PDF RPSEA Project 08122-35 EFD Final Report

RPSEAEFDProject0812235 PreparedforRPSEA EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystemsProgram HoustonAdvancedResearchCenter
Contents
ExecutiveSummary.......................................................................................................................................3 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................5 TechnologyTransfer.....................................................................................................................................6 SystemsEngineeringDesignMethodologyLowImpactWellDesignOptimization..................................7 BestPracticesDatabase................................................................................................................................7 DisseminationandDecisionSupport............................................................................................................ 7 WesternMountainStateStudies.................................................................................................................. 9 PublicPerception..........................................................................................................................................9 EasternMountainStateStudies................................................................................................................. 10 NationalLaboratoriesAdvisors................................................................................................................... 10 ApplicationforSemiAridEcosystems........................................................................................................ 11 PrototypeSmallFootprintDrillingRig........................................................................................................ 12 AirEmissionsStudies..................................................................................................................................12 ReducedFracturingFootprints................................................................................................................... 13 MeasuringEffectivenessofEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling................................................................... 14 AppendixWhitePapers ............................................................................................................................ 16 APPENDIXListofReferences .................................................................................................................. 118
RPSEAEFDProject0812235
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport
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ExecutiveSummary
Industryhasmadegreatstridesinprotectingtheenvironmentwhileincreasingnaturalgasproductionin theU.S.However,producersfacedauntingchallengestoeffectivelyproducemorenaturalgasin environmentallysensitiveareas.TheHoustonAdvancedResearchCenter(HARC)anditspartnersoffer optionstoreducetheimpactofO&Goperationsinenvironmentallysensitiveecosystems.The EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling(EFD)programcombinesnewlowimpacttechnologiesthatreducethe footprintofdrillingactivities,integrateslightweightdrillingrigswithreducedemissionenginepackages, addressesonsitewastemanagement,optimizesthesystemstofittheneedsofaspecificdevelopment sitesandprovidesstewardshipoftheenvironment.Inaddition,thisprojectincludesindustry,thepublic, environmentalorganizations,andelectedofficialsinacollaborationthataddressesconcernson developmentofunconventionalnaturalgasresourcesinenvironmentallysensitiveareas. TheRPSEAEFDeffortisbasedonapreviouslycofundedU.S.DOE/industryjointindustrypartnership (JIP)programledbyTexasA&MUniversityandHARCthatcreatedagovernment,industry,public partnershiptoreducetheenvironmentalfootprintofdrillingsystemsinsensitiveecosystems.The 20052008EFDprogramidentifiedcriticaltechnologiesappropriateforlowimpactsystems,created industryledresearchprojects,anddevelopedtechniquesforselectinglowimpactsystemsforagiven projectsite.ThefirstEFDprogramshowedthattheindustrycouldachievemorethan90%reductionin theimpactontheenvironmentiflowimpacttechnologywascombinedintoacompletesystem. Thepartnershipestablishedinthe200508EFDprogramprovidedthefoundationofthisRPSEAEFD program.Itofferedanorganizationalstructurethatbothidentifiednewtechnologiesandtransferred thoseandexistingtechnologiestoareasofdevelopmentthatmustincorporatenewpracticestoaddress environmentalconcerns.RegionalU.S.partnersmanagedtheRPSEAEFDprogramandoptimized technologiestofittheneedsoftheirlocale.Partnersineachregionworkedtoincorporatesuchsystems intooperationsintheRockies,intheSouthwestdesert,andintheAppalachiaregionoftheU.S.Partners routinelycametogethertopresentworkprogresstoeachotherandtothesponsors/advisors. HARCwastheprimecontractorwithDr.RichardC.Hautactingastheprojectdirector/principal investigator.InadditiontoHARC,theRPSEAEFDteamincludedTexasA&MUniversity(TAMU)andits GlobalPetroleumResearchInstitute(GPRI),SamHoustonStateUniversity,UniversityofArkansas,the UniversityofColorado,UtahStateUniversity,theUniversityofWyoming,WestVirginiaUniversity, ArgonneNationalLaboratory,LosAlamosNationalLaboratoryandTerraPlatforms,L.L.C.AJIPprovided costshare.TheJIPincludedBP,CSITechnologies,DevonEnergy,GulfCoastGreenEnergy,Halliburton, Huisman,KatchKanUSA,MISWACO,NewparkMatsandIntegratedServices,Chesapeake,Shell,Hess, Chevron,Tenaris,NOV,WyoComposites,BasinEngineering,ScottEnvironmentalandExxonMobil.The NatureConservancyandtheNaturalResourcesDefenseCouncil(NRDC)providedinkindcontributions. IntheNortheast,theNewYorkStateEnergyResearchDevelopmentAuthority(NYSERDA)helped promotetheprogram.
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TheRPSEAEFDprogramleveragedongoingresearchinordertomovetechnologiesclosertofield applicationandsubsequentcommercialization.Theprogramincluded(a)commercializationof technologytotreatandreuseproducedwater,(b)developmentofAlternateRigPowertoreduce operatingcostsandemissions,and(c)identificationandtestingofimprovedtechnologiesand equipmentthatwillreducethefootprintofaccessroadsandwellpads,tooptimizeEFDtechnologiesin E&Pactivities.VariousapplicationssupportedintheU.S.DOENETLMicroholeTechnologywerealso broughtwithintheRPSEAEFDcollaboration. Toinformthepublicoftheindustrysenvironmentaladvancementsintechnology,theRPSEAEFD programdevelopedacomputerbasedmodeltoselectcomplementaryenvironmentallyfriendly technologiesforE&PoperationsalongwithanEFDScorecardtomeasureperformance.Themodeland thescorecardareimportanttoolsthatallowindustryandregulatorstomeasureperformance.The Scorecardconceptengagesallstakeholders,includingindustry,academiaandenvironmental organizations,inidentifyingtechnologiesandsystemsthatcanbeusedtorecoverunconventional naturalgasreserveswiththelowestpossibleenvironmentalfootprint.TheModelandtheScorecardare basedontheprinciplesofwhatgetsmeasuredgetsdoneandwhatgetsidentifiedgetsdealtwith. TechnologyTransferactivitiesincludedthehumandimensionoftechnologyincorporationinsocietal areas.Educatingandinformingweredirectedtowardtheindustry,regulatorsandthepublic.
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Introduction
TheEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems(EFD)teamfocusedontechnologiesfordeveloping unconventionalenergysourcesthatcanbeusedinenvironmentallysensitiveareastomaintainour standardoflivingandpreserveourqualityoflife.Theobjectivewastoidentify,developandtransfer critical,costeffective,newtechnologiesthatcanprovidepolicymakersandindustrywiththeabilityto acceleratedevelopmentofUSdomesticreservesinasafeandenvironmentallyfriendlymanner. TheEFD programaddresses: Newlowimpacttechnologiesthatreducethefootprintofdrillingactivities Lightweightdrillingrigswithreducedemissionenginepackages Onsitewastemanagement Siteaccess Systemstofittheneedsofspecificdevelopmentsitesandprovidesstewardshipofthe environment Education
Theprogramincludedparticipantsfromenvironmentalorganizations,academia,stateandfederal agencies,governmentlaboratories,andindustry.Thepartnershipidentifiednewtechnologiesand transferredthemtoareasthatmustincorporatenewpracticestoaddressenvironmentalconcerns. Regionalpartnersoptimizedtechnologiestofittheneedsoftheirlocale.Partnersroutinelycame togethertodiscussprogresswiththesponsors/advisors. TechnologyTransferactivitiesincludedthehumandimensionoftechnologyincorporationinsocietal areas.Educatingandinformingwasdirectedtowardtheindustry,regulatorsandthepublic.The outcomeoftheongoingprogramisexpectedtoresultingreateraccess,reasonableregulatorycontrols, lowerdevelopmentcostandreductionoftheenvironmentalfootprintassociatedwithoperations.To informthepublicoftheindustrysenvironmentaladvancementsintechnology,theprogramdeveloped anEFDScorecardtomeasureperformanceconcerningenvironmentaltradeoffs.Acomputerbased modeltoselectcomplementaryenvironmentallyfriendlytechnologiesassistsindustryindecidingthe mostappropriatetechnologiestobeapplied.Theprogrammayincreasethepublicsandregulatory agenciesacceptancetooperateinenvironmentallysensitiveareas,createjobsandaddsignificant reservestotheU.S. TheEFDprogramincludedaUniversity/NationalLaboratoriesAlliance tofundandtransfercriticalnew technologiesthatacceleratesdevelopmentofdomesticreservesinasafeandenvironmentallyfriendly manner.Theresearchwasaimedspecificallyatidentifyinganddevelopingsafeandenvironmentally friendlytechnologies.
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TechnologyTransfer
TheHoustonAdvancedResearchCenter(HARC)designated2.5%oftheamountoftheawardfor fundingtechnologytransferactivities.Throughouttheproject,HARCworkedwithRPSEAtodevelopand implementaneffectiveTechnologyTransferProgramatboththeprojectandprogramlevel.Inaddition, HARCprovidedinformationrequestedbyRPSEAtosupportthequantitativeestimationofprogram benefits. PresentationsListisincludedinAppendix.Coordinatedpresentationsandarticleswithprojectteam membersinordertoinformandeducateindustry,academiaandthepublic.MembersoftheEFD engagedintechnologytransferactivitiesatthe16thInternationalSymposiumonSocietyandResource Management(ISSRM),June610,2010. OutreachtoRegulatoryAgenciesEstablishedadialogueandheldseminars/forumswiththeBureauof LandManagement(BLM),theInterstateOilandGasCompactCommission(IOGCC),theTexasRailroad Commission(RRC),variousOil&GasCommissionersintheIntermountainstates,intheAppalachian states,andelsewhere.ArgonneLab,HARC,andTerraPlatformsleadtheeffort. CollaboratewithOthersCollaboratedwithAPI,PTTC,InternationalAssociationforSocietyandNatural Resources(IASNR)andotherorganizations.HARCandTerraPlatformsleadtheeffort.The University/NationalLaboratoriesAlliancehelpedcoordinatetheactivitiesofregionalpartnersinthe program. OutreachintheRockyMountainsandDesertSouthwestAddressedregionalissuesrelatedto developmentofprivateandpubliclandsincludingtheUinta,PiceanceandotherplaysintheWest.Utah State,UniversityofColorado,SHSU,UniversityofWyoming,andHARCleadtheeffort. OutreachinNortheastInformedandeducatedpublicandindustryconcerningEFDpracticesthatmay beusedintheMarcellusShaledevelopment.PTTC,ArgonneNationalLab,andTAMUleadtheeffort.A keyfocuswasproducedwatermanagement. NativeAmericanOutreachWorkshopswereheldwithNativeAmericanstoinformandeducatethem ofapplicableEFDsystems. OutreachintheUpperMidwestCreatedacommunicationnetworkwithindustry,stateandfederal officials.TAMUleadtheeffort.
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SystemsEngineeringDesignMethodologyLowImpactWellDesign Optimization
AwebbaseddecisionoptimizationtoolusingthecausaldeterministicapproachwasdevelopedbyTexas A&MUniversity.TheBayesianNetwork(BN)modelwithcausalprobabilisticapproachfordrilling systemsisoperationalandfoundat:http://stochasticgeomechanics.civil.tamu.edu/efd/ TheSystemsEngineeringDesignMethodologyiscurrentlyspecificforthecoastalmarginsofTexas.This task,ledbyDr.MedinaCetina,anexpertinGeotechnicalEngineeringgeneralizedthemethodologyand providedaframeworkintowhichplayspecificinformation(regionalrequirementsforenvironmental compliance,etc.)couldbeplaced.ThisenabledtheRPSEAregionalpartnerstomorequicklyand efficientlystandupanequivalentinformationsite.Teammemberscollaboratedwithstakeholdersin workshopsinordertodeployaninformationsiteusingthisframework.Theprocesswasdocumentedso thatitcouldbelinkedtotheEFDScorecardsystem. Anengineeringreportdescribingaprototypesystemsmodelhasbeenprovidedtoregionalcentersto useindevelopinglowimpactwelldesignsforspecificunconventionalgasresourceplaysandisattached intheAppendix.Additionally,areportdefiningthelinkbetweentheEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling ScorecardandtheSystemsEngineeringDesignMethodologyfortheRPSEAEFDPartnersisincluded.
BestPracticesDatabase
TheNaturalResourcesLawCenter(NRLC)atUniversityofColoradoLawdevelopedafreeaccess, searchable,databaseandsupportingwebsiteforbestmanagementpractices(BMPs).Thisversion, launchedinMarch2009,focusesontheIntermountainWest(CO,MT,NM,UT,WY).Itincludesfederal, state,andlocalregulatoryrequirementsaswellasvoluntarypracticescurrentlyinuse,required,and/or recommendedforprotectionofsurfaceresources.Thisversionisaccessibleat: http://www.oilandgasbmps.org/ Awhitepaperhasbeencompletedthatsummarizestheneedsandbarriersfortheregionandis availableintheAppendix.ThisincludesadiscussionontheapplicationofEFDtechnologiestothe region.TheNRLCcontributedtoaseriesofworkshopsinordertotransferEFDtechnologiestoregional stakeholders.Throughouttheproject,NRLCworkedtoexpandthedatabase/websitetoabroader communityofpartnersinordertorefineandexpanditsfunctionalityandaddBMPdata.Additional websitesupportmaterialswerealsodeveloped.
DisseminationandDecisionSupport
TheUniversityofArkansas,sponsoredbytheUSDepartmentofEnergythroughtheLowImpactNatural GasandOil(LINGO)Program,developedtheFayettevilleShaleInformationWebandtheFayetteville RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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ShaleInfrastructurePlacementDecisionSupportSystem.Theinformationsiteenablesreaderstolearn aboutthenaturalgasresourcesavailableintheFayettevilleShaleformationinArkansasandexplains thestepsfollowedbynaturalgasdevelopmentcompanies,fromgainingaccesstothelandthrough sendingthegastothemarketplace.Foreachstepintheprocess,thesiteprovidesinformationabout thestateandfederalregulatoryrequirementsthatdevelopersmustfollow.Thesitealsodescribessome ofthetechnologiesthatcanbeusedtominimizetheenvironmentalimpactsofnaturalgasdevelopment andprovidescurrentinteractivemapsshowingthelocationsofactivedrillsitesandpermittedsites. Thedecisionsupportsystemisalsoanonlinemapbasedresourcebutistargetedatoperators, regulatorsandotherprimarystakeholders.Thesystemprovidesseveraldecisionsupporttoolsto: 1. Helpreducethepossibilityofnegativeenvironmentalimpactfrominfrastructure(drillpads, gatherlines,reservepitsandaccessroadsplacementand, 2. Promotemoreeffectivecommunicationbetweenregulatorsandoperatorstoexpeditethe permittingprocess. DesignedwithinputfromChesapeakeEnergy,SouthwesternEnergyCompany,ArkansasOilandGas Commission,ArkansasDepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality,USFishandWildlifeService,andmany otherscollectedthroughseveraljointandindividualmeetings,thesystemimplementsageographic informationsystem(populatedwiththebestandmostcurrentgeographicaldata)sharedbyoperators andregulators.Inthissystemaproducercaninteractivelyplaceinfrastructurefeaturesandletadvanced sedimenttransportmodelspredicttheeffectonnearbyregulatedwaterways.Thewebenableddecision supporttoolandthesupportingqueriesareconstructedinArcGISServer9.3 TheFayettevilleShaleInformationsitecontainsinformationspecifictothenaturalandregulatory environmentinArkansasandwasdevelopedwithcriticalsupportandcontributionsfromall stakeholdersintheplay.Theexistingsiteprovidedaframeworkintowhichplayspecificinformation (naturalresources,regulations,drillingactivities,etc.)couldbeplaced.Thisenabledlocalstakeholders tomorequicklyandefficientlystandupupanequivalentinformationalsite.TheEFDteamworked withstakeholdersfromtheHaynesvilleplaytodeployaninformationsiteusingthisframeworkand documentedtheprocesssothatitcouldmoreeasilybedeployedelsewhere.Thewebsiteisfoundat: http://lingo1.cast.uark.edu/HaynesvillePublic/ TheDecisionSupportSystemdevelopedfortheFayettevilleShaleworkedcloselywithresearchersatthe GlobalPetroleumResearchInstituteatTexasA&MUniversitytointegrateadditionalenvironment impactmodels,inparticulartheSWATandAPEXassessmenttools,intotheexistingArcGISServer deployment.Thisservedtoexposetheseadvancedenvironmentalimpactmodelstoawiderrangeof researchers,operatorsandregulators.
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WesternMountainStateStudies
TheUniversityofWyoming(UW),incollaborationwiththeBureauofLandManagement,Heartland BioComposites(nowWyoComp)andmajorupstreamgasproductioncompanies,hasdevelopeda layeredmat,rolloutroadsystemdesignusingcompositebuildingmaterialstominimizetheimpactof oilfieldaccesstoroadstowellpadsusingthemostsustainableapproachpossible.Theconceptcame fromtheneedtominimizesoildisruptionandwildlifefragmentationinJonahFieldandPinedale AnticlineProductionArea(PAPA)oftheupperGreenRiverValley,Wyoming.UWssubmissionwonfirst prizeinTAMU2008DisappearingRoadscompetition.Fieldtrialsofthescalemodelsystemwere conductedatthePecosDesertResearchtestCenterandwereincorporatedfortheRPSEAprojectwith recycledmaterials.Testingproceduresandengineeringevaluationshavebeendevelopedindetailalong withanexpandedeconomicfeasibilitystudy.Awhitepapersummarizingtheneedsandbarriersforthe regionthatincludesadiscussionoftheapplicationofEFDtechnologiestotheregionisincludedin Appendix.
PublicPerception
TheEFDTeamestablishedrapportwithmembersofthegeneralpublic,communityleaders, representativesofoilandgasassociations,regulatoryagencypersonnel,nongovernmentalorganization representatives,andotherinterestedindividualswhoareexpectedtobeaffectedbyenergy developmentintheUintaBasinthroughfacetofacemeetingsandteleconferencing.Empirically examinestakeholdersleveloffamiliaritywithenvironmentallyfriendlyenergyexplorationand productionpractices. Stakeholderslevelofagreementthatenvironmentallyfriendlyenergyexplorationandproductions practicescanbeusedinenvironmentallysensitiveareasthatarecurrentlyofflimitsorhighlyrestricted shouldsuchareasbeopenedupfordevelopmentwasempiricallyexamined. Workshopswereheldtoestablishdialogueamongmembersofthegeneralpublic,communityleaders, representativesofoilandgasassociations,regulatoryagencypersonnel,nongovernmentalorganization representatives,andotherinterestedindividualsintheUintaBasinofUtahwithrespecttothe acceptanceandassimilationofenvironmentallyfriendlyenergyexplorationandproductionpractices drawingupontheempiricaldatacollected. TheEFDteamconductedastudyofthefamiliaritywithanduseofarangeofenvironmentallyfriendly naturalgasexplorationandproductionpracticesintheUintahBasin(UB)ofnortheasternUtah.The primarygoalswereto(1)documenttheuseofEFDpracticesintheUB;(2)understandthedriversthat haveledtoincreaseduseofEFDpractices,(3)identifyremainingbarrierstoEFDuseinthisregion.It wasalsoimportanttoraiseawarenessofEFDpracticesamongkeyactorsinthisarea,andtobetter understandpublicconcernsandprioritiesrelatedtonaturalgasexplorationanddevelopment.Thekey outcomesincludedpublishingadetailedwhitepapersummarizingtheresearchfindings,organizinga workshopintheUBthatbroughttogetherlocalstakeholdersandoutsideexperts(fromtheEFDnational RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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team)totalkaboutopportunitiestoreducetheenvironmentalfootprintoflocalnaturalgasexploration anddevelopment,andpresentationsatnationalmeetingsandconferences. Thiswasbegunbyintroducingtheprojecttorepresentativesfromthenaturalgasindustry,local community,andpubliclandmanagementagenciesatregularlyscheduledquarterlymeetingsoftheUB oilandgasworkinggroupinthespringof2010.Theteamidentifiedasetofkeyinformantstorepresent adiversearrayoftopicalandorganizationalexperienceandperspectives.Atotalof26keyinformant interviewswereconductedinsummerandfall2010.Resultsoftheinterviewsweresummarizedin writtennarrativereportsandanalyzedusingstandardqualitativeanalysistechniquesandsoftware. InterviewswerecombinedwithsecondarydatatowriteawhitepaperontheOpportunitiesand BarrierstoReducingtheEnvironmentalFootprintofNaturalGasDevelopmentinUtahsUintahBasin (publishedinApril2011).TheresultswerealsopresentedattheUBworkshopinOctober,2010,andat severalprofessionalmeetings.
EasternMountainStateStudies
TheMarcellusshaleisoneofthemostpromisinggasplaysintheU.S.Therearebarriersandchallenges inthedevelopmentofthisplay,inparticularwithsitelocations,logisticsandwaterissues.Thefirststep wastoidentifyanddefinetheissuesandproblems.TheRPSEAEFDTeamcollaboratedwiththeWest VirginiaUniversity(WVU)toinitiateanenvironmentallyfriendlyE&Psystemsprogram.WVUisthelead organizationfortheEasternU.S.PetroleumTechnologyTransferCouncil(PTTC). Thefirstobjectivewastoidentifytheneedsandbarriersassociatedwithunconventionalnaturalgas productionintheEasternmountainstates.WhilethisareaoftheU.S.istheoldestoilandgasproducing areainthecountry,newhorizontaldrillingandmassive,multistagehydraulicfracturingtechnologyis entirelynewandmustbeadaptedtothespecificrequirementsofthearea.Theneedforlightweight drillingrigs,accesstowellsites,andtheuseofwaterresourcesmustbeaddressedbeforetheshalecan bedeveloped.Thisobjectiveisdetailedinthewhitepaperentitled,ChallengesFacingDevelopersof theMarcellusShalePlayfoundintheAppendix.Additionally,workshopswereheldinordertotransfer technologyfortheMarcellusShaletoappropriatestakeholders.
NationalLaboratoriesAdvisors
ThisprojectbroughttoendusersresearchandtechnicalexpertiseinEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling (EFD)technologies,includinggeophysicalmethods,sensors,microdrilling,riskassessment,modeling andcostanalyses,andproducedwatertreatmentandreuse.ThisworkwasledatLANLbyDr.E.J.(Jeri) Sullivan.LANLhasextensiveexperienceinenvironmentalproductionissuesfromcurrentworkwith CarbonSequestrationandSouthwestRegionalPartnershipprojects,DOEfundedproducedwater treatmentforsmallproducers,andadvancedsensorandgeophysicalworkforlargeE&Pcompanies, RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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includingoilshaleandtightgasproductionresearch.LANLalsobroughttotheprojectanexperienced staffoftechnologytransferprofessionalswhoworkedwithDr.Sullivaninidentifyingbothavailableand developingtechnologiesatLANL,andwhoassistedtheEFDpartnerswithtechnologydevelopment, contracts,andcommercialization.TheNationalLaboratoriessuppliedhighlevelresearchcapabilityin environmentalscience,chemistry,materials,andengineering,andtheabilitytodevelopinnovative solutionsandtechnologiesquickly. Argonneprovidedtechnical,analytical,andoutreachsupporttotheEFDProgram.Argonnesupported theEFDProgramsmissionbyincreasingpublicawarenessoftherolethatenvironmentallyfriendly technologiesandpracticescanplayinreducingtheenvironmentalfootprintofunconventionalgas explorationanddevelopmentthroughparticipationinanumberofconferencesandwebinars.Analytical supporttoEFDasnewissuessurroundinghydraulicfracturingemergedwasprovided. Argonneconductedasurveytoidentifyawiderangeoftechnologies,bestpractices,andactiveresearch areasthathavethepotentialtosignificantlyreducetheenvironmentalfootprintofoilandgas development.Thesurveyidentifiedarangeofcommercialornearcommercialtechnologiesinareas suchas:producedwatermanagement,wellpadsconstructionanddrillingoperations,andwaste reductionandpollutionmonitoring.Italsoidentifiedanumberofemergingbestpracticesintheareas oflifecyclewatermanagementandairemissionsreductions.Finallyitsummarizedongoingresearch effortslikelytoresultineithernewtechnologiesorimprovedprocessesthatwillreducethe environmentalfootprintoffutureunconventionalnaturalgasexplorationanddevelopmentactivities. Thisefforthasresultedinafinalsummaryreportwhichiscurrentlyunderreviewandisexpectedtobe publishedbyArgonneandavailableontheEFDwebsitesoon.
ApplicationforSemiAridEcosystems
TheEFDteammetwithoperatorsconcerningtheapplicationofEFDtechnologiesinsemiarid ecosystems.Todeveloptheenvironmentalcost/benefitmethodology,aworkshopwasheldwith appropriaterepresentationfromtheprojectteamandvariousenvironmentalorganizations.Theproject teamalsoheldworkshopstoshowhowSystemsEngineeringDesignMethodologyandtheEFD Scorecardcanbeusedtoidentifylowimpactsystems. ThevariousmeetingsandworkshopsledtothefinalizationofthedraftprototypeEFDScorecard.Dry runs,includingdrillingthewellonpaperexercises,wereperformedtotesttheprototype.Fieldtrials werethenplannedandscheduledtotesttheprototype. TheNatureConservancyinvitedtheEFDSystemprogramtoperformnoisesurveysandperformance measurementofvariousdrillingandproductionequipmentthatisinuseattheTexasCityPrairie Reserve.ThenoisesurveyinvolvedusingahandheldGPS,asoundlevelmonitorandasimplemeasuring device.TheEFDteamperformedthemeasurementsandcomparedtheresultstotheprairiechicken distributionmapsprovidedbytheNatureConservancy.
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PrototypeSmallFootprintDrillingRig
Areviewofrigtechnologieswasdevelopedandpublished.HuismanagreedtoprovideaLOC400rigat reducedratesfordemonstratingitsabilitytodrillwithminimalenvironmentalimpactforlesscostand withsaferoperations.MISWACOprovidedengineeringtimeandcashtointegratewasteminimization technologyattherigsite.Thevariousprojectsmakingupthemicroholeprojectwereintegratedintothe SystemsEngineeringModelandthealternatepowerprojectwasdevelopedsothattheentirerig operationscanbepoweredatlowercostwithloweremissionsthanconventionaloperations. AspartoftheEFDmanagementTeam,TomWilliamswasdirectlyinvolvedinensuringthesuccessofthe program.Tomassistedinarrangingandleadingmeetingswithsponsors,partnersandother stakeholders. TheoverallsuccessoftheEFDprojectdependeduponsponsors.Tomassistedintheseactivities.In addition,TomworkedwithHARCandotherEFDteammemberstocoordinateandfacilitateaprototype testofalowimpactrigoperation.TomoversawotherEFDteammemberstoidentifyalternativesto reducethefootprintassociatedwithhydraulicfracturingoperationsincludingoffsiteoperationsand innovativefracturingtechnologiessuchasnovelprocessinvolving:minimalpumpingequipment,low volumesoffracfluidandmaterialsthatareenvironmentallygreenandnondamaging. TomalsoprovidedareviewofthepriorenvironmentalprojectssponsoredbytheUSDepartmentof EnergyandworkwiththeEFDteamtodeterminewhicharerelevanttotheEFDeffort.
AirEmissionsStudies
Theprojectdevelopedguidelinesconcerningthemitigationofoxidesofnitrogen(NOx)foradrillingsite andpublishedthemonthewww.efdsystems.orgwebsite.Theteamalsodevelopedabaselineauditof operatingpracticesduringfracturingoperationsthatformthesourceofemissionsandbecomethe startingpointofeffortstomeasure,themitigatethoseemissions.Theseeffortsareindustrycontrolled ratherthangovernmentmandated. TheCenterforAppliedTechnology(TCAT),TexasA&MUniversitySystem,ledateamtocollectair emissionsdataanddevelopamethodologyforestimating/measuringemissionsfromanaturalgas hydraulicfracturingoperation.ThestudysitewaslocatedataranchnearLaredointheEagleFordShale Play.Theemissionsprofilesdevelopedaspartofthisstudycanbeappliedtoothersimilarsitesand furtherrefinedasadditionaldatabecomesavailable.Thesestudiescanalsohelptoensurethatfuture airqualityregulationsarebasedonthebestpossibledata.
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ReducedFracturingFootprints
Theproductionforthemajorityoftightgas,coalbedmethaneandgasshalesrequirefracturing,most fromhorizontaldrillingcompletedwithfracjobs.Thewellsitefootprintfromthecompletionand stimulationcanexceedthedrillingrigfootprint,nottomentiontheaddedroadandwater requirements. Thisprojectidentifiedalternativesavailabletoreducethefootprintincludingoffsiteoperationsand innovativefracturingtechnologiessuchasanovelprocessinvolving:minimalpumpingequipment,low volumesoffracfluidandtheuseofmaterialsthatareenvironmentallygreenandnondamaging. TheReadyFracprocessisanovelstimulationprocessbasedonU.S.PatentNo.6,949,491inwhichsolid pelletsofadegradablepolymerimpregnatedwithproppantareplacedintoawell,allowedtodegrade toahighlyviscousliquid,andinjectedintotheformationatlowratecreatingahydraulicfracture.This processislimitedinsizebywellgeometry,depthandtemperaturerangeforpolymerdegradation.Even so,itisanticipatedthatReadyFraccanbeappliedinwellsrequiringfracturepastdamageandproduce moreproductivereservoirssinceperfecttransportfluidsresultfromthedegradationprocess,no residueremainstodamagetheformationfaceorproppantpack,andsignificantlyhigherproppant concentrationsachievableviathisprocessshouldimprovefractureconductivity. CSITechnologies,LLCworkedwiththeinventor,ClaudeE.Cooke,Jr.,forseveralyearstodevelopthis conceptforcommercialapplication.Significantprogresshasbeenachievedintheareasofcontrolling polymerdegradation,manufacturing,andapplicationprocesses.However,numericalmodelingofthe treatmentorresultingproductivityincreaserequiressubstantiallymoreworkinordertopredictfracture geometryandresultingreservoirbehavior. DifferencesbetweentheReadyFracprocessandconventionalhydraulicfracturingoperationsinclude: TheReadyFracfluidformsinsituinthewellacrossfromtheperforations.Thus,noinitialhigh rateinjectionofthinfluidinitiatesthefracture.Instead,thefractureisinitiatedwithvery viscousfluidinjectedataverylowrate(1bpm). Resultingfracturegeometrywillbeextremelyimportantsincejobsizeislimitedtosmall treatmentvolumes.Traditionalgrowthboundariesmaynotworkinthisapplication. Productivityincreaseresultingfromhigherconductivity,undamagedproppantbedsisdifficult topredictwithcurrentfracturingmodels. CSIisworkingwithaUniversitytodevelopalgorithmsandnumericalmodelsrequiredto simulatetheprocess.
HartEnergyinterviewedtheEFDmanagementteamtohighlighttheEFDprojectintheAugust,2012 HartEnergysTechbookSupplementtoHartsE&P.Thearticleprintedalistofthegoalsaccomplished sincetheprojectsinception.Thiscommentaryofferedfurtherclarificationonthepracticesintroduced andevaluatedthroughouttheprogram,providingdetailsonthefoundersanddefiningtherelationship betweenindustry,academia,thegeneralpublicandtheEFDTeam.
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MeasuringEffectivenessofEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling
ThiscollaborativeeffortbetweenSamHoustonStateUniversityandTAMUhadtwoaspects: PublicPerceptionFactsheetsandotheroutreacheducationalmaterialspertainingtoenvironmentally friendlyenergyexplorationandproductionpracticesweredeveloped,printedanddisseminated. SocialImpactAreviewofpotentialsocialimpactswasdocumented. Inaddition,theRPSEAEFDteamorganizedworkshopstodevelopecosystemspecificscorecards.Input fromenvironmentalorganizations,industry,universitiesandgovernmentagencies,wasusedto optimizethescorecardsforthespecificareas. TheEFDteamconductedaseriesofstudiesaimedatmeasuringtheeffectivenessofanEnvironmentally FriendlyDrillingprogram.Focusgroups,interviews,andhouseholdsurveyswereusedtocollectdatain multiplestudysitesaroundtheUnitedStateswhereenergydevelopmentisanintegralpartofthelocal society.ThesesitesincludedcommunitieswithinTexas,Utah,NewYork,andPennsylvania.Whilethe resultsfromthesestudiespertainingtopublicperceptionandsocialimpactsaredetailedinthepapers intheAppendix,highlightedherearetwoofthemorepertinentfindings/recommendations: First,ineachstudy,thefindingsrevealedthatover8in10individualsbelievedthatnaturalgas operatorsmustadoptandusemoreenvironmentallyfriendlydrillingpractices.And,thedatafromone oftheTexasstudiesrevealedthatanoverwhelmingmajorityofcitizensareinfavorofeliminatingor relaxinggovernmentalregulationsthatlimitoilandnaturalgasdevelopmentexplorationandproduction inenvironmentallysensitivesettingsastheenergyindustryadoptsandusesamoreenvironmentally friendlyapproachtodevelopment. Second,basedonthesestudies,itisproposedthatenergyoperatorsmustmakeamoreconcertedeffort tocommunicateopenlywiththepublicandenhanceinvolvementatthecommunitylevel.Local residentsneedtobeinformedaboutlocalenergydevelopments. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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AppendixWhitePapers

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System Engineering Design Methodology Low Impact Well Design Optimization

By: ZenonMedinaCetina PatriciaVarela TexasA&MUniversity StochasticGeomechanicsLaboratory CollegeStation,Texas,USA.July,2012.
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1. Introduction
Shale gas developments in the U.S. are presently showing a significant growth due to recent discoveries from rich shale formations such as the Barnett, Marcellus and the Eagle Ford. The expansion of these energy developments is exponential, showing a growing rate even into urban and environmentally protected areas. In order to access these environmentally protected areas (called off-limit areas), the shale gas industry has be conditioned to mainstream the development of low impact Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) technologies. This has generated the need for making available a methodology that can define an optimal single drilling system for a given site. In practice, this effort is known to introduce significant uncertainty due to the inherent subjectivism at the time of selecting components of the drilling system, without having a systematic understanding of the potential technology integration. Moreover, different competing criteria may be imposed from different stakeholders, which exacerbates the optimal selection of a drilling system. The relevance of the proposed work is to replicate a complex decision-making process that in practice is based on expert judgment, by introducing a decision-making model for the selection of EFD technologies. The aim is to make available a tool that can facilitate the understanding of the system selection process under varying selection criteria. For this purpose, a simplified model is first discussed as a proof of concept, addressing the theoretical and computational elements required for its implementation. Then, a more detailed model is applied to the case study, showing that the new decision-analytic tool can allow for a more rational and transparent decision-making, under environmental, cost, and public perception evaluation criteria. This approach will be extrapolated to other locations when placed within a Geographic Information System. Furthermore, since the proposed model represents a probability template, it will be easily updated as new evidence about the specific drilling site becomes available. It is anticipated that industry, government agencies, environmental organizations, and other oil and gas stakeholders will
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benefit from the proposed system selection method as a way to identify critical components that require further design and research, which in turn can reduce operating risk in similar processes Appendix 1 presents the description of a System Selection Tool used to evaluate the best combination of technologies to help decision makers on the task of selecting the proper drilling technologies for a given rig site. Two approaches are described to obtain a value that measures the best technologies combination: a Non-Causal completely deterministic used to make preliminary evaluations with a time saving tool, and a Causal Model that includes the natural dependencies between the system components and two factors integrated as probabilistic variables, such as Drilling Depth and Drilling Time. As expected, the second tool is a more robust and accurate decision making tool to address an optimal drilling system. These tools can be accessed through a web page available for the public, where the user can design a project making a combination of the technologies provided by the tools, and even introduce new technologies to the system (https://stochasticgeomechanics.civil.tamu.edu/efd/). The Big Picture as defined by Ok Youn (2010) is a Bayesian Decision Network model that gathers most of the activities developed by O&G industry when a site is chosen to drill and to develop a reservoir (Figure 1). This model evaluates the combination of several technologies in Decision nodes (squared) and their correspondent risk in terms of environment impact, cost and public perception. These technologies are grouped in subsets (decision nodes), which at the same time are arranged by subsystems sequentially organized as Site and Rig, Power and Operations. The causal dependencies (oval variables) derived from the deterministic choices made in the decision nodes, are also separated by color according to the addressed factor: Cost, Environmental Impact and Public Perception. The consecutive propagation of the information through the model allows making probabilistic inferences about the state of the emissions, the footprint and costs for each
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subsystem. This probabilistic approach permits to converge into a value of risk that serves as a decision making factor, which is obtained after evaluate a combination of technologies. To enhance the capability of the tool to guarantee that environmental and societal factors are taken under serious consideration, the model was calibrated with the Score Card System, either correlating or adding technologies to the Big Picture.
2. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Foundations - System Engineering Design Methodology

The design of a rig site for Oil&Gas operation is a key factor to minimize the land footprint and the direct affectation to the surface. The implementation of an elevated platform that reduces the disturbance of the ground surface in sensitive areas is a solution that requires the use of piles as a foundation alternative. This way, the direct contact between the drilling system and the surface ground is a discrete sequence of piles, instead of a continuous surface affecting the land. Appendix 2 presents this system along with a parametric uncertainty quantification analysis, which aims to measure the probabilistic likelihood of a failure state and the margin of safety for different variables: load, unit weight, ground water level, number of blows on a Standard Penetration Test (SPT), bearing capacity factor and friction angle.
3. Bayesian Decision Networks (BDN) and Score Card System (SCS)

Each section of the SCS is related to the implementation of a specific technology or method in environmental and societal issues. A cross-verification was implemented consisting in making an
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evaluation of each question of the SCS to determine if the implementation of such technology was included in the Big Picture model. The procedure to make the cross-verification consisted on the development of a table that groups the Score Card questions and topics for each technology subset of the Big Picture BDN model. The Topic field from Tables 2 to 6 refers to the particular concerns of the questions, resuming the main idea of the technology required. In the Questions SC column is pointed out the questions related to the Technology Subsets and the topic described. The nomenclature for these fields (Table 1) consists in an alphanumeric combination of the Score Card attribute and the number of the question. Most of the technologies suggested by the Score Card were already reflected in the system selection tool provided by the Big Picture, but some others were recently included in pre-existent subsets, allowing to enhance the capabilities of the model. In other cases, was required the definition of a new subset with its own technologies, that might include the methods and techniques present on the topics described on Tables 2 to 6. 3.1. Enhanced Subsets
The previous subsets contain a list of several technologies that can be selected when designers are planning the operation of a drilling site. These technologies were separated in subsets as shown below: 3.1.1. Subsystem: Site and Rig / Subset: Well Design Reuse of pre-existing well site Several wells per drill site (clusters)
3.1.2. Subsystem: Site and Rig / Subset: Rig Type Spill Control System
3.1.3. Subsystem: Site and Rig / Subset: Access Road

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Plan for avoid erosion. Armor roadway ditches and leadoff ditches with rock riprap. Use of pre-impacted terrains for access routes.
3.1.4. Subsystem: Site and Rig / Subset: Site Preparation Low profile structures. Design centralized location for hydraulic fracturing and water delivery.
3.1.5. Subsystem: Power / Subset: Conventional Rig Power Use Tier IV diesel engines or natural gas.
3.1.6. Subsystem: Operation / Subset: Drilling Technology Electric top drive system
3.1.7. Subsystem: Operation / Subset: Drilling Fluid Type Use of biodegradable lubricants. Water efficiency programs
3.1.8. Subsystem: Operation / Subset: Reserve Pit and Solid Control Equipment Limit contact with live water bodies
3.1.9. Subsystem: Operation / Subset: Waste Management Recycle and reuse of water Plan for water discharge Regular and remote monitoring system of wastes. Cuttings management plan Maximize bulk material and minimize pallets, bags, etc.
3.1.10. Subsystem: Site and Rig / Subset: Air Emission Reduction Brine treatment
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Low dust emission infrastructure Green completions.
3.1.11. Subsystem: Restoration / Subset: Restoration Systems Site survey to plan a restoration system Restore elevation, vegetation and topsoil Plan planting on the proper season of the year Prevent transport of invasive species Ensuring wild life and agricultural experts assesment Well abandonment plan and update it.
3.1.12. Subsystem: Societal / Subset: Comunication Channels Inform stakeholders with water wells, streams, wetlands within 5000 feet of the proposed operation. Hold meeting to discuss risk and mitigation efforts. Publishing documents and training sessions available to contractors with information on how to reduce the environmental impact. Document the Environmental Sensibility. Work with community to identify noise management and light effects. Provide web site that links to data from sensors. Develop dispute resolution plan. Implement company policy that addresses unintended consequences and communicate with stakeholders. These have to know whom to contact if/when an issue arises. 3.1.13. Subsystem: Societal / Subset: Safety Instruct crews not to harass or feed wildlife.
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Ban pets, hunting and fishing. Train crew to identify wildlife. Work with local law enforcement to reduce traffic safety hazards. Engage regional official to advice on health and safety concerns associated with operations. Provide transportation to workers Create an emergency response plan Implementation of Incident Reports and any significant problems with wildlife.
4. Conclusions The BDN model proposed is a tool conceibed to help designers to combine a series of technologies and to assess the risk associated to it. The proposed decision-making model based on Bayesian Decision Networks allows for the Drilling System Selection considering causal dependencies. The Score Card System, allowed for a simple cross-verification with the system selection tool. The result consists on a series of subsets with enhanced technologies and new subsets adressing environmental and societal issues that strengthens the system selection tool of the BDN model.
5. References
Ok-Youn Yu (2009). Systems Approach and Quantitative Decision Tools for technology Selection in Environmentally Friendly Drilling. Doctoral Dissertation, Texas A&M University. College Station, Texas.
Ok-Youn Yu, Medina-Cetina Zenon, Jean-Louis Briaud (2011). Towards an Uncertainty-Based Design of Foundations for Onshore Oil and Gas Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) Systems. Geo-Frontiers, ASCE. USA, 2011
Houston Advanced Research Center (2010). SCORECARD Reference Guide. First Edition. Houston, TX. USA. June 2010.
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Env. Causal Nodes
Cost Causal Nodes
Public Perception Causal Nodes
Restoration Societal Uncertainty Nodes
Site and Rig
Power
Operation
System Selection
Figure 1. Bayesian Decision Network Model. The Big Picture. Ok Youn, 2010
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Table 1. Nomenclature for Score Card Questions. SC Attribute Air Water Site Waste Management Biodiversity Societal Nomenclature Air 1 to Air 9 Water 1 to Water 13 Site 1 to Site 17 WM 1 to WM 13 Bio 1 to Bio 12 Soc 1 to Soc 14
Table 2. Correlation for Score Card and Site and Rig Technologies. Technology Topic Questions SC Subset Site 1, Site 2, Site 3, Reuse of pre-existing site, pad drilling, maximize Well Design Site 4, Site 11, Site number of wells per drill site 15 Rig Type Use of spill control system Site 5, WM 9 Dust suppression documented plan, Green Air Emissions Air 5, Air 9 Reduction Completion practices Use of vehicles Tier II, III and IV. Use of retrofit Air 1, Air 2, Air 3, Air Transportation technology on Tier I on-road vehicles or on Tier 4 II-I for non-road vehicles. Access roads to avoid erosion, roadway ditches Access Roads Bio 5, Bio 6, Soc 2 and leadoff ditches. Low impact roads Use of low profile structures, plan layout of flow Site 9, Site 14, Site lines, planning for stock tanks 16, Soc 2 Site Preparation Establish centralized location for hydraulic Bio 3 fracturing and water delivery Noise Construction of sound/safety barriers. Reduce Reduction Soc 4, Soc 5 residual lighting effect Facility
Table 3. Correlation for Score Card and Power Technologies.
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Technology Subset Conventional rig Power Unconventional Rig Power
Topic Use Tier IV diesel engines or natural gas, or connected to the electric grid. Power from solar or wind sources.
Questions SC Air 6, Air 7 Air 8
Table 4. Correlation for Score Card and Operation Technologies. Technology Topic Questions SC Subset Drilling Electric top drive system WM 7 Technology Water efficiency programs and reduction of Water 11, Water 12, Drilling Fluid hazardous materials. Use of environmentally Water 13, WM 2, WM Type friendly drilling fluids and biodegradable 5, WM 6 lubricants Reserve pit and solid Waste water management plan, limit contact with Water 1, Water 5 control live water bodies, reuse of water equipment Water 2, Water 3, Recycle and reuse of water, plan of water Water 4, Water 5, discharge, implement contingency plans WM 10 Water 9, Water 10, Regular and Remote Monitoring and Recycling WM 12, WM 13, Bio Programs, Cuttings Management Plan 4, Soc 8 Waste Management WM 1, WM 3, WM 4, Closed loop System, Cutting Dryer, Cuttings WM 11, WM 12, WM Management Plan, Bioremediation, Composting, 13 Maximize bulk materials and minimize use of pallets, bags, etc. Implementing recycling Site 12, WM 8 programs to minimize household waste.
Table 5. Correlation for Score Card and Restoration Technologies. Technology Topic Questions SC Subset Survey to adapt a restoration plan, harvest Site 4, Site 8, Site organic or native species for further planned 13, Site 17, Bio 1, Restoration restoration, wild life and agricultural experts Bio 7, Bio 8, Bio 9, Systems assessment, use of local topsoil. Topographic Bio 11, Bio 12, Soc restoration. Clean equipment. 12
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Table 6. Correlation for Score Card and Restoration Technologies. Technology Topic Questions SC Subset Inform nearby stakeholders, hold meetings, Water 6, Water 7, inform risk mitigation efforts, share Water 8, Site 6, Site documentation for reducing footprint, web Communication 7, Site 10, Bio 10, pages, dispute resolution plan. Work with local Channels Soc 1, Soc 3, Soc 4, law enforcement to reduce traffic hazard. Soc 9, Soc 11, Soc Manage logistics to minimize noise between 11 13, Soc 14 pm and 5 am Security and risk mitigation to workers and regional officials. Training to handle wild life and to reduce footprint for workers and contractors. Transportation for workers. Ban pets, hunting Bio 2, Bio 11, Soc 1, Safety and fishing to contractor's workers. Training of Soc 6, Soc 7, Soc 10 local emergency medical service for specific issues during operation activities or public health issues.
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Apendix1
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IntegratedApproachfortheOptimalSelectionofEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems O.Y.Yua,Z.MedinaCetinab,S.D.Guikemac,J.L.BriaudbandD.Burnettb
a
Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA; bTexas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA; cJohns HopkinsUniversity,Baltimore,MD,USA
SubmittedtotheInternationalJournalofEnergyandEnvironmentalEngineering
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Apendix2
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Towards an UncertaintyBased Design of Foundations for Onshore Oil and Gas Environmentally FriendlyDrilling(EFD)Systems OkYounYu1,ZenonMedinaCetina2,JeanLouisBriaud2 1Appalachian State University, Department of Technology, Boone, NC, 286082122 2Texas A&M University,ZachryDepartmentofCivilEngineering,CollegeStation,Texas778433136 GeofrontiersASCE,2011(http://ascelibrary.org/doi/pdf/10.1061/41165%28397%2919)
RPSEAEFDProject0812235 4.2BestPracticesDatabase KathrynMutz UniversityofColoradoLaw NaturalResourcesLawCenter Preparedforthe EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystemsProgram HoustonAdvancedResearchCenter July,2012
71512 DateSigned
KathrynMutz
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BMPWebsite:Usage20112012
6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 0 Jan11 Apr11 Aug11 Oct11 Dec11 Jan12 Feb11 Mar11 May11 Sep11 Nov11 Feb12 Mar12 Apr12 Jun11 Jul11 May12 15,000 10,000 5,000 0
UniqueVisitspermonth
PageViewsperMonth
Thischartdemonstratesthreetonearlyfivefoldincreaseinpageviewsanduniquevisitspermonth respectively,forthewebsite/databasefromJanuary,2011May,2012. http://www.oilandgasbmps.org/ TheBMPProjectstaffmadeorcontributedtothefollowingpresentations: K.Mutz,K.Rice,L.Walker,A.Palomaki,andK.Yost.BMPsforMinimizingEnvironmentalImpacts:A ResourceforCommunities,GovernmentandIndustry,SocietyofPetroleumEngineersAnnualTechnical ConferenceandExhibition,Denver,CO,November2011(authorandpresenter) K.Mutz.BestManagementPractices,ManagingtheEagleFordDevelopment,Kingsville,TX,November 10,2011 K.MutzandS.Watterson.IntermountainOilandGasBestManagementPractices.RPSEAOnshore ProductionConference:TechnologicalKeystoUnlockingAdditionalReserves,Golden,CO,November30, 2011 K.MutzandK.Doran.NaturalGasResearchandResourcesatCUBoulder.DrawingtheBlueprintfora SustainableNaturalGasFuture,MuseumofNatureandScience,Denver,CO,January18,2012. D.Hertzmark,G.Thonhauser,R.Haut,K.Mutz,M.Sura,andO.K.Yerli.UkraineShaleGas: EnvironmentalandRegulatoryAssessment,RegionalShaleGasWorkshopPolandandUkraine,Kyiv, Ukraine,May2425,2012. K.Mutz,B.Kramer,andAPalomaki.BestManagementPracticesforOilandgasDevelopment,The InstituteforEnergyLaw3rdLawofShalePlaysConference,FtWorth,TX,June67,2012.
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M.Sura.BMPsonPublicLands:ProtectingWaterandWildlife,PublicLandsCommitteesession, DevelopingNorthAmericasOilandGasResources,InterstateOilandGasCompactCommission, MidyearIssuesSummit,Vancouver,B.C.,June35,2012. K.Mutz.Presentationsonprojectwebsite(www.oilandgasbmps.org)atquarterlymeetingsofthe EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingProgram(August2021,2009;WoodlandsTXandFebruary23,2010 (viateleconference))
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TheUnitedStatesEnergyInformationAdministration(EIA)estimatesthatin2009approximately25%of theenergyusedintheUnitedStatescamefromnaturalgas1.Thiscontributiontothenationalenergy budgethasbeenrisingsteadilyfromtheearlytwentiethcenturywithtechnologiessuchashydraulic fracturingandhorizontaldrillingbecomingmoreprevalent.Themajorityofnaturalgasconsumptioncan beattributedtothecommercialandindustrialsectors;mainlyinelectricitygeneration2.Estimates suggestasubstantiallyimminentgrowthinthenationaldailyconsumptioninthecomingyears.Thisrise inconsumptionhasnotbeenmetwithacommensuratelyequivalentlevelofproduction;albeit productionhasconsistentlyincreasedovertheyears.Withfactorssuchasanalmostunrelenting campaigntoweanthecountryoffsubstantialcrudeoildependence,thegradualreplacementofcrude oilwithnaturalgas,andtherecentunfavorablepublicopinionconcerningnuclearenergy,thestakesof naturalgasintheenergyportfolioofthenationaresettobeelevatedtounprecedentedlevels.The obviousimplicationisthatproductionatthewellheadwillhavetobesignificantlyincreasedtomakeup formarketdemands. Thisscenariobringswithittheinevitablenegativerepercussionsontheenvironmentregardingvarious energyproductionmethods.Thedevelopmentofadequate,accurate,seamlessandreliablemethodsof harnessingnaturalgasinvariousenvironmentalsettingswhileensuringanappreciablylowimpacton theenvironmentthereforebecomesasubjectofhighpriority.Alsoofimportanceistheneedtoensure anincreaseinnaturalgasproductionlevelstosatisfytheattainmentofrealisticeconomicadvancement. Thevariousenvironmentalimpactscenarioscanbecategorizedunderseveralfacetsincludingwater qualityandquantity,airquality,andecologicalimpactofnativeanimalandplantspecies.Theperceived environmentalimpactshaveledtotheenactmentofvariousregulatoryproceduresthataremeantto minimizetheenvironmentalfootprintsofnaturalgasrelatedactivities.However,mostofthese procedureslackscientificbackingtherebyrenderingtheirenforcementineffectiveandultimately hinderingthedevelopmentofanimportantenergyresource.Operatorsandregulatorsdonothavea commonframeworkwithintheirrespectiveprocessesthatcanbemutuallyharnessedtoproducethe desiredresultofensuringenvironmentalstewardshipwhilemeetingthedemandsforanimportant resourcesuchasnaturalgas.
1 2
http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=natural_gas_use http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/ng_cons_sum_dcu_nus_a.htm
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Software framework for the informational website & Informational website populated with data from one play (Haynesville Shale Play)
ThroughresearchanddevelopmentalongsidetheU.S.DepartmentofEnergys(DOE)LINGOinitiative, theFayettevilleShalePlay(FSP)LowImpactNaturalGasandOil(LINGO)Program3andthe InfrastructurePlacementandAnalysisSystem(IPAS)werecreatedwiththesolepurposeofmeetingthe abovestatedneedforcommunicationbetweenoperators,regulators,andthegeneralpublic.
The LINGO Initiative and RPSEA Follow-on

TheLINGOinitiative,createdbytheDOEin2006,integratescurrenttechnologiesandpracticesinways thatminimizeadverseenvironmentalimpactsfromtherecoveryofoilandnaturalgas.Atthesame time,theinitiativeseekstoboosttheeconomicrecoveryofoilandgasbyaddressingenvironmental concernsthatblocksuchrecovery.Thiseffortbuiltonthisinitiativeandcreatedasimilarsiteforthe HaynesvilleShalePlay(HSP),providingregulatoryandtechnicalinformationspecifictoTexas,Louisiana, andTexas. TheHSPpublicsiteexplainsthestepsfollowedbynaturalgasdevelopmentcompaniesindrillingand producinggasfromawell,fromgainingaccesstothelandthroughsendingthegastomarketupto abandonmentuponthewellreachingtheendofitsproductivelife(Figure1).Videosarealsoavailable forviewing.Foreachstepintheprocess,thesiteprovidesinformationaboutthestateandfederal regulatoryrequirementsthatdevelopersmustfollow(Figure1).Linkstostateandfederalregulations arealsoprovided.Alsodescribedaretechnologiesthatcanbeusedtominimizetheenvironmental impactsofnaturalgasdevelopment(Figure1).Bestmanagementpractices(BMPs)arealsodiscussed. Withineachtopic,linksareprovidedtorelatedinformation.Forexample,theSitePreparationsection underMinimizingEnvironmentalImpactscontainsarelatedlinktotheSitePreparationsectionunder NaturalGasProduction,allowinguserstoeasilynavigatethesiteandseehowallthestepsinthewell developmentlifecyclearerelated.
http://lingo.cast.uark.edu
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Figure1:A:StepsinproducinggasfromawelllocatedintheFayettevilleShale;B:Regulatorystepsthat operatorsmustfollowduringtheprocessofdevelopingawellintheFayettevilleShale;C:Technologiesand practicesusedtolimitenvironmentalimpactsofnaturalgas.
HSP Map Viewer

Amapviewer,developedusingArcGISServersJavaScriptapplicationprogramminginterface(API)and MicrosoftBingMapsAPI,providesmembersofthegeneralpublicwithvitalinformationonthe HaynesvilleShaleincludingdrilledwelllocations,permittedwelllocations,compressorstations,gas production,andwatersheds.Informationthatcanbeviewedincludes: 1. Well locations: Permit number, status, latitude, longitude, operator, well name, activity start date,permitdate(Figure2) 2. Roadsandaerialphotography(Figure2) 3. Compressorstations:permit,permitholder,latitude,longitude 4. GasproductionbyPublicLandSurveySystem(PLSS)section(Figure3) 5. Cumulative production: sum of all gas that has ever been produced until a specific date, in Mcf (1,000cubicfeet) 6. Annualproduction:sumofallgasinacalendaryear,inMcf
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7. Estimated gas production: derived via kernel density statistical analysis of the current productionvalues.Thispredictionisbasedsolelyonakerneldensityestimateoftheproduction values for a specific year smoothed over with a factor that is iteratively determined based on thesizeofeachdataset(Figure3) 8. Watersheds: watershed boundaries, number of wells located within watershed, and links to watershedinformation(Figure4)
Figure2:Wellinformationonpublicviewer.
Figure3:Wellproductioninformationavailableonpublicviewer.
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Figure4:Watershedinformationavailablethroughthepublicviewer.
HSP Components
TheLINGOHSPpublicmapviewerisbuiltontopofMicrosoftBingMapsAPIversion6.Roadsandaerial photographyareprovidedviatheAPIasbasemaplayers.Existingandrecentlypermittednaturalgas welllocations,alongwithwellproductiondata,areminedfromtheArkansasOilandGasCommission, theTexasRailroadCommission,andtheStrategicOnlineNaturalResourcesInformationSystem websites(seeIPASComponentssectionbelow).PublicLandSurveySystem(PLSS)sectionsarewidely availablefromavarietyofsources;forthisprojecttheywereacquiredfromGeostor4.Watershed polygons(12digitHUC)areavailablefromtheUnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey(USGS)throughthe NationalHydrographyDataset(NHD)project5.
4 5
http://www.geostor.arkansas.gov/ http://nhd.usgs.gov/
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Requirements documented for populating and deploying the decision support tool
IPASisanonlineapplicationdevelopedbytheCenterforAdvancedSpatialTechnologies(CAST)ofthe UniversityofArkansasFayettevilleincollaborationwithArgonneNationalLaboratory.Thesystem providesasecuredandcentralizedresourcewhereoperatorsandregulatorscanperformpertinent geospatialanalysisonarangeofenvironmentalissuesrelatingtotheoilandgasindustry.IPAScanhelp streamlineseveralcriticaltasksinvolvedwiththeplacementandpermittingofnewwelldrillingpads, gatheringlines,andotherinfrastructure.Operatorscanusecustomtools(Figure5)toplacewellpads, gatheringlines,orleaseaccessroadsonthemap.Oncetheoperatorisdoneplacingtheobject,theycan runsensitivearea,flowmodel,andslopeanalyses.Sensitiveareaanalysisrunsageoprocessingservice todetermineiftheplannedfeaturewillimpactextraordinaryresourcewatersor endangered/threatenedspecies.Protectionofwaterresourcesisakeyconcernforeveryoneinvolved withdevelopmentoftheFayettevilleandHaynesvilleShaleplay.Approximatelyfiftypercentofthetotal areafallseitherdirectlywithinsubwatershedscontainingstatedesignatedExtraordinaryResource WatersorwithinsubwatershedsthatareupstreamofExtraordinaryResourceWaters.Tounderstand thepossibleimpactofaspillfromadrillingsite,suchasthefailureofareservepitretainingwall,the FayettevilleShaleIPASprovidesaspillmodelingtool.Runontopofafilleddepressiondigitalelevation model,thespillmodelwillshowthespillflowpathdowntothenearestwaterbodyorbodies.This modelincorporatestheDinfinitymethodofdeterminingdirectionofliquidflowfromoneelevation pixeltothenext,whichallowsittosplitflowmorerealisticallytomultiplepaths,iftheterrainindicates such.Slopeanalysiscanaidoperatorsindeterminingifaslopeistoosteeptoplaceafeature.Proposed locationscanbereviewedbymultipleuserswithinthesamecompany.Oncetheoperatorhas completedthefeaturesitingprocess,theyareable,throughtheIPASsystem,tosubmittheplanned featuretoaregulatorybodyforapproval.TheregulatoristhenabletologontoIPAS,examinethe feature,runtherequisitetoolsandmodels,anddeterminewhetherornottheyapproveoftheplanned featureanditslocation.Oncethefeatureisapprovedordenied,thesubmittingoperatorisnotifiedvia email.Ifchangestotheplannedfeatureneedtobemade,theoperatorcandosoinIPAS,andthen resubmitthefeaturebacktotheregulatoryagencyonceagainforapproval.Thisworkflowfacilitates streamlinedandstructuredcommunicationbetweenoperatorsandregulatorsalongwithbuiltin loggingandaccountability. AprimaryconcernofGISprofessionalsandothersfamiliarwithcommonlyusedspatialdataisthe misconception,bythegeneralpublicandothers,thatthepositionofafeatureboundaryonadigital mapimpliesabsoluteaccuracy.Inreality,everyGISdatalayerhasalimittoitsspatialaccuracy, typicallyrelatedtothemannerinwhichthedatawascollectedorcreated.InIPAS,theboundaryofeach criticaldatalayerhasbeenconvertedintoafuzzyuncertaintyzone,thewidthofwhichtypically reflectsa95%confidencelevelofboundaryaccuracy.Furthermore,theboundaryofplanned infrastructurefeaturesplacedusingIPASalsoreflectspatialuncertainty.Inthiscase,thespatialaccuracy oftheunderlyingaerialphotographylayer(6meters)isaddedtoerrorrelatedtotheusersviewing scale(approximatethewidthoftwopixelsviewingscale)todeterminethewidthoftheuncertainty RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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zone.WhenevertheSensitiveAreaAnalysisisperformed,theresultsreflectwhetherthereisoverlap betweenthecertainfeatureandcertainsensitivearea,orperhapsonlybetweentheuncertainty zones.Thepossibleoutcomesareasfollows: certainfeatureandcertainsensitivearea=stronglikelihoodofimpact uncertaintyzoneoffeatureandcertainsensitivearea=moderatelikelihoodofimpact certainfeatureanduncertaintyzoneofsensitivearea=moderatelikelihoodofimpact uncertaintyzoneofbothfeatureandsensitivearea=slightlikelihoodofimpact WithintheIPASsystem,securityisparamount.Recognizing theneedforprotectionofprivatedatainthiscompetitive market,IPASisdesignedwithsecurityandreliabilityaskey concerns.IPASrunsonadedicated,limitedaccessserver locatedinaclimatecontrolledserverroomwithfullUPSand generatorbackupandcomputerroomratedfiresuppression system.AllwebpagesutilizeSecureSocketLayer(SSL) protocol.Featuresenteredbydifferentproducersarestoredin totallyindependentdatabasetables,eliminatingpossibilityof accessbyotherproducers.Allpasswordsarefullyencrypted onserversandindustrybestpracticesforsecureweb applicationsarefollowed. IPASisanessentialanddesiredsysteminthatitservesasa singlegeospatialhubwithcapabilitieswhichensurethat analysesbybothoperatorsandregulatorsareperformedon thesamedatarepository.Sinceoperatorsandregulators performthesameanalyseswithacommongeospatialanalytic algorithm,IPAShelpstoremoveambiguitiesintheresultsof therespectiveanalysesperformedbyseparateentities.For example;ifanoperatorisinterestedinplacingawellpadina specificgeographicregionintheFSP,asensitiveareaanalysis canberunbytheoperatortogivevariousimpactscenarioson thelikelihood(predictive)ofimpactonenvironmentalfactors suchashighlyerodiblesoils,extraordinaryresourcewaters subwatersheds,orpotentialimpactsonthehabitatsof Figure5:IPAStoolforplacingwellpad, speciessuchastheleastternandbaldeagle.Theresultsof gatheringline,oraccessroadfeatures thisanalysiscaneitherberejectedoraccepted.Well onthemap. characteristicinformationsuchaswellname,welltype (whetherhorizontal,verticalordirectional),drillingmudtype,nearesttown,aswellasanyfurther attributesdeemedfitbytheoperatorcanbeaddedtothesavedanalyticresult,alongwithcomments. Theregulatorybodycanthenreviewtheanalysisandalsohasthecapabilityofperformingthesame
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analysisinthesystem.Basedontheresultsofbothanalyses,theregulatoryagencycanadequately makedecisionsthatmighteithergrantthepermitorproposeamoresuitablelocation. IPASpresentstheadvantageofharmonizingtheactivitiesofstakeholderswhileremovingregulatory bottlenecksandtherebyspeedinguptheprocessesinvolvedinbothregulatorandoperatoractivities relatedtowellpermitting.
IPAS Architecture
TheIPASsystemarchitectureinvolvessecureandrobustcomponentsthatincludeArcGISServer,ArcGIS ServerWebApplicationDevelopmentFramework(ADF)andASP.NET2.0,MATLABandMicrosoft.NET executables(Figure6).ThewebmappingapplicationrunsonMicrosoftWindowsServer2003and providesmapimagestowebclients,performsspatialandattributequeriesagainstexistingGISdata, allowsclientstoimporttheirownGISdataintotheirwebsessions,andkeepsacurrentcopyofnatural gasrelatedGISdata.Theflexibilityaffordedtouserstoimporttheirowndataintothesystemextends theversatilityofthesystemtotheuserintermsofdatagathering.
Figure 6. IPAS architecture overview.
IPAS Components
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ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.3.1

TheIPASsystemrunsonESRIsArcGISServer9.3.16fortheMicrosoft.NETFramework.ArcGISServer producesimagesandrunsqueriesagainstmapdocumentscreatedinESRIsArcMapanindustry standarddesktopGISpackage.Thesemapdocumentsdefinethesymbology,scaledependenciesand otherpropertiesinvolvedincreatingandorganizingmapsfromGISdata.ArcGISServeralsoprovidesa frameworkforthesensitiveareaanalysisandslopemodelanalysisthroughtheuseofgeoprocessing servicesthatacceptthelocationsofusersitedfeaturesasinputsandreturnsGISdatarelatedtothe requestedoperation.
ArcGIS Server Web ADF and ASP.NET 2.0

UsersoftheIPASsysteminteractwithawebapplicationwritteninASP.NET2.0usingtheArcGISServer WebADFfor.NET.Thewebapplicationmanagesuserloginsessionsandwhatdataisavailabletoeach user,allowsuserstoretrieveandstoreinformationfromacentraldatabase(MicrosoftSQLServer2005) inasecurefashion,andprovidesagraphicaluserinterfacetoview,manageandanalyzemapservices fromArcGISServer.Commandsaredispatchedfromthiswebapplicationtoothercomponentsofthe softwaresystemasusersinteractwithitsvariousfunctionalities.
MATLAB
ThereservepitspillmodelisimplementedasaMATLAB7scriptcompiledintoacommandlineinterface programusingtheMATLABRuntime.Theprogramcalculatespossiblespillflowpath(s)usingaDEM (digitalelevationmodel)andthecoordinatesofawellpadlocation.Outputconsistsofageoreferenced TIFFimagerepresentingthepossiblespillflowpath(s).Throughageoprocessingservice,ArcGISServer renderstheoutputtotheclient.
Data mining program

ArequirementofIPASistoprovidecurrentinformationonthestatusandlocationofnaturalgaswells, includingcurrentpermits.Informationregardingoilandgaswelllocationsisoftenproprietary, expensive,anddifficulttoacquire;therefore,adataminingprogram(C#.NET2.0/Python)wascreated todownloadandprocessthisinformationfortheFSP.Afterdownloadingandprocessingthedata, tablesinthecentralIPASdatabaseareupdatedasareGISlayersintheIPASgeodatabase. Informationaboutcurrentactiveandinactiveoilandgaswellsincludinglocationsispublishedweekly throughandacquiredviaawebserviceAPI8oftheArkansasstateGISclearinghouseGeostor9. InformationaboutlocationsinLouisianaisharvestedfromthepublicSONRISsite,whilelocationsin TexasareharvestedfromtheTexasRailroadCommissionpublicwebsite.
6 7
http://www.esri.com/arcgisserver http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/ 8 http://www.geostor.arkansas.gov/G6/dev/API.htm 9 http://www.geostor.arkansas.gov
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Modifications to the Fayetteville Shale Infrastructure Placement Decision Support System to support the SWAT, APEX or other impact models Little Red River Watershed Storm-Water Modeling with SWAT
TheSoilandWaterAssessmentTool(SWAT)modelisusedtostudytheimpactofshalegasactivitieson thehydrologyofawatershedintheFayettevilleShaleplay,gainbetterunderstandingofthedynamics ofthewatershedandevaluatethecosteffectivenessofalternativedatasourcesandtechniquesin modelevaluation.ParticularemphasisinregardstothisresearchisonSWATmodelstormwater predictiveabilityasinfluencedbyinputLULCdataresolutionandmethodsofclassificationand subsequentlyevaluateBestManagementPractices(BMPs)implementedtomitigateshalegasactivity impactsonstormwatergenerationinthewatershed. TheapproachistoperformLULCclassificationsusingthepixelbasedmaximumlikelihoodandthe objectorientedimageanalysistechniqueswithhigh(1mNAIP)andmoderateresolution(30mLandsat5 TM)imagedataoftheLittleRedRiverwatershed(LRRW).ThiswillyieldfourLULCmapsresultingfroma combinationofimagedataresolutionandclassificationtechniques.Hencetwo1mNAIPLULCmapswill beproducedfromthepixelbasedmethodandobjectorientedmethodrespectively.Inlikemanner,a 30mLandsat5TMLULCmapofthewatershedclassifiedwiththeobjectorientedmethodisrequired.A 30mLULCdata(obtainedfromLandsat5TMNLCD)isalreadyavailableandhasbeenusedtocalibrate thefirstflowmodel. Modelingeffortsprimarilyinvolvesettingup,calibratingandevaluatingfourstormwaterflowmodels withinputdatafromtheabovedescribedLULCdatasets.Theevaluationisdoneusinguncertainty analysisatthe95%predictionuncertaintylimittodeterminemodelpredictiveabilityasimpactedby inputLULCdata.RespectivepredictiveabilitiesoftheflowmodelscalibratedwithdifferentinputLULC dataisbasedonmanualcalibrationandvalidationresultsandsubsequentautomaticcalibrationand validationresultsobtainedwithSWATCUP(aSWATCalibrationandUncertaintyanalysisPrograms software).Hydrologicmodelingisinherentlyplaguedwiththeissueofequifinality.Aconceptthatfor anyparametersetusedtocalibrateamodelthereareseveralsetsofparametersthatwillproduce acceptablemodelresults.Thisproblembecomesparticularlyimportantinthisresearchinrespectofthe fourseparatemodels.Toaccountforequifinalityamethodknownasgeneralizedlikelihooduncertainty estimation(GLUE)isused.GLUEmainlyevaluatesmodelcalibrations(basedonuncertaintyanalysis) obtainedfromalargenumberofsimulationswitheachsimulationhavingastatisticaldegreeofbelief associatedwithit. Preliminaryresultsofthe30mLULCmodelarepresentedintheappendixsectionofthisreport.Atotal of27subbasinsand140HRUsweredelineated.Precipitationandtemperaturedatafrom10weather stationsand2USGSstreamflowdataobtainedfrom2sitesinthewatershedwereusedforcalibration. CurrenteffortsareonclassifyingNAIPandLandsat5TMdatausingpixelbasedmethodinArcGISand objectorientedclassificationineCognitionsoftwaretoproducetheremainingthreeLULCmapsofthe watershed.Thestormwaterflowmodelevaluatedtohavethebestpredictiveabilitywillbe
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subsequentlyusedtoevaluateBMPsbeingimplementedintheSouthForkoftheLittleRedRiver.Thisis asubwatershedintheLRRWwhichseasthebulkofshalegasactivitiesinthewatershed.
Fullintegrationofkey SWAT components with IPAS is ongoing under funds provided by NETL (award #DEFC2609FE0000804) and will be completed by March 2013.
Conclusion
Noformofharnessingenergyhaseverbeenproventobecompletelyenvironmentallyfriendly. Therefore,mitigatingandminimizingthepossibledetrimentaleffectsofsuchactivitiesonthe environmentifoftenafocus.Inlightofthis,systemslikeLINGOandIPASarehighlydesiredand ultimatelyshouldberegardedasprerequisitesforanyenergyrelatedindustrialundertaking;evenmore soinasectorlikeoilandgasactivities.Theuniquefeaturesandessentialfunctionalitiesthatthesetwo systemspresentareimperativeandhighlysuitedforageospatialdecisionsupportsystem.Systemssuch asIPASallowforoperatorsandregulatorstocommunicateonessentialbusinessmatterswithinasecure geospatiallyenabledplatform. TheLINGOpublicwebsiteandviewerservetobotheducatethegeneralpubliconallphasesofoiland gasdrillingandproductionandtoprovidethemeasyaccesstogeneralwelllocationandproduction informationfortheFayettevilleandHaynesvilleShaleplays.Withbackingbytheoilandgasindustry, publicsitessuchasLINGOcanprovidetransparencytooilandgasactivitiesandfosterarelationship betweenoperatorsandthegeneralpublic.
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PAPERSAND/ORPRESENTATIONSANDOTHERTECHNOLOGYTRANSFER EFFORTS:
Abouabdillah,A.,DiLuzio,M.,Williamson,M.,&Cothren,J.(2011,November8).Modeling WaterResourcesManagementintheFayettevilleShaleArea.Powerpointpresentedatthe 18thAnnualInternationalPetroleum&BiofuelsEnvironmentalConference,Houston,TX. Asante,K.,Cothren,J.,&Brahana,J.V.(2012,July16).PreliminaryResultsontheEffectofLand UseLandCoverMethodsofClassificationandDataResolutiononSWATModelPredictive Ability.Posterpresentedatthe3rdBiennialColloquiumonHydrologicScienceand EngineeringoftheConsortiumofUniversitiesfortheAdvancementofHydrologicScience Inc.(CUAHSI),Boulder,CO. Cooper,C.(2012,April23).AdvancedGeoprocessingwithPython.WorkshoppresentedattheMid AmericaGISConsortiumBiennialMeeting,KansasCity,MO. Cooper,C.(2012,March11).Readingandwritingspatialdataforthenonspatialprogrammer.Poster presentedatthePyConU.S.,SantaClara,CA. Cooper,C.,Smith,P.,Williamson,M.,&Cothren,J.(2012,April24).AnArcGISServerbasedframework foroilandgasE&Pdecisionsupport.PowerpointpresentedattheMidAmericaGISConsortium BiennialMeeting,KansasCity,MO. Cooper,C.,Smith,P.,Williamson,M.,&Cothren,J.(2012,May1).AnArcGISServerbasedframework foroilandgasE&Pdecisionsupport.PowerpointresentedattheESRIPetroleumUserGroup (PUG)Meeting,Houston,TX. Cothren,J.(2012,March20).ModelingtheEffectsofNonRiparianSurfaceWaterDiversionson FlowConditionsintheLittleRedWatershed.Powerpointpresentedatthe2012Fayetteville ShaleSymposium,FortSmith,AR. Cothren,J.andWilliamson,M.(2010,October14).GeospatialDecisionSupportforReducing EnvironmentalImpactinNaturalGasShaleOperations.PowerpointpresentedatOpportunities andObstaclestoReducingtheEnvironmentalFootprintofNaturalGasDevelopmentintheUintah Basin,Vernal,UT. Cothren,J.,&DiLuzio,M.(2010,November16).GeospatialDecisionSupportSystemsand SurfaceWaterBalanceModelingwithSWAT.PowerpointpresentedattheEnvironmentally FriendlyDrillingWorkshop.Fayetteville,AR. Cothren,J.,Thoma,G.,&DiLuzio,M.(2010,August31).WaterModelingintheFayettevilleShale Play.Powerpointpresentedatthe17thAnnualInternationalPetroleum&Biofuels EnvironmentalConference,SanAntonio,TX. Cothren,J.,Williamson,M.,Thoma,G.(2010,October27).ReducingEnvironmentalImpactsinthe FayettevilleShalePlayusingGeospatialDecisionSupport.PowerpointpresentedatArkansasGIS Users10thBiennialSymposium&Training.EurekaSprings,AR. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Cothren,J.,Williamson,M.,Thoma,G.(2010,October28).DecisionSupportSystemforPadSiting. PowerpointpresentedatWestSlopeColoradoOil&GasAssociationEnvironmentalSummit, GrandJunction,CO. Culpepper,B.,Limp,F.,Cothren,J.,&Williamson,M.(2010,April26).GeospatialDecision SupportintheFayettevilleShale:TheLINGOProject.Powerpointpresentedatthe2010ESRI SoutheastRegionalUserGroupConference,Charlotte,NC. Gorham,B.(2011,October11).LingoProject:TerrestrialHabitatMapping.Powerpointpresented attheAmericaViewFallTechnicalMeeting,Cleveland,OH. Oluwafemi,T.(2010,September1).WaterAccountingintheFayettevilleShalePlay:An ApplicationoftheDepthAveragedNavierStokesEquationtoHortonianOverlandFlow. Powerpointpresentedatthe17thAnnualInternationalPetroleum&BiofuelsEnvironmental Conference,SanAntonio,TX. Pai,N.(2011).GeospatialtoolsandtechniquesforwatershedmanagementusingSWAT2009. (Ph.D.,UniversityofArkansas). Taiwo,O.(2012).Mathematicalmodelingoffluidspillsinhydraulicallyfracturedwellsites. (Ph.D.,UniversityofArkansas). Taiwo,O.,&Thoma,G.(2011,November8).MathematicalModelingofSpillsinHydraulically FracturedWellSites.Powerpointpresentedatthe18thAnnualInternationalPetroleum& BiofuelsEnvironmentalConference,Houston,TX.
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WesternMountainStateStudies Theimpactofaccessroadsanddrillingpadswasidentifiedbytheindustryasoneofthemajor problemstobemanagedwhenconductingoilandgasoperationsinenvironmentallysensitiveareas. Since2006,TexasA&ManditspartnerswithintheEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingProgram(EFD)have beenidentifyingtechnologyandsponsoringresearchinreducingsurfaceimpact.Aspecific DisappearingRoadsprogramwasunderwayinWestTexasspecificallyaddressingsuch technology.ThesiteislocatedattheTexasA&MUniversityDesertTestCenternearPecosTexasonthe edgeoftheChihuahuadesert.TheTexasTransportationInstitutePavementandMaterials(TTI) managedthissiteandassistedwiththeproject. (http://tti.tamu.edu/research_areas/topic.htm?p_tid=5) ThePecossitewasusedtotestthreenewtypesoflowimpactroadsplusonecomparisonstandard gravelleaseroad,allroadtestsectionsconstructedattheDesertTestCenter.Forthefirsttwoyears,the roadsweremonitoredandevaluatedfortheabilitytowithstandbothnormalandheavytrucktraffic overintermittentperiodsthroughcompleteyearlyseasonalchanges.Twoofthelowimpactroads (disappearingroads)wereincorporatedintothetestsiteaspartofanationwidecompetition conductedbytheTexasA&MPetroleumEngineeringDepartment.Thenewconceptfora"laydown road"wasthe2008competitionawardwinnerdevelopedbytheUniversityofWyomingandHeartland BiocompositesInc,http://www.heartlandbio.com/ KeyDeliverables: 1. Numerousbriefingsandpresentationweregiventopromotetechnologytransfer. 2. Workshopswereheldtopromotetechnologytransfertoregionalstakeholders. 3. Monthlyreportsdocumentingthedevelopmentoftheprototypelaydownroadsystemand documentationoffieldtestswereprovidedforsponsors. 4. Conductedfieldtestingofprototypesystemsindesertecosystemstodeterminelongterm stabilityandeffectivenessduringthedurationoftheRPSEAEFDprogram. 5. AnSPEpaper10summarizedtheneedsandbarriersfortheregionincludingadiscussionofthe applicationofEFDtechnologiestotheregion. 6. ApatentwasissuedtooneofoursponsorsScottEnvironmentalforaprocesstorecycledrill cuttingsintoaroadbasematerial.11 7. WorkedwithEFDalliancememberstoidentifyopportunitiesforfuturework. Summary&Accomplishments: ThecollaborativeprojectwithintheEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingProgramhasbeen testingnewtypesofdisappearingroadsinadesertlikeenvironmenttomeasuretheir effectivenessandabilitytolowerthesurfacefootprintofsurfaceoperations.Thefield demonstrationwascreatedto: Providearealisticfieldtrialinrepresentativedesertecosystemssothatresultscouldbe evaluatedefficientlysoastobenefitboththeindustry,theorganizationswiththe technology,andthepublicsector.
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Documentandprovidetheresultsoftechnologyfieldtrialssothatpromisingprocesses, systemsandproductscouldbeutilizedinawiderrangeofgasshaleplays. Speedthecommercialdevelopmentoftechnologydevelopedtoreducetheenvironmental footprintofdrillingactivities. TheRPSEAEFDprogramfocusedspecificallyonthelaydownroadconceptdevelopedbythe UniversityofWyomingfortheTexasA&MUniversityDisappearingRoadscontestin2009.Threetypesof advancedlowimpactroadswereinstalledatthePecosResearchTestCenterinwestTexas.Oneroad wasconstructedwithmaterialsmadewithrecycleddrillingwaste,asecondroadincorporatedreusable compositemats,andthethirdrepresentedanewtypeofrolloutroaddevelopedinbyastudent engineeringteamfromtheUniversityofWyomingasaclassproject.Figure1isacompositegraphic showinginstallationofamatroadsegment,abaseroadmadeofrecycleddrillcuttings,andabasic designofarolloutmatinventedbystudentsattheU.ofWyoming. Sincestartingonthisproject,thedevelopmentofcompositemodularroadanddrillpad technologieshaveprogressedsubstantiallyandhavebeenproventoalleviateenvironmentalimpacts normallyassociatedwithoilandgasexplorationanddrilling.TexasA&MUniversity,Universityof Wyoming,HARC,EFD,WyoCompandprivateindustryhaveallworkedtogethertomakeallthisareality. WiththehelpofTexasA&MandHARC,thecompositemattingsystemswereabletotakethenextstep fromtrialtestsbeingconductedinthelabandatthePecosResearchsiteinTexastorealfield applicationsandtestingintheEagleFordShaleplayinsouthernTexasstartinginearly2011. Compositemattingsystemsperformwellandarebelievedtoprovideexpandedenvironmental benefitscomparedtousingwoodmatsornomatsatall.Thecompositemattingtechnologiespreviously testedappeartobereadyformarket.Additionaldesignchangesareneededforspecializedinstallations wherethesoilstructuresaresoftsuchassand,otherwisethesinglelayermatsmaysinkintothesoil. WyoComphasdevelopedseveraldesignimprovementstocompositemattingsystemsthataddressthe needfortallerorelevatedmattingsystems.Themattingsystemsareidealforenergyexplorationand drillingonpubliclandslikeBLMandForestrysincetheypotentiallyofferthehighestlevelof environmentalprotectionandquickestremediationtimingcomparedtootherexistingtechnologies beingused. Alifecycleassessment(LCA)isbeingperformedbyWyoCompin2012toassistuniversities,energy companies,governmentandothersunderstandthetruecostsandbenefitsofusingcompositematting systemsversuswoodandotheravailabletechnologies.LCAs,alsoknownaslifecycleanalysisorcradle tothegraveanalysis,isascientifictechniqueusedtoassessenvironmentalimpactsassociatedwithall stagesofaproductslifeincludingrawmaterialsextraction,processing,manufacture,distribution,use, repair/maintenanceanddisposal/recycling.ThegoalofLCAistocomparethefullrangeof environmentaleffectsassignabletoproducts/servicesinordertoimproveprocesses,supportpolicyand provideasoundbasisforinformeddecisionsbygovernmentandindustry.Anticipatedresultsincludea betterunderstandingofthetruecostsofcompositemattingsystemscomparedtowoodsystemsanda determinationmadeiftheyprovidepreferredenvironmentalbenefits.
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Oneofthestandardrequirementsofaroadbaseofrecycledoilfieldwasteisthatthereareno hazardousmaterialsleachingfromthestabilizedrockbed.Toaffirmthatthematerialwasstable,aset ofsampleswastakenattheoutsetoftheyearlongtest,thenagainafterapproximately13months. TheplanwastodirectPecosTestCentertrafficthroughtheroadtestsections.HoweverinMarch,2010, TexasA&MUniversityremovedtheroadwayoverpasstothetestsegmentwehadconstructedandsince thattimeroadtraffichasbeenintermittentatbest. Newinstallation WhilethePecosDesertTestCenterlocationofthesiteallowedtestingofhowtheroadsstandupto environmentalconditions,theEFDteamwantedtorelocatetheremovablematstoSouthTexastothe EagleFordShaleplay.Leaseroadsandwellpadsareahighlyvisibleandoftenlessthanwelcomeaspect ofO&Gdrillingandproducingoperations.InSouthTexasthisisoccurringastheCretaceousEagleFord shaleisbeingdevelopedfromneartheMexicanborderoutwardtotheeast/northeastacrossseveral countiesstretchingmorethan150miles.TheBrushCountryasitisoftenreferredto,isasemiarid landscapewheremeasurestolessentheimpactofdevelopingtheshalearefosteringahostofnew technologies. TheteamrelocatedthematstoWebbCountyTexaswheretheyareawaitinginstallationata fracturingbrinepondtoserveasarampfortrucksunloadingproducedfluids.TexasA&Mis collaboratingwiththeCerritoPrietoRanchandwithLandstewardConsultantsInc.toimplementlow impactenvironmentalpracticesontheranchproperty. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Papersand/orPresentationsandotherTechnologyTransferEfforts: Burnett,D.B.,Yu,O.K.andSchubert,J.A.,WellDesignforEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling Systems:UsingaGraduateStudentDrillingClassTeamChallengetoIdentifyOptionsfor ReducingImpacts.SPE/IADC119297MSDrillingConferenceandExhibition,1719March 2009,Amsterdam,TheNetherlands Scott,J.B.,Scott,B.R.,Scott,J.H.,IncorporationofDrillingCuttingsintoStable,LoadBearing StructuresU.S.patent2010/0127429(May,2010) Burnett,D.B.,TexasA&MUniversity,McDowell,J.,NewparkResources,Scott,J.B.,Scott Environmental,andDolanC.UniversityofWyoming,SPE142139PPFieldSiteTestingofLow ImpactOilFieldAccessRoads:ReducingtheEnvironmentalFootprintinDesertEcosystems,SPE AmericasE&PHealth,Safety,SecurityandEnvironmentalConferenceheldinHouston,Texas, USA,2123March2011. Burnett,D.B.,Haut,R.E.,Williams,T.E.,Theodori,G.L.SamHoustonStateUniversity, ReducingImpactsofOil&GasDevelopmentonRangelands,presentedattheEFDWorkshop March2011.SanAntonio,TX. Burnett,D.B.,TeamChallenge:EnvironmentallyFriendlyUsingLowImpactAccessPractices forDesertEcosystems.,CrismanInstituteWorkshop,August,2010,CollegestationTX.
1
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport PublicPerception Thecorefindingsfromthisstudyincluded:
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SeveralenergycompaniesworkingintheUBhavealreadytakensomestepstoreducetheir environmentalimpacts,thoughmostofthesehaveyettobecomestandardpracticeinthe industry.Themostcommonpracticescurrentlyinuseinclude: o Reducingthefootprintofdrillingactivitiesthroughgrowinguseofdirectionaldrilling thatenablestheplacementofmultiplewellsonsinglepads,andreducesthenumberof pads. o Increaseduseofenhancedpostdrillingreclamationpracticestorecovernative vegetationandlandscaping. o Developmentofstrictrulestoprotectendangeredplantsandotherwildlifefromdrilling activities. o Thegrowinguseofcentralizedwaterpipingfacilities,andthereuseandrecyclingof drillingwatertoreducetheuseofwater,minimizetrucking,andprotectwaterquality. TherearesevendistinctdriversofenvironmentalinnovationsintheUB.Theseinclude: o Increasingregulatoryrequirementsfromstateandfederalagencies. o Advancesinengineering&technology(thatmakeitfeasibletoreduceimpactsinan economicallyviablemanner). o Higherenergycommodityprices(thatprovideaneconomiccushionwhichmakesit easiertodevelopandimplementenvironmentalpracticeswithoutriskoflosses). o Concernsaboutpublicrelationsandadesiretoimprovethepublicimageofthe industrybyseveralcompanies. o Changesincorporatecultureandleadershipinparticularcompaniesinparticulara perceivedshifttowardamoreenvironmentallyorientedethicamongyoungercompany managers. o Adesiretoavoidfuturelegalbattlesandchallengesfromenvironmentalgroups (particularlyinregardtothefederalNEPAreviewprocessrequiredwhendeveloping resourcesonfederallandorwherefederalmineralrightsprevail).
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WhilethereisageneraltrendtowardgreateruseofEFDpractices,ourrespondentsidentified manybarrierstochangethatneedtobeaddressedtoimproveadoption. o EconomicbarrierswhenthecostofimplementingEFDpracticesisnotcompensatedby improvedefficienciesorreducesprofitmarginsbelowacriticalthreshold. o InadequatetechnologyforlocalgeologymanyinformantsfeltthatEFDpracticesused elsewheremaynotbeeasilytransferabletotheUBduetocomplexitiesinlocalgeology andthenatureoftheresource. o Thecomplexmixofstate,federal,andtribalregulatoryagencieswhooverseeenergy developmentintheUBprovidesauniquelydifficultenvironmentforenergycompanies becausetherules,regulations,andpracticesassociatedwithenvironmentalfootprint candifferbasedonsmallchangesinlocation,andmultipleagenciesmaybeinvolvedin reviewingproposalsforexplorationanddrillingprojects.
Interestingly,unlikeareasinotherpartsoftheUnitedStates,thereisvirtuallynolocalcommunity oppositiontoexpandednaturalgasdevelopment(andmuchlesslocalpressureforstricter environmentaloversight).Themainenvironmentalinterestgroupswhomonitorandengageinenergy developmentdecisionsarestatewideornationalgroupswithmembersandheadquarterslocatedfar awayfromtheUintahBasin. Takenasawhole,thereisahighlevelofinterestbynearlyallpartiestoaccelerateandfacilitateefforts tobothincreasedevelopmentandalsoreducetheenvironmentalfootprintoffossilfuelproductionin theUintahBasin.Ourresearchsuggeststhatfutureinvestmentsinnewtechnicalandengineering innovationsareimportanttohelpreducelogisticalandeconomicbarrierstoadoption.However,new technologyaloneisunlikelytogeneratewidespreadadoptionofEFDpracticesthatarenotalreadyof interestto(anddemandedby)industryandagencyactors.Marketfactors(includingnaturalgasprices andpipelinecapacity)willinfluencetheextenttowhichindustryactorsareabletoexperimentwithand investinnewtechnologyandpractices.Regulationsandagencyoversightalsoplayakeyrolethough inamorecomplicatedwaythatisoftenappreciated.Interestingly,theinitialadoptionofEFD innovationsintheUBhavealmostallprecededtheformaladoptionofstateorfederalregulatory requirements.However,perceptionsthatstricterregulatorystandardswillbecomingappeartobe requiredtomotivateagencystaffandindustryactorstoengageinconversationsandexperimentation todevelopviablepracticesthatcanimproveenvironmentalperformancewhilesustainingtheeconomic viabilityoftheindustry.Itislikelythatahandfuloflargerindustryactorswillprovidealeadershiprole ingeneratingandadoptingenvironmentalinnovations,withsmallerfirmsandlocalservicecontractors followingtheirlead(perhapsonlywhensuchchangesbecomemandatory). Thelinkbetweenregulationandbehaviorismademorecomplexbecauseofuncertaintiesabout regulatoryjurisdictionandauthorityintheBasin,andperceptionsofvariabilityinfederalagency practicesacrosspoliticaladministrationsinWashington.Iftheycontinue,theseuncertaintieswillmake itmoredifficultforindustryactorstomakeinformedjudgmentsaboutwhichkindsofenvironmentally RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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orientedchangearemostlikelytoberequired.Anumberofindustryinformantssuggestedthatthey wouldbehappytolivewithstricterenvironmentalrulesif(a)allrelevantagencieswouldagreetofollow thesamerules,(b)theyknowtheycouldgetdecisionsonapplicationsforleasesandpermitsmore quicklyandinapredictablemanner,and(c)theycouldbeassuredthattheseruleswouldbestablefor theforeseeablefuture.
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ChallengesFacingDevelopersoftheMarcellusShalePlay Introduction TheAppalachianbasinMarcellusShale(MiddleDevonian)gasplayisoneofthehottest,ifnot thehottest,shaleplaysintheUnitedStates.Thepotentialoftheplayissobigresourceestimates haveexceeded500TCFtheplayisbecomingthelandofthegiants.ExxonMobilenteredtheplaywith itspurchaseofXTOEnergyandtheirportfolioofshalegasproperties;RoyalDutchShellfollowedwithits ownpurchaseofEastResourcesandtheir650,000acresofprimeMarcellusacreage,mostlyin Pennsylvania;andChevronpurchasedAtlasEnergy,oneofthemainplayersinsouthwestern Pennsylvania.Internationalcompanies,suchasStatoil,MitsuiE&P,MumbaisRelianceIndustries,and UKsBGGroupalsoenteredtheplaythroughjointventureswithUSindependentswhoalreadywere involved. AllofthisbeganwhenadeeptesttotheLockportDolomite(UpperSilurian)inWashington County,Pennsylvaniawaskilledwith13#mudandfailedtocomeback,causingtheoperatortomove upholetotakealookatshallowerpotential,includingtheMarcellus.Althoughthelogsindicatedfew naturalfracturesintheMarcellus,theyweresimilartologsfromaFloydShalewell,whichgaveWilliam Zagorski,whohasbeenreferredtoasTheFatheroftheMarcellusPlay,theideatoapplythebiggest fracjobevereastoftheMississippiRiver.TheresultwasthediscoverywellfortheMarcellusplaythe Renz#1Unitwhichwascompletedinlate2004. Range,Equitable,CNX,AtlasandothersquicklygotinvolvedinthesouthwestPennsylvaniaplay, andChief,Cabot,Fortuna,ChesapeakeandothersmovedintonortheastPennsylvaniaadjacenttothe NewYorkborder. AlthoughshalegasproductionhadbeenestablishedintheAppalachianbasinmorethan80 yearspriortothe#1Renzdiscovery,theMarcellusShaleneverhadattractedmuchinterestasa reservoir.MostofthegasintheestablishedDevonianshaleplayareashasbeenandcontinuestobe fromtheUpperDevonianHuronShale,whichispresentonlyonthewesternsideofthebasin,mainlyin Kentucky,WestVirginiaandOhio.Duringthelate1970s,whentheMorgantownEnergyResearch CenterfundedtheEasternGasShalesProject(EGSP),theUSGeologicalSurveyandthestategeological surveysfromNewYorktoKentuckymappedthestructure,thicknessandextentofallblackDevonian shalesfromtheHuronShaletotheMarcellusShale,usingdatafromthousandsofOriskanySandstone (LowerDevonian)wellsthathadbeendrilledinthe1930s,40s,50sand60s. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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ManyoftheseOriskanySandstonewellrecordsindicatedthepresenceofgasintheMarcellus Shale,aswellasintheunderlyingHuntersvilleChertandOriskanySandstone,whichcontinuedtobethe primetargetofdrillers.Unfortunately,mostoftheseOriskanywellsweredrilledinthewesternhalfof thebasin,somapsoftheMarcellusShaleproducedbytheEGSPcontainedquestionmarksinalarge blankareabetweentheeasternmostOriskanywellsandMarcellusoutcropsfurthereast. But,itisthiseasternarea,especiallyinnortheastPennsylvaniaandsoutheasternNewYork, whichisofinteresttomanyofthosewhoaredevelopingtheMarcellusplay.Becausethisareahad neverbeendrilled,nodrillingrigsorlargetruckshaulingwater,sandorchemicalshadbeenobservedin thearea;nooilandgasinfrastructurehadbeenestablished;nooilandgasinspectorshadbeenassigned toworkthere;andnoonehadeverknockedonthedoorofalocalresidentaskingiftheywouldliketo leasetheirmineralrightsforatypicalfeeperacreplusaoneeighthroyaltyonproduction. Whatfollowedwasaraceamongeagerproducerstoacquireacreageintheplay.Asthe availablepoolofacreagedwindled,thelawofsupplyanddemandresultedineverincreasingpricesfor bothacreageandroyalties.Theendresultwaspredictablethosewhosignedearlyforalowerprice felttheydeservedmore,andthosewhohadyettosignorganizedtodemandmorethaneverhadbeen paid. Thiseastwardpushinplaydevelopmentalsoextendedintothedrainagebasinsofthe SusquehannaandDelawareRivers,areasthatprovideessentialwatertoeasterncities,suchasNew York,Philadelphia,BaltimoreandWashington,DC.Consequently,theDelawareandSusquehannaRiver BasinCommissionsbecameadditional,firsttimebuthighlyinterested,stakeholdersintheplay,and numerousenvironmentalgroupsbegantoexpresstheirseriousconcernsthattheplaycouldnotbe developedinamannerthatwouldprotectthosepublicwatersupplies. ThestateregulatoryagenciesinNewYork,PennsylvaniaandWestVirginiareactedtothe concernsofenvironmentalgroups,localofficialsandthegeneralpublicwithdraftcopiesofnewrules andregulations,amoratoriumondrillingincertainareas,publiccallsforamoratoriuminotherstates, andarestrictiononthevolumeofwaterthatcanbeusedtofractureawellthatessentiallyeliminated horizontaldrillinginNewYork.
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Meanwhile,industrywasfacingserioustechnicalproblemsthathadtobesolvedtoextractgas economicallyfromtheshale.Theexistinggasinfrastructurehadtobeupgradedandexpanded,andby invokinghorizontaldrillingandlargeslickwaterfracjobs,commercialproductionwasestablished.But, highvolumesofwater,chemicalsandsandwererequired,soindustryneededtodevelopbetterwater managementpracticestotreatflowbackwaterpriortodisposalorreuse.And,evenasindustry developedbestpracticestoresolvetheirtechnicalproblems,theyhadtodealwithaneverincreasing, negativepublicoutcry,whichsuggestedtheneedfornewpublicoutreachandeducationprograms,and withincreasedenvironmentalawarenessandchallenges. Thefollowingreportwillattempttobrieflysummarizethevariousproblemsandissuesfacing operatorsinvolvedintheMarcellusplay,includingtechnical,environmentalandregulatoryroadblocks todevelopment.Fromreadingthissummary,onemaycorrectlyconcludethatindustryhasbeen successfulinovercomingtechnicalbarriersthatchallengedtheeconomicdevelopmentoftheMarcellus play,i.e.,byincorporatinghorizontaldrillingandlargehydraulicfracturestimulationintotheirplans. However,industryinitiallyfailedtoalleviatethenegativeperceptionofthepublicregardingthisplay andtheimplementationofthosetechnologies.Thisledtoincreasinglynegativepublicoutcry,whichin turnledtoincreasedsocialprotestsandpoliticalactivity,andultimatelytoanincreaseinregulations andtoadecelerationinplaydevelopment,especiallyinNewYork.
TechnicalChallengestoOvercome Althoughstillinitsinfancy,thevasteconomicpotentialofafullydevelopedMarcellusplayhas beenestablished,alongwithasummaryoftechnicalproblemsfacingthoseattemptingtodevelopit. EngelderandLash(2008),whilepointingouttheimportanceofnaturalfracturesandmodern stimulationtechniquestoeconomicproduction,estimatedtotalgasinplaceintheplayareatobeat least500trillioncubicfeet(Tcf),ofwhich50Tcfwastechnicallyrecoverable.AnearlyreportbyTristone Capital(2008)summarizedthemainproblemsfacingproducers,mainlyupgradingorcreatingan adequateinfrastructureanddevelopingwatermanagementplansthatmeetregulatoryapproval,and outlinedtheirmethodologyforthevaluationofunbooked,upsideresourcesandpersharevalueforthe mainplayers.Mossandothers(2008)producedareportonthepotentialofthenaturalgasresourcein theMarcellusfortheNationalParkService,whichhasapproximately33unitsoftheirsystemwithin,or inthevicinityof,theMarcellusplay.Intheirreport,theauthorscitedanestimatebyunnamedexperts of31TcfofrecoverablegasfromtheMarcellus. Asdrillingcontinuedandmoreproductiondatabecamepublic,estimatesofthegasresourcein theMarcellusbegantoincrease.TheGroundWaterProtectionCouncilandAllConsulting(2009),ina RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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reportpreparedfortheDepartmentofEnergy,increasedtheestimatedgasinplaceto1,500Tcf,of which262Tcfwasconsideredtechnicallyrecoverable.TheUnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey(USGS), whichatonetime(2002)hadassumedthattheMarcelluscontainedonly1.9Tcf(basedonproduction fromalimitednumberofwells),notonlyincreasedtheirestimateto84Tcfofundiscoveredgas reserves,butinanotherreport(SoederandKappel,2009)theUSGSappearedtoendorseanestimateof 363TcfofrecoverablegasreportedbyEsch(2008).Thisestimatedvolumewasbasedonproduction dataprovidedbyChesapeakeEnergyCorporation,andissufficienttosupplytheneedsofthenationfor 15years,at2009ratesofproduction.TheseearlyproductionnumbersalsocausedEngelder(2009)to reconsider,resultinginamuchhigherrecoverablegasestimateof489Tcf. Asestimatesfromvarioussourcescontinuedtobereleasedtothepublic,confusionresulted, andchargesofindustryoverestimatingtheresourcetogainpublicsupportandmoveforwardwere made,especiallyaftertheUSGSvalueof84TcfandtheEIAvalueof410Tcfwerebothreleasedin2011. In2012EIAattemptedtoreconciletheirnumberwiththeUSGSnumberandcameupwith141Tcfby usingahigherEUR/well(1.56vs0.93Bcf/well). InMarch2012,TerryEngelderassembledapanelofexpertstodiscussthedivergentestimates forthegasresourceintheMarcellusShaleplay.Hisobjectivewastoassurethatthefederalarbitrators (USGSandEIA)wereusingthebestpossiblemethodologytoderivethecorrectestimatesofresource size.AttheMarch2012PSUmeeting,HarryVidas(ICFInternational)presentedamethodologythat resultedinanestimateof461Tcfon80acrespacingand698TcfiftheMarcellusisdevelopedon40 acrespacing. Thus,whenfullydeveloped,theMarcellusShalehasthepotentialtobethesecondlargestgas fieldintheworld,withcumulativegasproductionequivalenttotheenergycontentof87billionbarrels ofoil(Considineetal,2009),enoughtomeettheenergyneedsoftheentireworldfornearlythree years. However,theeconomicdevelopmentofthisplaywouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthe adventofnewtechnologies,mainlyhorizontaldrillingfrommultiwellpadsandlargehydraulic fracturingjobs.Unfortunately,thesetechnologiesbringwiththemothertechnicalandlogistical problemstobesolved,alongwithenvironmentalchallengesthatledtoaslowdowninthepermitting processbyregulatoryagencies.Furthermore,becausemuchoftheplayareaisoverpressured,the existinginfrastructurehadtobeupgradedbeforeitcouldhandletheexpectedlargevolumesofhigh pressuredgasfromMarcelluswells. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Othertechnologiesalsohavebeenimplemented,andcontinuetoevolve,todrillandcomplete wellsandtodealwithflowbackwaterwithhighconcentrationsofdissolvedandsuspendedsolids. Closedloopsystemsarebeingusedtoeliminatedrillpitsinwhichcuttingsandflowbackwaterformerly accumulated,andlargerwellpadswerecreatedfromwhichmultiplehorizontalwellscouldbedrilled andtreatedwithlargehydraulicfracturejobs.Becausethesepadsreducetheneedtoexcavateand createfiveorsixothersites(perlateral)fromwhichindividualverticalwellswouldbedrilled,theoverall effecthasbeentoreducetheenvironmentalfootprintinthearea.Unfortunately,however,thepublic doesnotseethesegreenareasthatwillnotbedisturbed.Instead,theyonlyseeanincreaseinactivity atthisonesite,whichcanlastformanymonthsastheadditionalwellsaredrilledandcompleted. Industryalsohadtocreatenewgasinfrastructure,includinganetworkofgatheringand collectionlines,especiallyinnortheasternPennsylvaniaandadjacentsoutheasternNewYork,anarea withlittleornopreviousoilandgasactivity,andtoupgradeoldergasinfrastructureintheover pressuredareaoftheplay.Inaddition,otherpublicinfrastructure,suchaslocalroadsandbridges,has beenimpairedbythehighvolumeofheavytrucktraffic,andhastobeupgraded,repairedand eventuallyreplaced. Inareasoflowerthermalmaturity,mainlysouthwesternPennsylvaniaandnorthernWest Virginia,wetgas,condensateandnaturalgasliquidsareproduced.Althougheconomicallyattractive, thisliquidproductionhascreatedthenecessityoffurtherinfrastructuredevelopment,includinggas processingplantsandcrackers,ethylenecrackerplantsdesignedtocrackwetgases,suchasethane, propane,andbutane,tomakeethylene,propylene,andotherhydrocarbonsthatareusedtomake plastics.ShellChemicalhasannouncedplanstobuildsuchaplantonasite30mileswestofPittsburgh. EPAfollowedthatannouncementwithawarningthatthistypeofplantemitsawiderangeofpollutants, andShellwillneedtousethebestavailablecontroltechnologiestomeetairemissionslaws. Industryalsoisfacedwithdevelopingtechnology,orimplementingtechnologydevelopedby others,totreatflowbackwaterpriortoreuseordisposal.Thisreturnwatertypicallycontainshigh concentrationsofsuspendedsolidsthatwouldreducepermeabilityifinjectedintoanotherwell,and highconcentrationsoftotaldissolvedsolids,thatcouldreducetheeffectivenessofchemicaladditivesin fracwater,andcouldcauseprecipitationofmineralsininducedandnaturalfracturesinthereservoir. TheconcentrationofTDSincreaseseachdaythatwaterflowsbackfollowingafracjob,typically reachinggreaterthan200,000ppmafter30days. WatermanagementtechnologiesusedbyoperatorsintheMarcellusplayhavebeen summarizedbyVeil(2010).Severalcommercialtechnologieshavebeenappliedinthefield,andDOE RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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currentlyisfundingnearlyadozenresearcheffortsdesignedtotreatflowbackwatertothepointwhere itcanbemixedwithmakeupwaterandinjectedintothenextwell.Thegoodnewsseemstobethatof theapproximately5milliongallonsusedinalargefracjobonly20%mayreturnandneedtobetreated; thebadnewsisthatofthe5milliongallonstakenfromstreamsandpublicwatersuppliesonly20% returns.Theremainderislostforeverfromthewatercycle,whichisanadditionalconcernfor environmentalistsandthegeneralpublic. Industryalsoisfacedwiththeneedtoexpandthelocalpoolofwelltrained,drug freepersonneltoworkinthegasfield.Publicoppositionalreadyhasbeendirectedatthenumberof truckswithoutofarealicenseplatesbeingdrivenbygasfieldworkers.Tocreateamoregeneral acceptanceoftheplay,itmaybeadvisabletodevelopaworkforcetrainingprogramforlocalworkers. Lifecycleplanningandmanagementofproducedwater(waterwithdrawal,transportation, storage,drilling,fracturing,treatment,reuse/recycle,disposal) Makeupwatersources:accesstopublicsupplies,streamsandrivers,POTWs,mines; complianceandreporting Makeupwaterblend;mixacidminedrainage(AMD)withflowbackwater(FBW) Flowback/wellcleanup;chemicalreactionsthatmayoccurinthereservoir Consumptiveuse:most(80%)ofthewaterislostinthereservoir,ifflowbackwateris injectedinadisposalwell,totallossequals100% Widerangeofchemicalsinflowbackwater;Ca,Ba,Fe,Mg,Mn,Sr,CaCO3;TDS,NORMS MustdealwithNORMs;Ur,Radoninsolidsandflowbackwater Asthesetechnologiesarebeingdeveloped,thefollowingareasofconcernwillbeaddressed:
Otherinterestingtechnicalissuestoberesolvedmayleadtofundingforfutureresearch: o o o Mapping&geologicmodelingprograms Mappingoverpressuredareas Determining/predictingcauses/locationsofoverpressuredareas Determiningrangesanddistributionsofcriticalphysicalpropertiesofshale Overpressuredversusnormalpressuredareas
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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MappingTOC,thermalmaturitythickness Determiningkeycriteriaforwellplacement Determiningkeycriteriaforlaterallocation/direction/length Geologicmodelingtopredictlowflowbackareas
Reservoir&waterchemistry,interaction;straygas
ChemistryofrockwaterinteractionthatcontrolscompositionofFBW Producedwatercarryingtraceelementcontaminants(Hg,As,Ba) Producedwatercarryingradiogenicmaterials PotentialformationdamagewithreusedFBW Sulfatereducingbacteria;precipitationofmineralsinthereservoir PrecipitationofCaCO3,FeCO3,inreservoir NeedtodealwithhighvariabilityofFBWovertime TechnologytotreatFBWlagsbehindfractechnology Isotopefingerprintingtoidentifythesourceofstraygas
Improvedtreatmenttechnology
Alternative(greener)fracfluids Smartproppants(reduceuseofsandresources) LowpercentofFBW;restmayplugportionsofthereservoir MakingfracchemistryworkinhighsalinityFBWinthenextwell Improvedefficiencytoreducetrucks,wateruse,landdisturbance
Inadequateinfrastructure,especiallyinthenortheast&east o o o o Roadsupgradeandrepairpublicroads;buildlocationroads Drillsiteswooded,hilly;crossmanystreams;pitsversustanks,cover Rigsbegintousesmaller,lighter? gatheringnetworkgathering&collectionlines
Finally,itshouldbenotedthatthefracingprocessitselfandthecombinationofadditivesused intheprocessarecontinuingtoevolveandimprovetomoreeffectivelystimulatethereservoir,enhance production,andimproveenvironmentalandsafetyconcerns. ExpandingEnvironmentalandSocialIssues RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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TheMarcellusShale,andthetwomaintechnologiesthathaveenabledindustrytobeginto extractnaturalgasfromit,i.e.,horizontaldrillingandhydraulicfracturing,havebecomethetargetsofa varietyofgroups,includingenvironmentalorganizations,themedia,localandstatepoliticianseven filmmakers(includingsemiprofessionalandstudentamateurs). Shortlyaftertheplaybegantobedeveloped,in2010,AmericanRiversincludedWestVirginias MonongahelaRiverintheirlistofAmericasmostendangeredriversduetowhattheyreferredtoas toxicpollutioncreatedbynaturalgasextractionintheriverbasin.Wemustputthebrakesonthe rampantgasdrillingthatisalreadythreateningthedrinkingwaterforhundredsofthousandsofpeople, statedRebeccaWodder,PresidentofAmericanRivers.Wesimplycantletenergycompaniesrakein theprofitswhileputtingourpreciouscleanwateratrisk. Leadersofotherregionalenvironmentalgroupswerequicktorespondwithwarningsoftheir own.Thescaleofthisgasdrillinghascaughtregulatorsbysurprise,andtheenvironmentalproblems associatedwithitareaffectingmillionsofpeopleaddedShandraMinney,whoiswiththeWestVirginia RiversCoalition.Stateandfederalgovernmentsmustmovequicklytoputregulatorysafeguardsin placethatprotectourresourcesforthebenefitofall. Justasmountaintopremovalcoalminingisrightfullyknownasstripminingonsteroids, horizontaldrillingandhydrofracingdeepintheMarcellusShaleissurelygasdrillingonsteroids accordingtoCindyRankwiththeWestVirginiaHighlandsConservancy.Enforceablestandardsare neededtocontrolfreshwaterwithdrawal,theuseanddisposalofchemicallylacedfracandflowback water,andthetreatmentanddisposalofthebrineandnaturallyoccurringradioactivematerialinthe producedwater. PoliticianswerelessthanreluctanttoexpresstheiropinionsontheMarcellusproblem. ProtectionofNewYorkCityspristinewatersupplywasanissueinamayoralelectioninthecity;city councilmenandstatelegislatorswerequiteoutspokenwithdemandsforincreasedregulation;former NewYorkGovernorDavidPattersoninstructedtheNYDECtoupdatetheirenvironmentalimpact statementinregardtotheMarcellus;evenSecretaryofStateHillaryClinton,inalettertotheNewYork StateEnvironmentalConservationCommissioner,saidshewasconcernedabouttheenvironmental impactofdrillingintheMarcellusShaleandfurtherstatedthatcurrentfederalprotectionsarefairly weak.
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ArticlesandeditorialsinnewspapersfromNewYorktoWestVirginiawarnedofthedangers associatedwithdrillingandfracingingeneral,andinexploitingtheMarcellusShaleinparticular. HeadlinessuchasNaturalgasrushstirsenvironmentalconcerns(MorgantownDominionPost, 11/16/08),Drillinginshaleisashellgame(MorgantownDominionPost,12/7/08),Gasdrillingin Appalachiayieldsafoulbyproduct,(AssociatedPress,2/2010),TimetorepealHalliburton exemptions,(BinghamtonPress&SunBulletin,4/4/10),andDrillingcompanieswonttakenoforan answer(SyracusePostStandard,7/11/10)helpedtocreateanegativeenvironmentforthoseinvolved intheearlydevelopmentofthisplay,andforthestateregulatoryagencieschargedwithregulatingthe industryandprotectingtheenvironment. Magazinesalsobecameinvolved,warningofThehiddendangerofgasdrilling(Business Week,11/24/08)andimplyingthathydraulicfracturingisanexpletivetobedeleted(Acolossalfracking mess;VanityFair,6/21/10). Butneitherthenewspapersnorthemagazinescouldkeeppacewiththeexplosionofwebsites dedicatedtorevealingthedangersofhorizontaldrillingandapplyingmassivehydrofracsinthe Marcellusplay.Propublicaswebsite(www.propublica.org)featuredseeminglydailyarticlesonthe dangersofdevelopingtheMarcelluswithhorizontalwellsandlargefracjobs,andpushedforincreased governmentcontrol,andtheShaleshockActionAlliance(www.shaleshock.org)definedtheirroleasa movementthatworkstowardprotectingourcommunitiesandenvironmentfromexploitativegas drillingintheMarcellusShaleregion. Someofthesewebsitescontainedshortfilmclipsproducedbyconcernedenvironmentalists, wouldbefilmmakers,anduniversityamateurs.Themostnotableoftheseprobablyisthefilm Gasland,whichwasshownattheSundanceFilmFestivalandfounditswaytoHBO,resultinginan Oscarnomination.Lesserknown,andactuallyquitehumorous,isFracattack:dawnofthe watershed,availableinbothPG13andRratedversions,whichwasreleasedontheinternet (www.fracattackthemovie.com)andshownonpublictelevisioninthecentralNewYorkareaandatlocal filmfestivals. Conversely,morepositivearticlesontheMarcellusplay,especiallyonthehugeeconomic potential,haveappearedintheNewYorkTimes,theOil&GasJournal,TechnologyReview,andother media.Inaddition,websiteshavebeencreatedbygroupssuchasEnergyinDepththatareattemptsto conductpublicoutreachandeducationwhileaddressingsomeofthemoreseriousenvironmental concerns. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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UniversitiesinupstateNewYorkalsobegantoconductduediligence.CornellUniversity establishedanadhocadvisorycommitteeonleasingoflandforexplorationanddrillingofnaturalgas intheMarcellusShaleandchargeditwithproducingasetofguidelinesfortheirPresidentwhenhe wasattemptingtodecidewhetherornottoleaseuniversityownedlandfornaturalgasdrilling.And, severalprofessorsintheDepartmentofEarthSciencesatSyracuseUniversityattemptedtopresent unbiased,scientificinformationtoprovethatdrillingfornaturalgasinNewYorkwouldbenefitthestate farmorethanitmighthurt,andthattherisktowatersuppliesposedbychemicaladditivesinthefracing processhasbeenhighlyexaggerated.Theyalsoacknowledgedthathydrofracingneedstoberegulated andsuggestedthattheNewYorkDECneedsmorestafftodothiseffectively. Industrysupportgroups,liketheMarcellusShaleCommittee,ajointinitiativebetweenIOGAPA andPOGAM,andtheMarcellusShaleCoalition,wereformedtoaddresspublicconcernsandenhance outreachandeducationefforts.TheMarcellusShaleCoalition,nowthelargestofthesegroups, producesweekly,ifnotdailynewsreleases,andhasbecomewellorganized,fundedandrespected,with alargemembershipofMarcellusstakeholders. ThePennsylvaniaCouncilofProfessionalGeologists(PCPG),agroupthatadvocatestheuseof soundsciencetoformulatepublicpolicy,protecthumanhealthandtheenvironment,establishand evaluateregulatoryprogramsanddisseminateaccurateinformation,alsoreleasedaposition statementontheMarcellus. AccordingtothePCPG,MarcellusShalegasexplorationandproductionareworthwhileand necessary,andwillhaveapositiveeffectonPennsylvaniaseconomy.PCPGalsostatedthatinformation ontheMarcellus,asreportedinprint,broadcastmediaandtheInternet,oftenconveyserroneous informationthatcanleadtounnecessaryconfusionandexaggeratedconcerns.However,naturalgas drillingandproductioncanandmustbedoneinanenvironmentallyresponsibleandscientifically soundmannertominimizeadverseimpactontheenvironment.PCPGbelievesthathorizontaldrilling andhydraulicfracturingtechnologieshavehadalowincidenceofprovenadverseimpactstopotable waterquality,butgasdrillingandproductioncanandmustbeconductedinaccordancewithbest industrypracticesandwellestablishedstateoilandgas,andenvironmentalregulations. WPSUTV,thePBSaffiliateforcentralPennsylvaniaproducedtwoprogramsontheMarcellus, GasexplorationinPennsylvania,andPAgoldrush.BothwerepostedonYouTube.And,Branded News,locatedinOklahomaCity,producedtwoDVDsontheMarcellusplay,onethatfocusedon Pennsylvania,theotheronWestVirginia. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Withalloftheattention,bothproandcon,thattheMarcellusShalehasandisstillreceivingin themedia,onwebsites,andthroughnumerouspublicmeetings,itiseasytolosesightofexactlywhat arethelegitimateenvironmentalconcernsthatshouldandmustbeaddressed.Asthedebatebecame increasinglymoreemotional,itbecameincreasinglymoredifficulttofocusonwhatweresubstantive environmentalissuesandnotconcernsbasedonfearratherthanfact. Initially,concernsexpressedduringpublicsettingsfocusedontheperceiveddangersinherentin hydraulicfracturing,specifically,fearofunknownchemicalsinthefracfluid,potentialdangertowater supplies,andhealthhazardstopeople,petsandfarmanimalsthatcameincontactwithcontaminated water.Additionalconcernswerefocusedonthehighvolumesofwaterthatwasused,andtheimpactof reducedstreamflowonotherusersandtheaquaticenvironmentinstreamsandrivers,anddangers associatedwithdealingwithlargevolumesofflowbackwater,includingpotentialcontaminationof publicsuppliesofdrinkingwater. Highconsumptiveuse,highwaterwithdrawalvolumes Adverseimpactofhighwateruseonwaterresources Adverseimpactonfishandwildlife Ensuringwatersuppliestomeetpublicneeds FearforNewYorkCitysunfilteredwatersupply Negativeimpactonstreamsandstreamflow Competinguseforwater Stormwaterrunoffnearwellsitesandroads;damagetostreams Carcinogensandradioactivityinflowbackwater Surfacespillscontaminatingwatersupplies Watermanagement,sizeoflocations,treatment&disposalofFBW Safetyprocedures Healtheffectsofoperations Compositionoffracfluids Protectingfreshwaterzonesfromfracfluid&flowbackwater Watertreatmentanddischargeplan RadioactivewaterandsolidsinFBW(NYTimesarticle3/11) Waterleftinreservoirfuturemigrationupwardtofreshwaterzones Wastetreatment&disposal;storageandhauling MunicipalplantsandPOTWinadequatetotreatFBW Intentional(illegal)dumpingofFBW Subsurfacepathwaysformethanemigrationintoshallowwaterzones Inadequatesetbackfromwatersupplies,dwellingsandfarmbuildings Recentstudiesthatdisputetheclaimthatfracinghasneverpollutedawaterwell Specificcommentsexpressedinpublicmeetingsincluded:
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Later,oncedrillingbeganandtrucktrafficincreasedalongwithnoise,dustanddegradationof localroadwaysandbridgesresidentsbegancomplainingthattheirquietruralenvironmenthadbeen turnedintowhattheytermedanindustrialzone.Concernsvoicedbylocalresidentsincluded: Eventually,asprotestsbecamemoreorganized,protectionofpropertyrights,especially fornonmineralowners,andthethreatofdecliningpropertyvalues,alongwithincreasedcostsforlocal communities,becamemoreimportant,andresidentsexpressedtheseconcerns: Protectionofpropertyrights&theenvironment;receivefairroyalties Increasingoppositionamonganincreasingnumberofgroups Needforgroupstobecamemoreorganized,morevocal,betterfunded Websiteswithorwithoutvideosbecamenumerous;movies(documentaries)produced Decreasingpropertyvalues Increaseincrime,druguse,prostitution;leadstoahighercostforpoliceforce Compensationforpropertyownerswhodonotownmineralrights Encroachmentintobufferzonesaroundcitiesandtowns Nopublicnoticeandcommentperiodpriortoissuingwellpermits WilltheMarcellusplaybeashorttermboomfollowedbyaneconomicbust? Decreasingpropertyvalues Overnightmillionairesversuspropertyownerswithoutmineralrights Increaseintrucktraffic;road&bridgedestruction Dustcontrol Noise Nighttimelightpollutionduetoriglightinginformerlydark,ruralareas Airqualityandemissionsnearwells,pipelinesandcompressors Increaseddurationoflocalactivityduetomultiwellpaddrilling&fracing Overdrillinginanarea Potentialproblemswithpitsandliners;spillpotential Welllocation,roads,pipelines,pitconstructionallinvolvelanddisturbance Landdisturbanceresultsinhabitatfragmentation,ripariandegradation,increased sedimentinstreams Inadequatecasingandcementingprograms;shallowgasmigrationintoaquifers MaterialSafetyDataSheets(MSDS)inadequateforchemicaldisclosure Refracingofwellswithinafewmonthsreintroducestheseproblems Fracingmultiplewellsfromasinglesiterequireshaulinghighvolumesofwater& chemicalsonthesameroadsandbridges InjectionintodisposalwellsmayhavetriggeredsmallearthquakesinOhio Cumulative,longtermimpactsarenotbeingaddressed
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Displacelowincomepeople Shorttermincreaseinrentals,vacancyrates,housingprices,etc Boombustcyclesasindustrymoveson Publicservicesbreakdownsignificantlywhenpopulationgrowthreaches15% Newhirescomefromotherindustries Jobsarefilledbyexperiencedoutofstateworkers Bythetimelocalsaretrainedforhire,industryhasmovedon Localinflationincreasesmorethanwages Farmingdecreasesaslocalfarmerscashoutandmoveaway Evidenceofadecreaseinnewsubdivisions Decreaseintourism
Itisimportanttonotethatindustryrespondedbytestingwellwatertodevelopbaselinedata priortodrilling,andbydevelopingnewbestpractices,includingbettercasingandcementingprograms, closedloopdrillingsystems,replacinglinedpitswithsteeltanks,usingimperviouswellpads,and bringingdisappearingroadsintothebasinfromthesouthwest.Inaddition,microseismicdetectors arebeinginstalledandleftinplacetoservemorethanonewell,providingabetterregionalpictureof inducedfractures.Mostofthesechangesweremadeevenbeforenewlaws,rulesandregulationswere passed. TheChangingRegulatoryLandscape TheincreaseinpublicoppositiontodrillingandfracturingMarcellusShalehorizontalwellsdid notgounnoticedbylocalandstategovernments.Consequently,operatorsinvolvedindevelopingthe playhavehadtodealwithaconstantlychangingregulatorylandscapethatvariedstatebystate. Muchofthiswaspredictableandwasdue,atleastintheearlyyearsofdevelopment,to industrymovingintoeasternareasofthebasinwithnopriorhistoryofdrillingandcompletinggaswells, areasinwhichnooilandgasinspectorshadeverbeenassigned,andareasinwhichnogascompanyhad everattemptedtoleasemineralrights.Theseareasalsowereintheriverbasinsthatsupplieddrinking watertomajoreasterncities,especiallyNewYorkCitywithitsunfilteredwatersupply.Thus,the variousriverbasinauthoritiesbecamereluctantbutnecessarystakeholdersintheregulatoryprocess, whichaddedadditionallayerstothepermittingandapprovalprocess. Opponentsofplaydevelopmentmadethecasethatcurrentstatelaws,rulesandregulations werewrittenforshallow,verticalwells,notfordeep,horizontalwellswhichrequiredlargepads,and consequentlylargesurfacedisturbance,highvolumesoffracwater,sandandchemicals,andmore RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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equipmenttobemovedonlocalroadsandbridges.Thus,groupsfromNewYorktoWestVirginiabegan tocallfornew,Marcellusspecificregulations,whichwouldrequireacompleteoverhaulinthe regulatoryframeworkfordrillingandcompletingthesewells.Consequently,NewYorkimposeda drillingmoratoriumwhiletheregulatoryagencywroteadraftsupplementalgenericenvironmental impactstatement(dSGEIS)andpermittingslowedinPennsylvaniaandWestVirginiawhilethe legislaturesofbothstatesconsiderednew,Marcellusspecificrulesandregulations. Themovementtowardincreasedregulationsandcontrolwasnotrestrictedtothestatesalone. NumeroustownsandcitiesinNewYork,PennsylvaniaandWestVirginia115inPennsylvaniaalone insistedonmorelocalcontrolandimposedtheirownrestrictionsonlanduse,roaduse,noiselimits,gas wellsetbackrequirements,andevenmoratoriaonthedrillingofMarcellusShalewellswithintheir boundariesandwithinabufferzonearoundtheirmunicipalities.Otherssuggestedusingtheriverbasin modeltoincludelocalinvolvementintheregulatoryprocess.Thislackofaconsistentsetofstatewide operatingruleshasmadeitverydifficultforgascompaniestoremainincomplianceandstilloperate efficiently.
Othergroupsinsistedthatthiswasnotenough,andbelievingthatnostatehadatotally comprehensiveoilandgasregulatoryframework,andthuscouldnotadequatelyprotectthe environment,calledformorefederalcontrol,includingafederalbilltoremovethewaterinjection exemptionfromtheSafeDrinkingWaterAct. EPArespondedwitha2yearstudyofthepossibleimpactofhydraulicfracturingondrinking water,theUSHouseofRepresentativesissuedareportonthechemicalsusedinhydraulicfracturing, andDOESecretaryStevenChuappointedapanelofexpertstheEnergyAdvisoryBoardShaleGas ProductionSubcommitteetoproduceareportontheimmediatestepsthatcouldbetakentoimprove thesafetyandenvironmentalperformanceofshalegasdevelopers.Afterthreemonthsofdeliberations andpublichearings,thesubcommitteeissuedaseriesofrecommendationsinfourkeyareas:making informationaboutshalegasoperationsmoreaccessibletothepublic;immediateandlongerterm actionstoreduceenvironmentalandsafetyrisksofshalegasoperations,especiallytoprotectairand waterquality;creationofashalegasindustryoperationorganizationcommittedtocontinuous improvementofbestpractices;andresearchanddevelopmenttoimprovesafetyandenvironmental performance. Eventually,newlaws,rulesandregulationsweredraftedinallthreestatesinwhichtheplayis beingdeveloped.Whiledevelopingthesenewlaws,rulesandregulations,thestateswereconsciousof thefactthattheplayisprovidingahugeeconomicboosttothearea,andisimpactingalarge,diverse RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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groupofindividualswithconflictingpointsofview,andthusispresentingabigchallengetolegislators tobalanceeconomicbenefitswithsafetyandenvironmentalpreservation. InNewYork,aStateDECreport(June2011)concludedthatcontroversialhydrofracingcouldbe donesafely,andthedraftsupplementalgenericenvironmentalimpactstatement(dSGEIS)wasreleased forpubliccomment. ThedraftSGEIScontains9chapters,oneofwhichisageologicsummaryofthe MarcellusandUticashales.Asecondchapterdealswithnaturalgasdevelopmentandhighvolume hydraulicfracturing.Twentysixappendiceswereattached,ofwhichAppendix10focusedonhigh volumehydraulicfracturingpermitconditionsforamongotherthings,sitepreparation,site maintenance,drilling,stimulationandflowback,andreclamation. InPennsylvania,arevisedsetofstraygasregulationswasissuedinJune2011;theMarcellus ShaleAdvisoryCommissionassembledbyGovernorTomCorbettissuedasweepingsetof96 recommendationstoaddressenvironmental,healthandsafetypoliciesonhowbesttoresponsibly developtheplay;andthelegislaturepassednewlawsthatdealtwithbettercasingandcementing programs,thatincludedthefollowing: RPSEAEFDProject0812235 Increasestheminimumsetbackfrom200to500feetfromaMarcellusgaswelltoa privatewaterwelland1000feetfromapublicwatersupply GivesthePADEPauthoritytorequirewatermanagementplansdesignedtoprotectthe ecologicalhealthofwaterresources Provideslocalcommunitieswithadditionalresourcestoaddresslocal,shortterm impacts Providesregulatorycertaintyacrossmunicipalities,thusprovidingaframeworkto enablethemostenvironmentallyandeconomicallyresponsiblemeansforgas production Providesforsharingofbestmanagementpracticesbetweenstateregulatorsand industrytoensurenaturalgasdevelopmentinanenvironmentallyresponsiblemanner Closedloopsystemforfloodplains;noreservepits BiocidestoberegisteredwithNYS Allfracchemicalsmustbeidentified&submittedtoNYS Flowbackfluidsmustbecontainedinsteeltanks,nolinedpits NORMtestingofflowbackandproductionfluidspriortoremoval
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InWestVirginia,theinitialchangeswereissuedinDecember2008(WVPitInspectionDirective), andMarch2009(WVDEPGuidancePolicyonwaterissues,siteconstructionandfluiddisposalthatwas finalizedinJanuary2010),andcontinuedwiththeWVGovernorsExecutiveOrder(July2011),that requireddisclosureoffracturingadditives,certificationofplansforsitesgreaterthan3acres,awater managementplanforwaterusegreaterthan210,000gal/month,awellsitesafetyplan,adequate publicnoticeforpermitswithinmunicipalities,andreviewbyDEPofoverallregulatoryauthorityover horizontaldrillingandhydraulicfracturing.Eventually,aspecialsessioncalledbytheGovernorreached agreementonanewlawregulatingthedrillingandfracturingofhorizontalwellsotherthancoalbed methane(CBM)wells. ThenewWestVirginiaHorizontalWelllawappliestoanyproposednaturalgaswell(otherthan CBM)thatwouldemployahorizontaldrillingmethodthat: willdisturbthreeormoreacresofsurfacelandorusemorethan210,000gallonsof waterina30dayperiod;and wasnotpermittedorthesubjectofanorderrelatingtoapermitapplicationfiled
TheActrequiresfurtherstudyandauthorizespotentialrulemakingbytheWestVirginia DepartmentofEnvironmentalProtection(DEP),including: areporttotheLegislatureduebyDecember31,2012onthenoise,light,dust,and volatileorganiccompoundsgeneratedbyhorizontaldrillingoperations; areportduebyJanuary1,2013onthesafetyofpitsandimpoundments,andneedfor newregulatoryrequirementsforsuchstructures; astudyduebyJuly1,2013ontheneedforrulemakingestablishingadditional requirementsforthecontrolofairpollutionfromhorizontalwellsites; rulesregardingdrillinginkarstterrain;and regulationsestablishingcasingandcementingstandards
Someofthemajorprovisionsofthenewlegislationareasfollows: $10,000permitapplicationfeeforthefirsthorizontalwellataparticularlocation,and $5,000applicationfeeforeachadditionalwelldrilledfromthesamepad; aproposederosionandsedimentcontrolplan;wellsitesafetyplan;siteconstruction plan;andadetailedwatermanagementplan(toincludealistingofanticipatedand actualadditivesusedinfracturingorstimulatingthewell); detailedsurfaceownercompensationrequirements,includingaproposedsurfaceuse andcompensationagreementcontaininganofferofcompensationtobeincludedasa partoftheprefilingnoticegiventosurfaceowners; performancestandardsapplicableto:disposalofdrillingcuttingsandassociateddrilling mud;protectionofquantityandqualityofsurfaceandgroundwatersystems;advance
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designationofwaterwithdrawallocationstotheDEP;andrecordkeepingandreporting forallflowbackandproducedwater; prohibitinganywellfrombeingdrilledwithin100ofaperennialstreamorotherwater body(includingwetland),orwithin300ofanaturallyreproducingtroutstream,and prohibitinganywellpadwithin1000ofasurfaceorgroundwaterintakeforapublic drinkingwatersupply; restrictinglocationofwells(prohibitedwithin250fromanyexistingdrinkingwaterwell ordevelopedspring)andwellpads(prohibitedwithin625ofanoccupieddwellingor farmbuildingofasizeof2500squarefeetorgreater),subjecttowaiverand/orDEP approvalofspecificplansallowingforcloserlocationsthataresufficientlyprotective; and rebuttablepresumptionofcausationforcontaminationorlossofadrinkingwater sourcelocatedwithin1500ofawellpad,subjecttocertaindelineateddefenses (includingpredrillingwaterqualityanalysesperformedbyanindependentcertified laboratoryshowingthattheproblemexistedpriortodrilling),anduponDEPorder, mandatorytemporaryandpermanentreplacementofwatersuppliestopersonswhose useofwaterfordomestic,agricultural,industrialorotherlegitimateusewas adverselyaffectedbythegaswelloperation(unlesswaivedinwritingbytheowner).
Finalstatement Industryhasdoneanadequatejobofsolvingthetechnicalproblemsthathadpreventedthe Marcellusfrombecominganeconomicplay,i.e.,byemployinghorizontaldrillingandlargehydraulic fractureprograms.However,industryhasbeenmuchlesssuccessfulindealingwiththefalloutfromthe useofthesetechnologies.Afailuretoreachoutandeducatelocalcommunitiesandconcerned environmentalgroupsthathorizontaldrillingandfracturingarenotinherentlydangeroushasledto localprotestmeetingsandcriesformoreregulatorycontrol.Thisinturnhasledtorevisedrulesand regulationsfromoilandgasregulatoryagenciesandbillsbeingpassedinNewYorkandPennsylvaniato establishadrillingmoratoriumandlowertheamountofacceptableTDSintreatedflowbackwater. Thus,thebiggestchallengefacingthosewhowishtodeveloptheMarcellusplaycannotbe solvedwithgeologyorengineeringitisasociologicalissue.Betterpublicoutreachandeducation programstargetingconcernedcitizensandlawmakers,coupledwithstrictadherencetoallrulesand implementationofbestpracticesatwellsites,arenecessarytomeetthischallenge.
ReferencesCited
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AllConsultingandtheGroundwaterProtectionCouncil,2009,Modernshalegasdevelopmentin theUnitedStates:aprimer:preparedforU.S.DepartmentofEnergyunderDEFG26 04NT15455,77p Considine,Timothy,RobertWatsonandSethBlumsack,2009,Theeconomicimpactsofthe PennsylvaniaMarcellusShalenaturalgasplay:anupdate:21p
Engelder,Terry,2009,Marcellus2008:Reportcardonthebreakoutyearforgasproductionin theAppalachianbasin:FortWorthOilandGasMagazine
Engelder,Terry,andGaryLash,2008,MarcellusShaleplaysvastresourcepotentialcreating stirinAppalachia:TheAmericanOil&GasReporter,May2008,7p
Esch,Mary,2008,EstimatedgasyieldfromMarcellusshalegoesup:Albany,NY,Associated Press,November4,2008,accessedathttp://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20081004/estimated gasfrommarcellusshalegoesup.htm Mossandothers,2008,PotentialdevelopmentofthenaturalgasresourcesintheMarcellus Shale;NationalParkService,GeologicResourcesDivisionMarcellusShalereport,21p Propublicaswebsite(www.propublica.org) ShaleshockActionAlliance(www.shaleshock.org) SoederandKappel,2009,WaterResourcesandnaturalgasproductionfromtheMarcellusShale; USGeologicalSurveyFactSheet20093032,6p
TristoneCapital,2008,MarcellusShale,Appalachianbasin,promisingpotentialdespite regulatorybumps;TristoneCapital,EnergyInvestmentResearch,p.131147
UnitedStatesGeologicalSurvey(2002),Assessmentofundiscoveredoilandgasresourcesof theAppalachianprovince,U.S.DepartmentofInterior,OpenFileReport20081287
Veil,John,2010,WatermanagementtechnologiesusedbyMarcellusShalegasproducers;final reporttoUSDOEunderawardno.FWP49462,41p
www.fracattackthemovie.com
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Summary&Accomplishments:
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Argonnehasprovidedtechnical,analytical,andoutreachsupporttotheEnvironmentallyFriendly DrillingSystemsProgram.Throughparticipationinmonthlyconferencecallsandquarterlyworkshops Argonnehascontributedtothedevelopmentoftheprogram.ArgonnehasalsosupportedtheEFD Programsmissionbyincreasingpublicawarenessoftherolethatenvironmentallyfriendlytechnologies andpracticescanplayinreducingtheenvironmentalfootprintofunconventionalgasexplorationand developmentthroughparticipationinanumberofconferencesandwebinars.Anadditionalrolethat ArgonnehasplayedhasbeentoprovidetimelyanalyticalsupporttoEFDasnewissuessurrounding hydraulicfracturingemerged.AnexampleofthistypeofsupportincludedcollaboratingwithotherEFD participantstoreviewanddraftanofficialresponsetoRobertHowarthscontroversialpaperonfugitive methaneemissionsfromshalegasdevelopment. Asamajorcomponentofthissupporteffort,Argonneconductedasurveytoidentifyawiderangeof technologies,bestpractices,andactiveresearchareasthathavethepotentialtosignificantlyreducethe environmentalfootprintofoilandgasdevelopment.Thesurveyidentifiedarangeofcommercialor nearcommercialtechnologiesintheareasofproducedwatermanagement,wellpadconstructionand drillingoperations,andwastereductionandpollutionmonitoring.Italsoidentifiedanumberof emergingbestpracticesintheareasoflifecyclewatermanagementandairemissionsreductions. Finallyitsummarizedongoingresearcheffortslikelytoresultineithernewtechnologiesorimproved processesthatwillreducetheenvironmentalfootprintoffutureunconventionalnaturalgasexploration anddevelopmentactivities.Thisefforthasresultedinafinalsummaryreportwhichiscurrentlyunder reviewandisexpectedtobepublishedbyArgonneandavailableontheEFDwebsitesoon. Papersand/orPresentationsandotherTechnologyTransferEfforts:
RobertHorner,TheEvolvingRegulatoryLandscapeofShaleGasDevelopment,papertobe presentedattheWesternEnergyPolicyResearchConference,Boise,ID,August30312012.
DavidMurphyandChristopherHarto,SurveyofExistingEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingTechnologies, BestPracticesandResearch,Argonnetechnicalreport,underreview.
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ChristopherHarto,ShaleGasTheEnergyWaterNexus,presentedaspartoftheHydraulic Fracturing:FreshFacts&CriticalChoiceswebinarseriesorganizedbytheCleanWatersAmerica AllianceandtheAmericanWaterResourcesAssociation,November1,2012 SusanStuverandChristopherHarto,EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingscientificreviewofClimatic ChangeLetter:MethaneandtheGreenhouseGasFootprintofNaturalGasfromShaleFormations, http://www.efdsystems.org/Portals/25/EnvironmentallyFriendly%20Drilling%20scientific%20review%20 of%20Climatic%20Change%20Letter.pdf ChristopherHarto,ShaleGasTheEnergyWaterNexus,presentedatthe2011AWRASpring SpecialtyConference,Baltimore,MD,April18202011.
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ApplicationforSemiAridEcosystem TheEFDteammetwithoperatorsconcerningtheapplicationofEFDtechnologiesinsemiarid ecosystems.Aworkshopwasheldwithappropriaterepresentationfromtheprojectteamandvarious environmentalorganizationstodeveloptheenvironmentalcost/benefitmethodology.Theprojectteam alsoheldworkshopstoshowhowSystemsEngineeringDesignMethodologyandtheEFDScorecardcan beusedtoidentifylowimpactsystems. TheNatureConservancyinvitedtheEFDSystemprogramtoperformnoisesurveysand performancemeasurementofvariousdrillingandproductionequipmentthatisinuseattheTexasCity PrairieReserve.ThenoisesurveyinvolvedusingahandheldGPS,asoundlevelmonitorandasimple measuringdevice.TheEFDteamperformedthemeasurementsandcomparedtheresultstotheprairie chickendistributionmapsprovidedbytheNatureConservancy.
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Publisher:SocietyofPetroleumEngineers DocumentID:142139MS
LanguageEnglish DOI10.2118/142139MS
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ContentType:ConferencePaper Title:FieldSiteTestingofLowImpactOilFieldAccessRoads:ReducingtheEnvironmental Authors:Burnett,D.B.,TexasA&MUniversity,McDowell,J.,NewparkResources,Scott,J.B.,Scott Environmental,andDolanC.UniversityofWyoming SourceSPEAmericasE&PHealth,Safety,Security,andEnvironmentalConference,2123March2011, Houston,Texas,USA ISBN978155563328 Copyright2011.SocietyofPetroleumEngineers DisciplineCategories2Health,Safety,Security,EnvironmentandSocialResponsibility PreviewAbstract LeaseroadsandwellpadsareahighlyvisibleandoftenlessthanwelcomeaspectofO&Gdrillingand producingoperations.InSouthTexasthisisoccurringastheCretaceousEagleFordshaleisbeing developedfromneartheMexicanborderoutwardtotheeast/northeastacrossseveralcounties stretchingmorethan150miles.TheBrushCountryasitisoftenreferredto,isasemiaridlandscape wheremeasurestolessentheimpactofdevelopingtheshalearefosteringahostofnewtechnologies. Toaddressenvironmentalconcernsaboutthedevelopmentoftheresource,TexasA&MUniversityis adaptingDisappearingRoadstechnologytotheparticularneedsoftheEagleFord.Acollaborative projectwithintheEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingProgramhasbeentestingnewtypesof disappearingroadsinadesertlikeenvironmenttomeasuretheireffectivenessandabilitytolowerthe surfacefootprintofsurfaceoperations.Oneroadwasconstructedwithmaterialsmadewithrecycled drillingwaste,anotherincorporatedreusablecompositemats,andathirdrepresentedanewtypeof rolloutroaddevelopedinbyastudentengineeringteamfromtheUniversityofWyomingasaclass project.Thefielddemonstrationisexpectedto: 1)Providearealisticfieldtrialinrepresentativedesertecosystemssothatresultscouldbeevaluated efficientlysoastobenefitboththeindustry,theorganizationswiththetechnology,andthepublic sector. 2)Documentandprovidetheresultsoftechnologyfieldtrialssothatpromisingprocesses,systemsand productscouldbeutilizedinawiderrangeofgasshaleplays. 3)Speedthecommercialdevelopmentoftechnologydevelopedtoreducetheenvironmentalfootprint ofdrillingactivities. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Theremovablematconceptsmayalsobeusedtolessentheimpactofconstructingwaterpondsandto providetemporaryenlargementofwellpadsthatcanaccommodateserviceequipmentusedin fracturingoperations.Thispaperwilldescribethetechnologybehindtheroadsanddocumenttheir performanceinsemiaridrangelandlandscapes. IntroductionBackground Whiletheenergyindustryisdevelopingbetterpracticestomanageitsenvironmentalimpact1,2,3its drillingactivityfacesrestrictions,andinsomecasescompleteprohibitionsofoperationsinsensitive areas.Environmentalconstraints,includinglaws,regulations,andimplementationprocedures,canlimit naturalgasdevelopmentandproductiononbothfederalandprivatelands.Morethan30 environmentalpolicyandregulatoryimpedimentstodomesticnaturalgasproductionhavebeen identifiedanddocumented.4Surfacefootprintisoneofthemorevexingproblemsthatenergy developersmustface. Publicconcernsaboutthefootprintofhumanactivity(ORVtracksandoilandgasoperationleaseroads) inecologicallysensitivedesertlocationshaveresultedinregulatoryimpedimentstoE&Pactivities.At thesametime,significantamountsofoilandgasresourcesremaintobediscoveredanddevelopedin aridregionsoftheU.S.ThisisparticularlytrueofnaturalgasresourcesintheRockyMountains. FileSize928KB NumberofPages13
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Project Objective
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Facilitate prototype test of low impact rig.
Results Report Documenting Advanced Drilling Technology Low Impact Rigs Report and update of a EFD DOE report: Field Testing of Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Presented paper with Huisman on test results at 2011 AADE conference (AADE-11-NTCE-61) The Impact of Rig Design and Drilling Methods on the Environmental Impact of Drilling Operations Facilitated sponsor tours of eco-friendly drilling rigs: Huisman LOC 400 NOV Rapid Rig AMC Green Rig Each EFD presentation or article normally uses an element from this task.
In 2008 EFD issued a report in order to take a snapshot of the current practices, so we could document an evolution of the modern land rig taking place. At that time 36 hour rig up time was considered acceptable with 40 + loads. The rig market was evolving to modular rigs where mid 20s loads and one day moves were being introduced. Rig innovations in rig manufacturing like the H&P Flex Rig became a trend setter; NOV acquired IRI Int. (IDEA Rigs = Rapid Rig); Nabors AC Pace Rigs; while niche players like Huisman and modified CT Drilling rigs like Xtreme were building more of the newer generation rigs where the impact of technology were utilized. Innovations were cost effective because of enabling technologies including Rig Automation, Rotary Steerable tools and Casing While Drilling. These innovations were having a major impact on drilling and environmental performance.
The drivers for innovation included safety, EPA driven regulations impacting rig power and emissions, unique needs associated with unconventional gas plays where drilling in urban areas, the requirements for pad drilling, the need to get in-get-out approach was becoming a factor, as were new computer tools to help operators track drilling performance. The need to reduce cost in a low gas market environment, and ROC demands that required companies to get gas to market faster were also (financial) drivers.
The rig manufacturing companies were also influenced by offshore technology being applied onshore, causing design changes for building efficient modular rigs. Offshore drilling innovations which allow companies to drill and produce multiple wells on a single pad have profoundly influenced on-shore drilling and environmental improvements. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Arctic drilling challenges (particularly exploration and production) on the North Slope also impacted rig design. Environmental and logistical challenges have driven improvements to developing more efficient rigs, horizontal and extended reach drilling, smaller drilling pads, seismic acquisition on monitoring, drilling and completion fluids, coiled tubing drilling, and ways to improve access for faster and more efficient drilling and well testing.
The features for modular rigs common today include minimized rig-up/down time, closed loop drilling systems, compact wellsite footprint, smaller crew size all allowing the drilling operation to become safer and more efficient. The modular designs also include lower transport cost, fast, efficient pipe handling, fewer loads, and AC driven to minimize hydraulics. Innovative skid design improvements have been made for pad drilling and faster turnaround times. Added benefits include the reduced size of work crew, improved safety performance, reduced environmental performance in emissions, roads, discharges, and land impacts. Statistics show that pipe and material handling cause almost 50% of the recorded accidents during well drilling.
The fully automated pipe handling, with its automated drill floor, eliminates the need for personnel on the drill floor and thus eliminates the potential for accidents. In addition, the simple modular rig-assembly process with smaller loads, less rig crew involvement and improved overview and visibility effectively mitigates the risk for the crew and the potential for accidents and damage during rig moves.
Another innovation is the use of multi task rigs; simultaneous operations are common place offshore and while they have been around for several years and there are a number of patents to improve the drilling process one of the more novel concepts is a recent new rig design by National Oilwell Varco. The NOV SPRED rig changes the traditional rig design and uses a modular platform similar to their Rapid Rig but will allow the drilling and completion process to be carried out in a continued process. This rig is designed for small footprint pad or batch drilling and incorporates the innovations in the smaller modular rigs combined to carry out the process in parallel operations.
The EFD research has shown us the public demands reduced traffic, dust, noise, emissions, excessive lights that disturb nearby residences. These demands are impacting operator decisions on rigs and drilling contractors are starting to fill that demand.
As design has changed so have fuel options. The North American natural gas industry is in search of an environmental and economic solution to address significant fuel use. Because RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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natural gas has potential for widespread applications, it is critical that early adopters within the industry help trigger greater use. EFD reported on these innovations in promoting distributing relevant articles (American Oil and Gas Reporter 2011, David Hill, Encana).
The AADE Paper: The Impact of Rig Design and Drilling Methods on the Environmental Impact of Drilling Operations, by Eric Quinlan, Robert van Kuilenburg (Huisman) Tom Williams, Gerhard Thonhauser (EFD systems) highlighted the changing drilling landscape brought on by the requirement to drill an enormous amount of wells and are often located in urban or environmentally sensitive locations. The findings of that study are included in the remainder of this report.
The Environmentally Drilling Systems (EFD) has been promoting environmentally friendly drilling for years and has developed the EFD Low Impact Drilling Scorecard which can be used to measure the trade-offs associated with implementing low impact drilling technology in environmentally sensitive areas.
This study and AADE paper documented the analysis in which the impact that an individual drilling rig can make through its design and operations. The importance of the environmental performance of drilling rigs will grow to be an important decision factor for choosing rigs or even allowing a well program to be executed. EFD is helping to promote what some operators are doing by making rig contract decisions based on overall performance and value vs. day rates. Safety performance, smaller footprint, drilling and transport (rig-up rig down) times are becoming factors in rig awards. Traditionally drilling contractors have not concerned with the amount or type of fuel used, or with of other consumables used, since it was paid for by the operator; but this is changing.
This task shows how, with careful design, the impact of a drilling rig can be minimized. And that a rig designed to minimize the environmental impact can be very efficient even outpacing conventional rigs.
The EFD project has reported on a number of new rig designs, including:
Huisman, which started the design of the LOC 250 drilling rig in 2003. After two years of drilling in South Texas the lessons learned were incorporated in the next generation, the LOC400. The LOC series of rigs are characterised by being fully containerised, and by being highly automated and built to include modern drilling techniques. The LOC 400 series are also completely RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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electrically driven, electronically controlled, fully integrated and can be scaled in size by adding more containers. It is designed for fast rig moves, and is able to compete globally with local rigs.
Figure 1, LOC 400 Drilling on location in the Netherlands 2010
Environmental impact can be measured in different ways including air, water, soil, social, and sight pollutions. Various studies have been performed on the LOC 250 & 400 to assess noise, emissions to air, and the effects of the rig design on these forms of pollution.
Emissions
For the LOC series of rigs, air pollution through emissions was investigated by assessing three different activities:
Construction of the drilling rig; Transportation of the drilling rig, and; Operation of the drilling rig in different cases
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Drilling normally Drilling with casing Using the power grid as opposed to diesel driven gen-sets.
The environmental performance of the drilling rigs is assessed in terms of emissions to air (CO2, NOx, CO, PM and SO2).
Emissions of operations while drilling traditionally with drill pipe (DP mode) and operations while drilling with casing (CWD mode) mode are assessed. For other drilling rigs on the market, for basis of comparison, we only included DP mode as the LOC was designed specifically for Casing While Drilling and does not require extra tools for this form of drilling. (Note: while CWD is a feature, it is also designed to drill efficiently with drill pipe as well.)
The standard drilling installation is represented by a standard low and standard high case. Emissions were defined related to construction, transportation and drilling for a typical one year drilling program consisting of drilling fifteen wells at various locations and the transport of the rig between these locations.
Construction
The type of steel used in a drilling rig is low-alloyed steel. Based on the expert information on standard drilling rigs it is estimated that these rigs to be 1.5 1.75 times heavier than the LOC 400. Table 1 presents the resulting emission values.
Table 1 Emissions (in t/rig) for the LOC400 and standard drilling rigs.
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It is evident that due to the smaller weight of the LOC design the construction emissions are considerably lower.
Transport
During its lifetime, a drilling rig is transported frequently. Drilling rigs can be used anywhere around the world, but in practice they are mostly used regionally. Besides the regional transportation between the drilling locations, the drilling rig is first transported from the factory where it is manufactured to the continent or region where it is going to be used. This can include intercontinental transport. For a standard basis of comparison, the manufacturing of the LOC 400 and the other drilling rigs documented in the study reported in the AADE paper were located in Europe.
The modular design has several advantages: small individual units, enabling transport in limited areas (cities, back roads) lower weight per unit, less damage to environment, less cost for transport containerised design, enabling efficient transport modes (container ship and train), less cost for transport
Figure 2, CO2 emissions (in kg) from initial transport from Europe & North America.
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The distances for transportation over land are based on the typical transportation cycles that have been constructed for two different continents based on practical experience. When needed the cycles are extended to represent the drilling of fifteen wells at fifteen different locations. For calculation of the emissions the average (unweighted) distance was used.
The results for transportation over land show that emissions from truck transport of the LOC 400 was significantly less compared to emissions of standard drilling rigs. For basis of comparison, the LOC 400 was compared with other 350t 400t drilling rigs operating in the USA and Europe and based on expert advice of people who have worked with these rigs. The results do not reflect a comparison with each individual rig on the market.
