately fifteen new jobs during construction and another twelve permanent operations job opportunities once completed. GreenHunter will employ a vibration separation nanofiltration system at the barge terminal to remove suspended solids from oilfield brine. Oilfield producers will be given the option to reuse remediated fluids under GreenHunter’s Frac-Cycle™ services offering (which can be scaled to 10,000 barrels per day at the terminal) or take advantage of GreenHunter’s advanced barge logistics capabilities to significantly reduce residual waste transportation costs.
Commenting on this acquisition, John Jack, GreenHunter Vice President in the Appalachian region, stated, “The GreenHunter Wheeling Barge terminal facility will be ‘first-of-its-kind’ in the country once we complete construction. As the dominant commercial disposal well operator in the Appalachia region, we have received numerous requests from our customers to expand our Frac-Cycle™ offering. The GreenHunter Wheeling Barge facility will offer a one stop shop for Appalachia producers for condensate handling, oilfield brine recycling, reuse and disposal in addition to barge transloading services. We anticipate having vacuum trucks staged onsite for quick response to both the Utica and Marcellus Shale drilling and producing areas. The Wheeling terminal is located within 30 miles of the emerging Utica Play and is conveniently accessed via Interstate 70. With this acquisition, GreenHunter now has two barge handling facilities located along the Ohio River. GreenHunter continues to look for ways to reduce the cost of water handling and disposal for our customers in this region.”
For a visual animation of the Class II Salt Water Disposal well development and completion technique that is being utilized in GreenHunter Water’s Appalachia, Eagle Ford, Mississippian Lime and Bakken SWD program, navigate to the video by clicking on “Salt Water Disposal Animation” button on the Operations tab at GreenHunterEnergy.com or click here.
About GreenHunter Water, LLC
GreenHunter Water, LLC provides Total Water Management Solutions™ in the oilfield. An understanding that there is no single solution to E&P fluids management shapes GreenHunter’s technology-agnostic approach to services. In addition to licensing of and joint ventures with manufacturers of mobile water treatment systems (Frac-CycleTM), GreenHunter Water is expanding capacity of salt water disposal facilities, next-generation modular above-ground storage tanks (MAG Tank™), advanced hauling and fresh water logistics services—including 21st Century tracking technologies (RAMCATTM) that allow Shale producers to optimize the efficiency of their water resource management and planning while complying with emerging regulations and reducing cost.
Additional information about GreenHunter Water may be found at www.GreenHunterWater.com
###'
