Author: Jim Ulvog

I’ve read that it takes millions of gallons of water and perhaps 2,000 visits from a truck in order to drill a well.  Finally came across something that puts that in perspective.

Let’s look at the water used to drill a well in terms of tradeoff.  What else could we do with the water we use to drill and frack a well?

Looking only at the water input, with the same amount of water we could:

• Irrigate 57 golf courses in Palm Springs for one year, or
• Drill 4,161 wells in North Dakota that will produce 2.2 billion barrels of oil over the next 3 decades (4,161 wells as calculated below x expected lifetime product of 540,000 barrels per well)

The Economist has a 14 page special report on natural gas in their July 14 edition: An unconventional bonanza. I discussed that previously here.

The article Sorting frack from fiction, puts the water and truck traffic in perspective.

Consider this for water: Continue reading “Tradeoffs in using water – keep 57 golf courses green for a year or produce 2 billion barrels of oil”

I’ve read that it takes millions of gallons of water and perhaps 2,000 visits from a truck in order to drill a well.

Finally came across something that puts that in perspective.

I’ll start with truck traffic.  Will discuss the water needs next.

Continue reading “Some perspective on how much truck traffic it takes to drill and frack a well”