Fracture Stimulation Just the Facts, Ma am

Transcription

1 Fracture Stimulation Just the Facts, Ma am 1

2 Picture of a frac treatment in a coalbed methane well that was mined out in a NM coal mine at 600 depth. Fluid containing sand pumped at high pressures to crack rock When pressure released, sand props fracture open to form conduit for fluid flow Fracture is confined above and bl below at geologic boundaries Shale fractures are approximately 150 feet high and roughly 500 feet in length out from the wellbore. Fracture is + 1 wide and is packed with playground size sand

3 Vertical Wells - The OLD Way

4 Horizontal Wells the Future is HERE! 6,000 deep 4,500 lateral

5 Typical Horizontal Well Drilling 160 acre spacing??? 4,500 single leg lateral 4 wells per section Completion stage fracs 1-2 million pounds of proppant (sand) 5-10 million gallons of water $5 - $10 million to drill and complete 000 deep 6, 4,500 lateral

6 Hydraulic Fracturing Thousands of feet of rock between productive zone and fresh water Fractures are limited to the shale zone, and do not penetrate through a mile of rock into shallow water sands. Depth of Marcellus is 5000 to

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8 Multiple strings of pipe are run in the hole and cemented in place prior to frac ing.

9 The fresh water sands near the surface are fully protected by two and sometimes three strings ti of pipe cemented in the hole.

10 Environmental obstructionists would have you believe the world is going to end Duane characterized the state's proposed framework as "unconceivable and unacceptable" for not including "a ban on high volume hydraulic fracturing in and around New York City's watershed, and indeed, all water supplies statewide." "Hydraulic fracturing is a process by which millions of gallons of water and a slurry of toxic chemicals, or 'frac fluids,' are pumped at high pressure into horizontal wells," Duane said. (Tom Duane is a NY State Senator)

11 MOST of what is pumped is water, which is produced dback when the pressure is released. A small amount of chemicals are added to the water to perform various functions in the frac job.

12 Most of the chemicals are used in common household h applications

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14 Water Volume Requirements How Much his 4 Million Gallons: New York City in 5 minutes A 1,000 megawatt coal fired power plant in 10 hours A golf course in nine days Six acres of corn in a season 11

15 Water Requirement per Energy Source Fuel Ethanol from Corn: 2,510+ Biodiesel from Soy: 14, From a water use standpoint, the Marcellus is a VERY efficient energy source!

16 6 miles (o one township) Hugoton Field An old giant One example of thousands of fields with hundreds of thousands of wells that have been frac d with no threat to water. The Hugoton Field in Kansas has tens of thousands of wells, some over 50 years old at depths of around 3000, all of which have been frac d. The area is active farm land and does NOT have water quality issues, even after years and years and years of frac ing and other oil field activity.

17 Frac ing is a Proven and Safe Process Frac ing is an OLD technology, not a new one. 90% of all wells and 100% of all shale wells drilled in the US are frac d Literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of frac jobs have been done safely, effectively, and with no threat to water or the environment The few cases of water contamination ti reported tdhave been isolated, and were NOT necessarily associated with the subsurface frac job While it does take a lot of water for a frac job, the water is able to be recovered and reused, making gas production a pretty efficient i energy source in terms of water consumption.