Manufacturing In The Bakken -- Liberty Resources -- May 20, 2015

Back on May 6, 2015, I posted a nice WSJ article and graphic on "manufacturing in the Bakken" by Liberty Resources. This morning a reader sent a link that describes what Liberty Resources is doing in a much more succinct manner:

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month from northwestern North Dakota, where Liberty Resources is constructing a groundbreaking new oil processing facility.

The $800 million “oil factory,” named Stomping Horse, aims to develop and unify 96 wells across nearly 10,000 acres while maintaining the ability to start and stop output depending on crude prices.

The development also includes pipelines to transport oil, natural gas, water and waste material. Liberty officials hope that the infrastructure spending will eliminate the need for trucks or far longer pipelines to transport those materials.

In addition, using natural gas to power facilities on-site should reduce energy costs, while the wells could operate with less personnel and reduce labor costs.
Liberty chief Chris Wright believes the project will eventually enable the company to "still make money at $50 a barrel."

In addition, see first comment below:

Liberty is also trying a new technology from Energy Recovery Inc (ERII), that pumps frack fluid in without pump exposure to the proppant. The pump lives are drastically increased with this technology, decreasing downtime and capital, while increasing reliabilty.

ERII also makes efficient pumping systems for desalination plants and will introduce a product to generate electricity when pipelines run downhill. Downhill runs of liquid pipeline will cause major issues if the height is too great (much like railroads are limited to certain grades).