Low Water Fracks -- Enerplus -- We've Seen This before -- November 19, 2020

We've seen this before:

• 35966, drl/A, Enerplus, Yellowstone 148-95-02B-11H, Eagle Nest, t--; cum 124K 9/20; a 27K month; 33-025-03655; fracked 3/9/20 - 3/21/20; 6.6 million gallons of water; 67% water by mass;
  
• 22574, drl/A, Enerplus, Glacier 148-95-02A-11H TF, Eagle Nest, t--; cum 117K 9/20; a 27K month; 33-025-01651; fracked 3/10/20 - 3/20/20; 6.5 million gallons of water; 67% water by mass;
  
• 35967, drl/A, Enerplus, Everglades 148-95-02A-11H-TF, Eagle Nest, t--; cum 105K 9/20; a 30K month; 33-025-03656; fracked 3/9/20 - 3/21/20; 7.5 million gallons of water; 68%% water by mass; 
  

From "completion strategies, 2020":

Enerplus:

6 - 8 million gallons of water; 65% water by mass; link here; "National Park" wells in Eagle Nest oil field;

Fracking Goes Waterless -- Rigzone

This is not a new story, but it is one of the longest I've seen on this subject: waterless fracking, being reported by Rigzone:

However, while it is widespread, hydraulic fracturing uses water – a lot of water. Water is becoming increasingly scarce in many regions of the country, including some regions where fracking is common. In recent months, for example, as much as 98 percent of Texas was under a drought, and several other areas of the country are about as dry as Texas. Already, fights over water rights have broken out in Texas and Colorado, and could soon become common as water becomes increasingly scarce.

The Bakken was not mentioned in the article. As mentioned many times at the blog water is not an issue in western North Dakota for fracking. Water is an issue in Texas. 

On average, it takes about 7.5 million gallons of water to frack a well in Eagle Ford, according to the Texas Water Development Board. In the Barnett play, figures run from about 2.7 million, according to Sharma, to as high as 9 million gallons of water, according to Earthworks. The amount per well is determined in large part by the type of geological formation being fractured, and on who is being asked.

By comparison, municipal water usage is significantly greater. The amount of municipal water needed to service the Barnett shale area is 323 billion gallons, Professor Sharma told the University of Texas faculty and students during a June presentation at the Summer Research Internship program.

So, the amount of water needed to frack a well is significantly less than the amount needed for some other uses, such as residential use. However, there is little debating the fact that hydraulic fracturing  uses a lot of water, and in agricultural areas where water is already scarce, that makes for poor public relations. And the problem is expected to get worse. In the Eagle Ford shale play, for example, the amount of water used in fracking was estimated to rise 10-fold between 2011 and 2020, and double again within another decade, according to a study by the Texas Water Development Board and the University of Texas’ Bureau of Economic Geology.

They don't mention all the water golf courses, use, by the way.

Here's the catch: environmentalists probably won't be happy with the alternative:

One leading alternative that is gaining traction with some companies is fracking with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This technology was developed in Calgary, Alberta by Gasfrac Energy Services a few years ago, and allows fracking to be done with propane, butane or pentane – or mixtures of those gases – as a substitute for water.

Gasfrac initially used propane, but the company now uses butane and pentane, as well. These gases are already found in natural gas wells. The blend can be designed and fine-tuned for the particular flowback characteristics of a given well. Because it does not use water, the LPG technology shows promise as a substitute for hydraulic fracturing, and could possibly reduce the general level of criticism that fracking generates, particularly in dry counties.

Friday Links; Christmas in August: Twenty-Three (23) New Permits; Several Nice Wells, Including Three (3) Nice CLR Wells -- The Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA; Waterless Fracking Update

I may have to do a stand-alone post just to curb my enthusiasm: 23 new permits in the Williston Basin.

• Operators: Hess (6), Surge Energy (5), CLR (5), WPX Energy (4), Oasis (2), Marquis Alliance
• Fields: Antelope (McKenzie), Truax (Williams), Souris (Bottineau), Upland (Divide), Elm Tree (McKenzie), Squires (Williams), Blue Buttes (McKenzie), Sanish (Mountrail -- a salt water disposal)

Five (5) producing wells completed:

• 21585, 1,210, CLR, Roadrunner 2-15H, Dunn,
• 21583, 1,087, CLR, Roadrunner 3-15H, Dunn,
• 21584, 1,081, CLR, Clover 3-10H, Dunn,
• 22495, 805, Liberty Resources, Borrud 156-101-1-12-1H, Williams,
• 20029, 792, Fidelity, Krables 22-15H, Mountrail

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For a few minutes this was lead story at CNBC website; it's now dropped a notch but still on first page: Oil companies desperately seek water amid Kansas drought.

Independent Stock Analysis energy links.
RBN Energy: ethanol -- crushing pain and mandate madness.  Yup.

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These wells come off confidential list on Friday:
20739, 826, Hess, HA-Thompson-152-95-1720H-2, Hawkeye oil field; t5/12; cum 23K 6/12;
20990, 209, Petro-Hunt, Berg 157-100-7D-6-1H, Marmon oil field, t5/12; cum 7,4595 bbls 6/12;
21079, 1,218, Petro-Hunt, Fort Berthold 148-94-19D-18-2H, Eagle Nest; t6/12; cum 6,962 bbls 6/12;

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Just so I don't forget. There has been a lot of chatter about oil companies losing their leases because they can't get to their permitted/leased sites fast enough. From NOG 2Q12 press release:

Northern Oil currently controls approximately 865 undeveloped net acres that are prospective for the Bakken and Three Forks and could potentially expire in the remainder of 2012, representing approximately 0.5% of Northern Oil's overall Williston Basin position.

I can only assume operators are as well positioned. Lots of chatter about a non-issue. 

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Off-shore permitorium continues. From Oil and Gas Journal:

The Obama administration did not properly consult with coastal states as it prepared its 2012-17 US Outer Continental Shelf management program, seven governors from coastal states charged. “In the plan, the administration fails to expand adequate access to resource-abundant areas in the Arctic and fails to establish leasing in the Mid- and South-Atlantic,” they said in an Aug. 8 letter to US President Barack Obama.

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For investors only:

Houston-based oilfield service company National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) will acquire Robbins & Myers in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.5 billion, NOV said Thursday.

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Fracking without water?

Chimera Energy Corp [website] announced Thursday that they have executed a Memorandum of Understanding with PEMEX regarding the utilization of CHMR's revolutionary exothermic Non-Hydraulic Extraction method throughout Latin America. The Non-Hydraulic Extraction method is a revolutionary Shale Oil extraction technology designed to safely and economically replace hydraulic fracturing without negative environmental impacts. The new process uses no water.

But does it use diesel?

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A Note for the Granddaughters

A tradition for our summer in Los Angeles: taking the granddaughters to Griffith Park in Los Angeles where they can ride the ponies/horses (just part of all we do in Griffith Park).

So, today, we started off with pony riding in Griffith Park. Both of them are familiar with the routine, and very comfortable around horses, but it was fun to watch them hold hands as they got closer to the horses, quietly giving each other a bit of support.

This will turn out to be one of my all-time favorite photos of the granddaughters: