Month: August 2012

How much water is in the Missouri River compared to the water needed to drill the wells in North Dakota?

Let’s put the water needs of fracking a well into perspective.

The water needed to drill the wells in North Dakota is equal to two minutes of each day’s volume of water in the Missouri river flowing past Bismarck.

My source is a Bismarck Tribune from two years ago: Hoeven, delegation upset with corps’ plans for Lake Sakakawea.

“The amounts of water at issue are miniscule,” the delegation said in the letter to Darcy. “High-end estimates are that full development of the state’s oil fields would require 1,800 new wells drilled per year, at a total of 4 million gallons of water each.”This totals about 60 acre-feet of water per day, compared to the approximately 40,000 acre-feet of Missouri River water that passes through Bismarck-Mandan each day.

Let’s work with that.

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3-D printing of exoskeleton for child who is no longer immobilized

Emma, the child in the video, was born with a disease that means she can’t lift her arms. Available technology helps but is too heavy for her. Looks like the equipment isn’t very mobile.

The manufacturer used 3-D printing to make parts light enough for this little girl to move her arms and mobile enough for her to go everywhere with it.

From the YouTube link:

Two-year-old Emma wanted to play with blocks, but a condition called arthrogryposis meant she couldn’t move her arms. So researchers at a Delaware hospital 3D printed a durable custom exoskeleton with the tiny, lightweight parts she needed.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoZ2BgPVtA0&feature=player_detailpage#t=122s]

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Must be magic. Proven reserves mysteriously increasing. Peak Oil #9

Proved U.S. oil reserves, without condensate, increased to 23.3 billion barrels at the end of 2010, according to a new report from the Energy Information Administration. The full report is here. The report and discussion on the ‘net is focused on 25.2 billion, which includes crude oil and lease condensate.

In 2009, proven reserves increased by twice the amount of oil we pulled out of the ground. In 2010, proven reserves increased by 2.5 times what we produced.

How can this be?

It is a mystery. Or magic must be involved. Or the oil fields are having babies, breeding like rabbits.

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Count of drilling rigs end of July 2012 – 208 and 270 for combined total of 478 – Not to worry about the slight drop.

208 – Bakken – from the current active drilling rig list at the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources website on 8-2-12.

270 – Eagle Ford – from EagleFordShale blog.

That is down 7 and down 8 since my June 30 post.

Don’t worry about the drop in rig count, which went from 493 in my last post to 478 now.

Continue reading “Count of drilling rigs end of July 2012 – 208 and 270 for combined total of 478 – Not to worry about the slight drop.”