3 articles for background on fracking and oil

Several great reads on energy. Lots of info. Since they are long, you might want to get a fresh cup of coffee and settle in for some good learnin’.

NBC News – Meet Harold Hamm, the billionaire behind America’s ‘great renaissance of oil’

Superb background on Harold Hamm and Continental Resources. Mr. Hamm has a couple of fun quotes in the article. For example, some people say the oil industry is creating carbon pollution. He points out that all humans exhale carbon dioxide. Should we all quite breathing?
I think not.
How about enough oil for a hundred years? Check out this sentence: Continue reading “3 articles for background on fracking and oil”

Bakken and Eagle Ford in the elite of super-giant oil fields

[youtube=http://youtu.be/0ks2ua4imgU]

Production of Bakken oil in North Dakota will soon hit one million barrels a day. When it does, it will be one of only 4 fields in the U.S. to hit that level. Those 4 are part of an elite group of only 10 super-giant fields.

Applying some new trend analysis concepts, the EIA is predicting Bakken production will be 976K bopd in 11-13 and 1,002K bopd in 12-13.

I’m not sure if that estimate includes production from legacy wells. Even if it does and we back out September production of 65K bopd that only changes the date of crossing the 1M point by a month or so. That doesn’t matter for purposes of this discussion.

Their calculation shows Eagle Ford has already passed the 1M point. Permian production has been over the 1M point (again?) for a while and is at an estimated 1,340K bopd in December.

Along with Prudhoe Bay that makes four American fields that passed the 1M point.

Continue reading “Bakken and Eagle Ford in the elite of super-giant oil fields”

Natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar. Which is easiest on water, land, and wildlife? Um. Keep it quiet, but that would be gas.

Here’s an analysis you won’t see trumpeted very widely – The Dickenson Press carries an article by Deroy Murdock – Fracking outgreens “green” energy.

After describing the unobtrusive scene of five producing gas wells running from a three-acre pad he previously visited in the middle of drilling, he describes the ecological footprint of gas versus the ‘green’ energy sources.

He compares different industries in terms of a common size. Here is his data:

Water used to generate one million BTUs of energy output: Continue reading “Natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar. Which is easiest on water, land, and wildlife? Um. Keep it quiet, but that would be gas.”

Superb primer on fracking – Down Deep

WPX Energy produced a 25 minute video giving background on fracking and what the industry is doing to drill safely while providing us the energy we need to live a comfortable, modern life.

The video is Down Deep: Unearthing the Truth About Hydraulic Fracturing.

The website is Down Deep.

The discussion is educational. The video is excellent. The production quality is really high. They did a good job.

A few key ideas from the video and some thoughts after watching it:

Continue reading “Superb primer on fracking – Down Deep”

Global impact of fracking on oil market

Huge increase in oil production in the U.S. created by horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing is a strategic threat to OPEC.

Against Crony Capitalism blog observes:

Saudi Arabia is concerned. Thanks to the shale gas revolution which has blossomed in the United States and which is starting to blossom in places like the United Kingdom and even China, the Saudi stranglehold on world energy reserves is loosening with each passing day.

Continue reading “Global impact of fracking on oil market”

Survey of shale oil; also the Peak Oil Myth – #26

Matt Ridley provides an overview of the flood of fracked shale oil in his post, The dash for shale oil will shake the world.

He points to The Shale Oil Boom: a US Phenomenon, a newly released report from Leonardo Maugeri.

I’ve mentioned this in the past, but look again at the explosion of estimated recoverable oil in Bakken: Continue reading “Survey of shale oil; also the Peak Oil Myth – #26”

Compromises developing in conflict over fracking

That’s the observation from William P. Barrett in his article at Forward – Fracking’s Resilience – with compromise afoot, environmental and political objections to the controversial energy extraction technique are likely to fade.

There are several indications that some compromises are developing that would allow fracking to continue and still meet the concerns of some people who are currently critical of the technology.

Check out the article for a survey of several indicators.

