We need to learn quickly to keep up with the massive change around us so we don't get run over. We need to outrun change.
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”
Seriously.
We don’t have any more oil to drill. Let me prove it to you.
In 2000, we had 21 billion barrels of proved oil reserves. Proved reserves are the amount that is economically and technically feasible to produce.
In 1999 we produced 5.9M barrels a day. Prediction for production in 2000 was 5.8M bopd. That latter number is equal to 2.11B barrels a year.
That means as of January 1, 2000 we had 9.92 years of oil that we could economically and technically get to. In other words, we ran out of oil back in November 2009 or earlier.
Check out the previous illustrations of fracking I’ve mentioned here and here.
Then go search for illustrations that are critical of fracking. Ask yourself what critical information is missing.
I was going to link to specific examples, but there are so many it is hard to choose. Also, pointing out flagrant omissions and clever distortions from people’s videos tends to get them irritated. I’m not interested in a flame war.
There seem to be two common problems.
Continue reading “What critical information do the anti-fracking illustrations leave out?”
Reuters reports Shale energy triggers bean rush in India.
Gum from a bean called guar is a key ingredient in hydraulic fracturing. It makes the mixture of sand and water that is injected into a well more fluid and easier flowing. Here is a more detailed explanation from Reuters:
Guar gum is used to increase the viscosity of proppants, materials which are forced into shale fractures to enlarge them so that the oil and gas can be extracted. It also helps reduce friction, which in turn decreases the energy consumed.
How much do you need to frack a well? The Reuters article says nine metric tons per well.
Demand for guar gum has exploded. Prices have increased by a factor of about 10 in the last year.
Previous posts show superb illustrations of fracking here and here. I browsed the ‘net and found a few more illustrations that are good:
Here is an illustration of the fracking process. Notice that the ground water is usually 100’ to 500’ below the surface. The horizontal run is usually 1 or 1.5 miles down. There’s thousands of feet of hard granite that isolates the ground water at 500’. Notice the mile of rock in the illustration between the fracking level and ground water.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=qm7e553S7fg#t=277s]
Continue reading “More illustrations of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.”
North Dakota Oil is an introduction to the amazing oil boom in the Bakken field. The Bakken spreads across North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan and is the source of the economic boom in western North Dakota.
The report is a 21 page overview of the Bakken field, oil drilling in general, fracking in particular, and the astounding opportunities for jobs and oil production. It was produced by Oppidan.
Continue reading “Introduction to the Bakken field, drilling in general, and the economic impact”
I’ve mentioned the potential to see huge increase in oil and gas production in the U.S. in several posts. Start looking here, here, and here.
It’s not just the U.S. that could see huge increases in production. Check out these articles, courtesy of Carpe Diem:
Reuters: Exclusive: UK has vast shale gas reserves, geologists say
New technology from the U.S. (that means fracking) could make large volumes of shale gas off the coast of UK economically viable, pushing England to the top of reserves worldwide.
Here’s the potential: Continue reading “Energy boom isn’t limited to the U.S.”
There’s an astounding increase in oil and gas production from the Eagle Ford region in Texas in the last 15 months. That field starts north of Laredo and runs to the northeast.
Key tidbits from this post by Energy Information Administration – Eagle Ford oil and natural gas well starts rose sharply in first quarter 2012: Continue reading “Eagle Ford – Another amazing oil field to watch”
Found a source for lots of data on oil production in North Dakota. Mentioned this in an earlier post.
Other cool stats: Continue reading “More North Dakota oil production stats”
Courtesy of the credits on graphs from Mark Perry at Carpe Diem I found the mother lode of data for oil production in North Dakota.
Piece of cake to produce these cool graphs. Source of data: ND Monthly Oil Production Statistics
The following graphs show the daily production of oil in North Dakota. I’ve presented three time horizons, since that shows difference time perspectives.
Continue reading “Daily production graphs of North Dakota oil”
Curious how a fracking well is drilled?
I’ve been wondering about a few things. Like how to drill horizontally, how to break open the dense rock, and how to prevent leakage.
Superb animated video from Voyager Oil & Gas answers a lot of my questions:
Continue reading “Animated explanation of hydraulic fracturing”