What is Enough?

Everyone of us wakes up and turns on the faucet, hoping water will flow out, but most of us don't think about the how much water we use on a daily basis.  We don't consisder if there is a scarcity of water out there or not.  In a recent article, Oil Shale expert says Obama administration stalling much the way Bush dragged feet on climate change, written by David O. Williams, Dr. Jeremy Boak from Colorado School of Mines expresses his views about the development of oil shale in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.  The article debates when is there enough answers to move ahead with the development of oil shale, addressing the issue with water, energy, and the environment.

During the process of heating shale rock to extract organic kerogen and refining it into oil consumes a large deal of water and energy.  Right now Shell Oil says they can produce about 1 bbl of oil from about 3 bbl of water; Boak believes after research and improved technology that this ratio can be one to one.  The article also discusses how the produced natural gas can power the refinery plants to produce oil from the shale rock.  The government, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, states the BLM needs to have a better idea of the "amount of power needed, water needed and the impact to wildlife habitat and watersheds" before commercially exploiting the Green River Formation for oil shale and opening up around 2 million acres of BLM land for research and development. 

“It is a distortion to say we have to have an answer about water use because we have an answer about water use and either that answer is good enough – that three barrels per barrel is something we can live with – or it isn’t,” Boak said. “If it isn’t, then it’s incumbent on both the government of Colorado and the federal government to say why it isn’t and to say what is OK, and they have completely evaded that responsibility.”

Agreeing with Boak, when will the answer be evident?  What is good enough? And why is it not good enough?  Gas prices are rising drastically and domestic oil is more important than ever.  The government needs to take the steps forward.  Petroleum companies will continue to research and develop technology associated with oil shale, improving processes shown in a previous post (EPICC).

EPICC

A large percent of the population have negative views about the production of oil shale because of the refining process and the amount of greenhouse gases released.  Adam Brandt and Hiren Mulchandani, Stanford University, might have the answer for this problem -- EPICC (Electricity Production with In Situ Carbon Capture).  EPICC is a proposed new technology that combines production of electricity with capture of carbon dioxide, producing electricity with in situ carbon capture in a self-fueled method. 

EPICC reduces CO2 emissions by:
1. Utilizing waste heat to retort shale
2. Retoring shale beyond the point of HC production, converting much of the organic carbon in oil shale to char which is left in the subsurface
3. Using the produced HC gas to generate, which provides transportation services with no tailpipe emissions

From the research, the resulting life cycle of GHG emissions from EPICC is ~110 g of CO2 per km; this is ~0.5 times those of conventional fuel cycles and ~.33 time those from other proposed in situ oil shale conversion processes. 

Some of the potential negatives of EPICC are: uncertain operation of subsurface fuel cells, potential geophysical impacts without pressure management, and economic concerns associated with the value of stranded energy left in the formation, and the long time period of retorting.

There are ~3 trillion bbl (discovered) of oil trapped within shale oil formations around the world.  The United States has potentially 1 trillion barrels of oil; the world's largest deposit is in the Green River Formation right here in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.  With this new proposed technology, the petroleum industry can better control the amount of greenhouse gases produced and help unlock resources in oil shale formations with better environmental controls.

Related Links:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/acs-ute042011.php
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/ef101714x
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110420112104.htm

Back Wood Scientist in Motion

Everyone has discussed theories before with peers, family, and friends; but take a look at what this "back wood scientist" has to say about oil and peak oil.  He is off his rocker! 

This movie is a prime example of bad science communication.  His theory has no supporting evidence, and he does not discuss about thermal maturity of petroleum.  There are many issues with this video, and I hope most of them are evident to you as well, raising multiple red flags. 

Shale Oil Protest in France!

The environment issue of development of Shale oil & gas has struck Meaux, Brie region of France.  A recent article, Protesters call for shale oil driling ban, discusses the locals' issues with development of Shale oil.  This article and reported conversation (below) shows multiple break downs in Science Communication to the public.

At the beginning of the article it says, "shale oil has presented as a cleaner and more local, alternative to imported petroleum".  There seems to be an initial break down; shale oil is not cleaner than conventional petroleum because it must be process/refined at a higher energy than traditional oil.  As you read this article, many red flags appear from a geologist point of view- 

“The problem with shale gas is the hydraulic fracturing process,” says Eric Vaubourg, from Crécy-la-Chapelle, a town of 4,000 inhabitants a few kilometres south of Meaux. “With this process it’s difficult to extract gas and oil correctly without pollution.”

This quote shows that the general public in this area might not understand fully about hydraulic fracturing.  First, in today's petroleum business, one of the first things to permit a well is to understand the water aquifers present.  Second, the Petroleum industry today mitigates fracturing into the "water table", which is at a shallower depth than the petroleum, by apply a casing design which allows no penetration into the aquifers. Hydraulic fracturing does use a lot of different chemical compounds to help stimulate the process but petroleum companies are required to disperse of these chemicals properly and make sure there is no contamination. 

The locals in this area have every right to argue against drilling for shale oil but must make an educated argument and understand the systems in place.  The petroleum companies in the United States are fracturing wells like crazy right now and are doing it without contaminating our water resources.  The question to the people of France is- if they could produce there own petroleum, creating domestic supply of oil and lower the amount on importing, why would you not honor the exploration and development of shale oil? And, apply regulations to insure petroleum companies are not polluting or contaminating any water aquifers. Please listen to the broadcast below...

It will be interesting to see what the parliamentary debate decides on shale oil drilling in the France.  The debate on shale oil drilling ban starts on May 10th.

REPORT FRA Gaz de schiste reportage

(04:14)

 

Unlocking The Resource

Recently, the Denver Post business section has been writing articles about the exploration and production of the Niobrara Formation here in Colorado, Southern Wyoming, and Eastern Nebraska.  A recent article, Energy companies map Niobrara formation for its oil potential, discusses the new positions for exploration and development of the Niobrara.   This is one of the hottest plays in the United States right now. 

 "It all gets back to the geology," said Vince Matthews, director of the Colorado Geological Survey. "The Niobrara has really big potential, but we've seen these finds hyped before."

From the article, you can see that the media is pushing and selling the potential of the Niobrara, covering multiple topics (mapping, success stories, economics, China's position, geokinetics, background information). The Jake well is one of the success stories for the Niobrara formation, producing 1,558 barrels of oil a day in 2009. This well made everyone excited about the Niobrara and its potential as an unconventional reservoir. But, the article makes this well look really good because it compares it to a monthly average of 300 bbls/month. The article also does not discuss about the different levels of thermal maturity throughout the Niobrara, producing gas or oil. The Niobrara may be a very extensive formation, crossing into multiple states, but there is a heterogeneity of hydrocarbon potential throughout the formation. This is why it is important to understand the geology and why the companies involved are more on the conservative side, mapping and taking necessary steps towards development.

The Denver Basin...(Video)

The Denver Basin is an active petroleum producer in the United States.  One of the neat things about the Denver Basin is that the geology is easily observed from the outcrops all along the front range area.  The Denver Basin, show in the picture below, has multiple fields which produce both gas and oil. 

The Denver Basin has been producing oil since 1901 when oil was discovered in the fractured Pierre Shale Formation at Boulder oil field.  Since then, thousands of wells have produced trillions of cubic feet of gas and millions of barrels of oil from the different hydrocarbon rich formations in the Denver Basin.  Some of these formations are tight sands, chalks, and oil shale units, which require stimulation to economically produce oil and gas, an unconventional play.  The video below demonstrates the petroleum geology in our back yard of the Front Range of Colorado. What people don't realize driving to work everyday....OIL!!!

Gas Hydrates: The future of energy or environmental catastrophe?

With energy demands sky-rocketing in recent years, people are turning to more unconventional resources to help bolster conventional energy. Gas hydrates are one such unconventional resource. For those that don't know, gas hydrates are molecules of methane (CH4) bound in a "cage" of ice molecules. In essence, gas hydrates are solid gas. They are typically located in low temperature, high pressure regions, such as permafrost and the ocean floor. A few areas of interest for gas hydrates include: the Nankai Trough off the southeast coast of Japan, the North Slope of Alaska within the permafrost, the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Cascadia Range of Canada, and the Gulf of Mexico. 

Gas hydrates have become such a hot topic for use as a potential energy resource because they may offer up to several hundreds of thousands of trillion cubic feet in-place on the ocean floor alone. If this resource can be accessed and economically exploited, the world's thirst for energy would be satisfied for up to a couple of hundred years.

Until recently, however, gas hydrates have been seen as hazardous to more conventional oil and gas production. Due to changing temperature and pressures, they can clog pipelines and and cause explosions. At depth, gas hydrates that occupy only one cubic foot of space expand to 160-180 cubic feet. Additionally, they may play a role in tsunami formation when they become displaced due to earthquakes. This claim is still being tested, however. Gas hydrates are also likely to be a natural sink for methane, a compound known to influence global warming and climate change. If these deposits were disturbed on a massive scale, the global effect would be greater than 3,000 times the current amount of methane in the atmosphere.

The controversy is relatively straightforward: should we exploit these natural high-energy resources or leave them alone until we understand them better? Gas hydrates have the potential to be the next greatest source of energy for the world, or a global disaster in the making.

Related articles:
Up to 40 percent of gulf oil was potent methane gas, research shows
USGS Fact Sheet: Gas (Methane) Hydrates: a New Frontier

Building a Destiny

Last week, I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture on the Fayetteville Shale by one of Southwestern Energy's Geologist, John Jeffers.  Southwestern Energy Company is an independent nature gas/oil exploration, development, and production company headquartered in Houston, TX.  Southwestern Energy Company focuses on unconventional gas reservoirs.  One of their main plays is on the Arkansas side of the Arkoma Basin known as the Fayetteville Shale play.  The company also has exploration and production activities in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. 

John's lecture on the Fayetteville Shale play showed how the discovery and development of the Fayetteville Shale play launched the company into a rapid increase in growth.  The company's stock increase over the past decade was comparable to apple's.  From the lecture and previous information about Southwestern, I could see that this company has a great future and a good formula to go with it.

The Right People doing The Right Things wisely investing the cash flow from the underlying Assets will create value +

Southwestern Energy Company, as of December 31, 2010, had spud 2,445 wells in the Fayetteville since 2004, and has leased thousands of acres for future horizontal wells in the area.  In 2010, the company produced a net of 350.2 Bcf from the play.  To learn more about the company and its involvement in the Fayetteville Shale follow the link: SWN Fayetteville Shale.  Below is a map of the Fayetteville Shale fairway.

As a young petroleum geologist, this had my mind turning like a "gold rush".  I look forward to working on projects and finding new discoveries in the petroleum industry.  It would have been an amazing feat to be one of the main geologist who helped build the destiny for this company.