The article also points out several rounds of the battle of the documentaries. A healthy debate is underway.

Continue reading “Compromises developing in conflict over fracking”

Outbreak of common sense about fracking in California legislature and what Monterey Shale could mean to the state

A bill to ban fracking was defeated in the California Assembly week before last at a vote of 37-24 with 18 abstentions. That method of getting oil out of the ground has been used here in California for only 60 years. I missed the news coverage of the vote so had to get caught up through the Wall Street Journal’s editorial, Fracturing in California.

The editorial points out that as you would expect the votes to ban energy development came from the wealthy coastal districts.

The votes to defeat? Continue reading “Outbreak of common sense about fracking in California legislature and what Monterey Shale could mean to the state”

California may ban drilling technique that has been used for only 60 years

“I can’t make this stuff up” should be trademarked by Million Dollar Way.

Bills are moving through the California legislature to halt fracking in the state until it is studied to the legislator’s satisfaction. Reported by the AP in Lawmakers advance bill to halt oil fracking.

Fracking has been used in California for 60 years. Six decades.

Continue reading “California may ban drilling technique that has been used for only 60 years”

We can cause a peak in oil production followed by a perpetual decline in output – Peak Oil #11

Contrary to what I have been saying, it actually is possible for us to hit a peak in oil production followed by a dramatic drop in output leading to a perpetual decline in the available energy we have.

How?

We as a society can decide that’s what we want. Or our politicians can choose that for us. Or regulators can impose their choice.

I’ve noticed a number of articles in recent months that make that point. Consider the following.

Continue reading “We can cause a peak in oil production followed by a perpetual decline in output – Peak Oil #11”

If the 10 commandments are just suggestions on moral issues, then it follows the Constitution is just a suggestion when it comes to energy policy

Check out the importance of the U.S. constitution in the efforts to ban hydraulic fracturing within the city limits of Las Vegas, NM. That’s a small town in New Mexico, not the gambling capital.

Here’s the money quote in an article in the Albuquerque Journal, Group Seeks To Prohibit Fracking from Ms. Hern, a board member of the group which helped write a law which would have banned fracking inside city limits:

Asked about the constitutionality of the ordinance, Hern said, “What people don’t understand is sometimes we have to step outside the boundaries of the Constitution to get things done. Laws are made to protect corporations and we need laws that protect Mother Earth – earth, air and water.”

Background

Continue reading “If the 10 commandments are just suggestions on moral issues, then it follows the Constitution is just a suggestion when it comes to energy policy”

2 more illustrations of fracking – both educational but for different reasons

Marathon Oil has a great visual showing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. In contrast, I also found a joke of an illustration.

Here’s the good stuff:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VY34PQUiwOQ#t=256s]

Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VY34PQUiwOQ#t=256s

This video includes above ground pictures to help tell the story. Also describes recovery steps when the well is taken out of production. It has more background than just the drilling, well lining, and fracking.

From the description for the video:

Safe, cost-effective refinements in hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking), horizontal drilling and other innovations now allow for the production of oil and natural gas from tight shale formations that previously were inaccessible. This animated video introduces you to the proven techniques used to extract resources from these shale formations in a safe, environmentally responsible manner.

And now for a contrast….

Continue reading “2 more illustrations of fracking – both educational but for different reasons”

2 more primers on fracking. Some good background on fracking from them.

Here’s another superb primer on hydraulic fracturing: Big Screen Energy: A Fracking Film Festival.

The graphics are great. In particular, there are three superb illustrations of the depths involved in drilling and the multiple layers of protective steel and cement. Check out the thousands of feet of rock between the water table and the horizontal run.

The brochure is from the EnergyFromShale.org website. I browsed the site and found this great video of the drilling and fracking process:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YemKzEPugpk&feature=player_embedded]

Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YemKzEPugpk&feature=player_embedded

Here are a few of the tidbits I learned from the brochure:

How much steel and cement is used in each well?

Continue reading “2 more primers on fracking. Some good background on fracking from them.”

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.

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

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.

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”