Transporting the standard rig high case causes the emissions of more than two times as much CO2 as the LOC 400. Compared to a diesel passenger car travelling 25,000 miles per year, the CO2 emissions from transporting the LOC 400 by truck is the same as about 8.9 diesel passenger cars. Train transport might be considered for the LOC 400 as an interesting option. In principle one train would be sufficient to transport the entire rig. Transporting the rig with a train has a significant beneficial effect on the CO2 emissions (figure 4).
Figure 4, Emissions of transporting the LOC400 by truck and train (in kg)
Drilling Emissions
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The third source of emissions results from drilling operations. Power is used for the various activities that make up the drilling cycle. A standard drilling cycle consists of many activities, including: Standby Drilling Tripping (Back)reaming Casing running Cementing
Drilling and (back) reaming are the most power intensive activities of the drilling phase, followed by tripping and casing running. In this analysis the drilling time for standard drilling mode (DP) is set to three weeks (500 hours) for both LOC 400 rigs and standard rigs.
The LOC 400 is built with an Autodriller function that does lead to improved drilling performance. However, due to lack of offset data for the wells drilled and due to lack of data from other similar rigs, it was decided to treat drilling performance as the same between all rigs for this study. It is obvious though, that the reducing the time spent on the well will also reduce the emissions released while drilling.
Operating in CWD drilling mode involves a number of changes compared to DP drilling mode: 1. total drilling time is reduced by an assumed 30%; 2. the relative importance of activities in total drilling time changes (tripping time reduces from 26% to 10%), and; 3. the mud pumps can run at 50% of their capacity instead of 80%. The time required on the well is 350 hours in CWD mode compared to 500 hours for drilling in DP. For this study, we have assumed the mud pumps are operated at 50% of their load instead of 80% in DP mode. The power demand and time for each drilling activity is presented in table 2.
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Table 2. Power demand (in % of maximum power demand) and time per activity
If we look at a period of a year a significant beneficial effect can be seen (figure 5) if CWD technology is used.
Figure 5, Emissions from drilling operations (in kg/y)
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Figure 6 shows that the LOC 400 operating in CWD represents lowest CO2 emissions of 3.4 kt CO2 per year, followed by the LOC 400 DP drilling mode (5.8 kt CO2. The CO2 emissions for standard drilling rigs high are almost twice the emissions of the LOC 400 in CWD mode. The figure shows that drilling operations have the highest contribution to CO2 emissions, typically about 96 to 98 per cent. CO2 emissions resulting from the construction process contribute typically between 1 and 2 per cent. The contribution of transport to total CO2 emissions is between 1 and 2 per cent as well.
Figure 6,CO2 emissions of a one year drilling program, generator powered (in kt/y)
Energy from the existing power grid
As alternative for diesel generators the electricity grid can be used to power the drilling rigs. This will not always be possible as grid connections are not available on all locations. It should also be noted that drilling rigs require high power capacities, which should be arranged beforehand with power suppliers and local utilities. To connect the drilling rig to the grid, a transformer is needed. The advantage of connecting the drilling rig to the grid is that the emission factor of the electricity mix is mostly lower than of dedicated diesel generators. This is especially the case for countries that have a significant part of renewable energy in their energy mix. Based on the information on drilling activities, the electricity demand for drilling one well is about 500 MWh in the DP mode and about 285 MWh in the CWD mode. Note that this varies for each individual well and drilling rig type. The LOC 400 is designed for easy conversion to work from the grid, RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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and it can be powered by both 480V 60Hz and 400V 50Hz sources. In order to further benefit working from the power grid, it is important to keep the Total Harmonic Distortion to a minimum in order to minimize potential problems to the grid.
Using electricity from the grid results in around 39% less CO2 emissions compared to using diesel generators in the Netherlands. CO2 emissions decrease from 5,751 tonnes to 3,521 tonnes of CO2 for DP drilling and from 3,275 tons to 2,018 tons of CO2 for CWD drilling in the Netherlands. Should the grid be powered by renewable energy sources (wind, geothermal, solar), the emissions would be reduce to next to zero.
Figure 7, CO2 emissions of a one year drilling programme, grid powered (in kt/y)
Connecting the rig to the power grid also has a significant cost benefit for a typical well. Cost savings for a typical well can go up to 50% or more on fuel cost with the current energy price mix (table 3).
DP [-] 75% 50% 25% 10% 33% 34% 33% [hrs] 165 170 165 kWh [kWh] 82500 85000 82500 250000 39% 21% 40% CWD [-]
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[hrs] 137 0.74 1.4 kWH
[kWh] 55185 29715 56600 141500
Fuel DP [gal/kWh] [gal] 0.069 0.073 0.086 0.095 5731 0 7344 7838
CWD [gal] 0 4017 2567 5377
This equates to a 10day drilling program
TOTAL [usd/gal] 3.6 7 [cent/kWh] 15 24
20913 [usd] 75,285 146,388 [usd] 37,500 60,000 50% 41%
11962 [usd] 43,063 83,733 [usd] 21,225 33,960 49% 41% 28% 23%
DIESEL
US EU US EU US EU
ELECTRICITY
Delta - Diesel/Elec
Max Difference (CWD/ELECTRIC)
US EU
Table 3, Cost savings for a typical well (USD)
Noise Pollution
A result of the new shift to unconventional energy sources (Shale oil, Shale gas, Geothermal sources) has resulted in more wells being drilled in built up areas. A result of drilling close to houses is that the local populations do not allow for noisy drilling operations. This has resulted in some areas in rigs requiring to be completely built in (Los Angeles), or requiring temporary sound proofing.
For two geothermal wells drilled in the centre of the Hague (the Netherlands), intensive noise studies have been done to evaluate the potential impact of the drilling rig (figure 8). Due to the LOC 400s design, most major noise producers are at ground level, including the drawworks. A notable exception being the top drive. To further reduce noise levels, the rig drilled from the local power grid instead of gen-sets.
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Well Location
Figure 8, Well location in the Hague Large building on the left is a hospital
Noise studies were completed; measurements were taken and extrapolated to the distance of housing from the worksite. Noise levels had to be kept under 50 dB within the houses 35m away. These noise studies were completed while working from the gen-sets on wells in the centre and in the north of the Netherlands (table 4). 50dBa is the noise equivalent to a quiet street, in comparison 60dB is a normal conversation.
The results have led to the rig requiring minimal sound proofing to deflect the noise caused by the top drive cooling fan. The slim design of the mast has enabled minimal sound proofing to be built and easily installed on the rig.
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Table 4, Noise profile of the LOC 400 drilling rig at 300m
Site impact
The LOC 400 was designed for a minimal location size. Minimizing the location size also minimizes the impact to local ecologies around the drill site. The containerized design also allows for adapting the layout of the rig to its location, and for standard truck transportation. This leads to smaller access roads on top of minimizing the location size.
The LOC 400 footprint is approximately300 feet by 600 feet, but can be adapted to specific constraints caused by geography, housing, etc.
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It can be expected that the importance of the environmental performance of drilling rigs will grow to be an important decision factor for choosing rigs or even allowing a well programme to be executed. Through careful design, the environmental impact of a drilling rig can be minimised while still maintaining high drilling performance.
Through the design of a drilling rig, the following environmental improvements can be achieved compared to the use of more traditional equipment: Lower carbon foot print through Containerization Quick rig moves Less time on well (improved drilling performance) Casing drilling Noise mitigated through: Main noise producers at ground level Ability to work from main power grid Sound wall around site and on mast and top drive Horizontal setback of drill pipe Rig built to work from grid, which can be run from renewable resources
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GuidelinesConcerningtheApplicationofSelectiveCatalyticReduction(SCR)TechnologiesforDrilling andProductionApplicationsGuidelinestoReduceNOxEmissions Nitrogenoxides(NOx)areformedwhennitrogen(N2)andoxygen(O2)arecombinedathigh temperaturesandpressureduringthecombustionoffuel.Allfuels,suchasgasoline,diesel,biodiesel, propane,coal,andethanol,emitNOxwhenburned.TheEPAestimatesthat49%ofNOxemissionscome fromonroadandoffroadvehicles,27%frompowergeneration(electricutilities)andtheremaining 24%fromindustrial,commercialandresidentialsources.Duetothemanycompoundsthatareapartof NOx(predominantlynitrogendioxideandnitricoxide),thepollutantcontributestoawidevarietyof healthandenvironmentalproblems.NOxisalsoamaincomponentofgroundlevelozoneand contributestoglobalwarming.SincethepassageoftheCleanAirActin1970,allprimaryairpollutants havedecreasedexceptNOx,whichhasincreasedby10%.Duetoitsserioushealthandenvironmental impact,thereductionofNOxinouratmospherehasnowbecomeamajorfocusinthefightagainstair pollution. ExposuretodieselPMmayresultinbothcancerandnoncancerhealtheffects.Noncancerhealth effectsfromoneormoreofthesecompoundsmayincludeirritationtotheeyesandlungs,allergic reactionsinthelungs,asthmaexacerbation,bloodtoxicity,immunesystemdysfunction,and developmentaldisorders. In2004theEPAintroducedstringentairemissionstandardsforonroadvehicles.Anypreexisting vehicleisnotrequiredtocomplywiththesenewerstandards.Dieselvehiclesfromoldermodelyears willhavehighernonmethanehydrocarbonandparticulatematteremissions. Typically,dieselretrofitinvolvestheadditionofanemissioncontroldevicetoremoveemissionsfrom theengineexhaust.Retrofitscanbeveryeffectiveatreducingemissions,eliminatingupto90percentof pollutantsinsomecases.Someexamplesofemissioncontroldevicesusedfordieselretrofitinclude dieseloxidationcatalysts,dieselparticulatefilters,NOxcatalysts,selectivecatalyticreduction,and exhaustgasrecirculation.Devicestocontrolcrankcaseemissionsalsoexist. Significantimprovementindieselemissionlevels,inbothlightandheavydutyengines,wasachievedin the19702000period.PM,NOx,andHCemissionswerecutbyoneorderofmagnitude.Mostofthat progresswasachievedbyemissionconsciousenginedesign,suchasthroughchangesinthecombustion chamberdesign,improvedfuelsystems,implementationoflowtemperaturechargeaircooling,and specialattentiontolubeoilconsumption. However,moreprogresswasstillrequired,astheNOxandPMemissionsfromdieselsremainedhigher thanthosefromSparkIgnited(SI)engines.Anewseriesofdieselemissionregulationswasdeveloped withimplementationdatesaround20052010,whichrequiretheintroductionofexhaustgas aftertreatmenttechnologiesindieselengines,aswellasfuelqualitychangesandadditionalengine improvements.
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Technology EngineDesignTechnologies FuelInjectionSystem ChargeAirSystem CombustionChamber ElectronicControl
EmissionImpact Significance
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~90%PMreduction, ~75%NOxreduction, largereductionsin HC/COemissions achievedinthe1980 1990timeframe
Combinationofthese enginedesigntechniques wasthemajorsourceof dieselemissionreduction throughtheendof1990s; Potentialforfurther emissionreductionsinthe future Lightdutyvehicles;Major heavydutyengine applicationsfrom2002 (USA)
ExhaustGasRecirculation
3050%+NOx reduction
Fuel,Oil&AdditiveTechnologies Fuel&LubeOil Onlylimiteddirect emissionimpactin modernengines Sulfurcontentremainsthe criticalpropertyduetoits effectoncatalytic aftertreatment technologies Shortterm:emission drivennichemarkets;Long term:criticalimportance duetodepletionof petroleumreserves Possibleusetoassist particulatefilter regeneration
AlternativeDieselFuels
Variable,depending onfuelandemission
FuelAdditives
Smallemissioneffect withmodernengines andqualitydiesel fuels
WaterAddition
1%NOxreductionfor Nichemarkets:marineand every1%addedwater stationaryengines; centrallyfueledfleets (emulsions)
ExhaustGasAftertreatment
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Technology DieselOxidationCatalyst
EmissionImpact Highreductionof HC/COemissions;PM conversiondepends onfuelsulfur,usually limitedtomaximum 2030% Significance
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WidelyusedonEuro2/3 carsandon1994andlater heavydutyurbanbus enginesintheU.S.;Will remainacomponentof futureemissioncontrol systems Potentialfuturetechnology forlightdutyengines worldwideandforheavy dutyenginesintheU.S. (2007/2010) FuturetechnologyforEuro 5heavydutydiesel engines;Currentlyusedin stationaryenginesand othernichemarkets Expectedwidespreaduse for(heavier)Euro4cars andheavydutyUS2007 engines;Currentlyusedin retrofitprogramsand voluntarydieselcar applications. Uncertain;NOxreduction potentialinsufficientfor longtermregulatory objectives
NOxAdsorberCatalysts
~90%NOxreduction potential
UreaSCRCatalysts
~90%NOxreduction
DieselParticulateFilters
7090%+PMemission reduction
LeanNOxCatalysts
NOxreduction potentialof~1020% inpassivesystems,up to50%inactive systems NOxreduction potentialupto~50%
PlasmaAssistedCatalysts
Uncertain;NOxreduction potentialinsufficientfor longtermregulatory objectives.
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport AvailableDieselRetrofitTechnologies
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EmissionsReductions Technology HC PM NOx
Fuel AdditionalInformation Requirements DOCshavean establishedrecordin thehighwaysectorand aregaininginnonroad applications.Sulfurin fuelcanimpedethe effectivenessofDOCs; therefore,thedevices requirefuelswithlow sulfurlevels.Canbe combinedwithother technologiesfor additionalPMandor NOxreductions.
DieselOxidation Catalyst(DOC)
50 90%
2550%
500ppm sulfur
DieselParticulate Filter(DPF)
50 95%
>85%
DPFsuseeither passiveoractive regenerationsystems tooxidizethePMin CBDPF thefilters.Passive ULSD;active, filtersrequirehigher nonCBDPF operatingtemperature 500ppm toworkproperly. Filtersrequire maintenance.Canbe combinedwithNOx retrofittechnologies. Filtrationefficiencyis lowerthanDPF,butis muchlesslikelytoplug underunfavorable conditions,suchashigh engineoutPM emissionsandlow exhausttemperatures.
Flowthrough Filter(FTF)
50 95%
30 >60%
500ppm sulfur
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Technology HC LeanNOxCatalyst (LNC)withaDPF PM
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EmissionsReductions NOx 5 30%
Fuel AdditionalInformation Requirements VerifiedLNCsare alwayspairedwitha DPForaDOC. Commoninstationary applications.Require periodicrefillingofan ammoniaorureatank. OftenusedwithaDOC orDPFtoreducePM emissions. Bothlowpressureand highpressureEGR systemsexist,butlow pressureEGRisused forretrofitapplications becauseitdoesno requireengine modifications.The feasibilityoflow pressureEGRismore ofanissuewith nonroadequipment thanonroad equipment. Usuallypairedwitha DOCorDPF.
>85%
ULSD
SelectiveCatalytic Reduction(SCR)
80%
2030%
80%
500ppm sulfur
ExhaustGas Recirculation (EGR)withaDPF
>85%
40 50%
ULSD
ClosedCrankcase Ventilation(CCV)
510%
500ppm
Thearrayofemissioncontrolmethodsprovidesthedesignerwithbuildingblockswhichneedtobe chosenandcombinedintotheemissioncontrolsystem,whichinturnisintegratedwiththeengineto achieveagivenemissiontarget.Asystemapproachisnecessarytodevelopthecleanemissiondiesel engine.Thereisnomiraculousplugindeviceavailablewhichcouldbeinstalledonaparticularengine andeffectivelycleanemissions.Aneffectiveemissioncontrolstrategyhastocombineelementsof enginedesignwiththeuseofappropriatefuelsandexhaustaftertreatmentmethods.
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Selectivecatalyticreduction(SCR)ofNOxbynitrogencompounds,suchasammoniaorureacommonly referredtoassimplySCRhasbeendevelopedforandwellproveninlargescaleindustrialstationary applications.TheSCRtechnologywasfirstappliedinthermalpowerplantsinJapaninthelate1970s, followedbywidespreadapplicationinEuropesincethemid1980s.IntheUSA,SCRsystemswere introducedforgasturbinesinthe1990s,withincreasingpotentialforNOxcontrolfromcoalfiredpower plants.Inadditiontocoalfiredcogenerationplantsandgasturbines,SCRapplicationsalsoincludeplant andrefineryheatersandboilersinthechemicalprocessingindustry,furnaces,cokeovens,aswellas municipalwasteplantsandincinerators.Thelistoffuelsusedintheseapplicationsincludesindustrial gases,naturalgas,crudeoil,lightorheavyoil,andpulverizedcoal.[1] SCRistheonlyprovencatalysttechnologycapableofreducingdieselNOxemissionstolevelsrequiredby anumberoffutureemissionstandards.UreaSCRhasbeenselectedbyanumberofmanufacturersas thetechnologyofchoiceformeetingtheEuroV(2008)andtheJP2005NOxlimitsbothequalto2 g/kWhforheavydutytruckandbusengines.Firstcommercialdieseltruckapplicationswerelaunched in2004byNissanDieselinJapanandbyDaimlerChryslerinEurope. SCRsystemsarealsobeingdevelopedintheUSAinthecontextofthe2010NOxlimitof0.2g/bhphrfor heavydutyengines,aswellastheTier2NOxstandardsforlightdutyvehicles. Thetechnologiesandstrategiesbeingdevelopedforthe2007/2010heavydutyhighwaydieselengine andTier4nonroaddieselenginestandardsmaybeapplicablestationarydieselenginesprovided adequateleadtimeisgiven.Theissueistomatchtherighttechnologiestotherightapplications. Reductionofemissionsisinfluencedbythedutycycleoftheengine.
[1]
Cobb,D.,etal.,1991."ApplicationofSelectiveCatalyticReduction(SCR)TechnologyforNOxReductionFromRefinery CombustionSources",EnvironmentalProgress,10,pg.49.
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport ReducedFracturingFootprints
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Oneofthedeliverablesinthistaskwastoidentifytechnologiesthatwillreducetheoverall environmentalimpactoffracturingwells.EFDidentifiedanumberofnoveltechnologiesthat accomplishthisgoalandhasincludedtheseinreports,presentations,sponsorbriefings;industryefforts topromoteenvironmentallysoundpracticeswhichcanbefoundintheEFDwebsite,avarietyof industrypublications,theEnergyInDepthandintheBestManagementPracticeswebsite. Theindustryisnowmoreawareandisapplyingmethodstoreducetheenvironmentalimpactwhich includesareaandsitespecificmethods;thiscanincludeportableonsitetreatment,theuseofpad systemswherethewatertransportedbytemporarypipelinestoacentralareareducingtrucktraffic, reducethepadsizeandassociatedenvironmentalimpacts;andtheuseofnovelfluidsandprocedures. Summary&Accomplishments: TheEFDprojectteamhasbecomearesourcefortheindustry,regulatorsandenvironmental organizationsonwaterandfracturingissues.Thiswokhasjustifiedtheplannedrelatedactivitiesinthe TechnologyIntegrationProgram. EFDidentifieda2010RPSEAprojectfromtheSmallProducerProgramentitled,CreatingFracturesPast DamageMoreEffectivelywithLessEnvironmentalDamage.Thisprojectsuccessfullydemonstrated viabilityofanovelfracturingtreatment(NFT)bysynthesizingsuitablepolymersforarangeof temperatureapplications,confirmingtheirperformanceinthelab,anddevelopingwellselectioncriteria forNFTapplication.EFDworkedwiththecontractorsCSITechnologies,DaniMerScientificandTexas A&Minthiseffort.ThistechnologyhasamuchbroaderapplicationthantheRPSEAsmallproducers program.EFDhasworkedwithCSIonthisprojectandhastransferredthisconcepttoindustryfor application.InJuly2012RPSEAchosetofundanadditionalefforttodemonstrateawellstimulation processtoincreaseproductionand/orultimatehydrocarbonrecoveryfromareservoirinan environmentallyfriendlymanner.Thenovelfracturetechnology(NFT)conceptidentifieduses degradablebiopolymersloadedwithproppantinplaceoftraditionalcrosslinkedfracturefluids.The NFTleavesaresiduefreefluidofenvironmentallybenignmaterialsthateliminatespermeabilityloss, deliversoptimumproppantpack,andrequiresignificantlylessenergyandfluidvolumethan conventionaltreatments. Theenvironmentaladvantagesofthisprocessincludethesmallfootprintrequiredinthecompletion process,reducedtraffic,emissions,noise,andpersonnel.Thiswillalsohaveapositiveimpacttoreduce theenvironmentimpactsforrecompletionsandremedialtreatments.
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Papersand/orPresentationsandotherTechnologyTransferEfforts: TheEFDwebsiteandtheIntermountainOilandGasBMPsiteprovidesstakeholderswithinformationon successfulmethodstoreducethefootprintoffracturingfootprints.ThePTTChaspublishednumerous referencestotheEFDprogramandinparticulartothistask. Specificreferencesinclude: SPE152189EcofriendlyCreationofProppedHydraulicFractures,PresentedattheSPEHydraulic FracturingTechnologyConferenceintheWoodlands2/68/2012.BYCSI,DanimerandCook. TheEFDprogramsupportedtwoTAMUUndergraduatesFernandezandGunterwhopublishedaWhite paperthatisontheEFDwebsite:HydraulicFracturing:EnvironmentallyFriendlyPractices.The summaryandrecommendationsfromthatreportinclude: Severalpotentialenvironmentalissuescanbeassociatedwithhydraulicfracturing,includingair emissionsfromtrucktraffic,highwaterusage,theuseofdangerouschemicalsinfracturingfluid,andthe impactonnaturefromthesizeofpadsites.Severalnewtechnologiesandgoodmanagementpractices thatareconsideredenvironmentallyfriendlyarealsoeconomicallyefficientandplausible. Closedloopdrillingandfracturingshouldbeusedfordecreasingwaterusage,trucktrafficandmileage, andtodecreasetheprobabilityofspillsofchemicalfluidsintosurfaceand/orgroundwater. Withthehazardouschemicalsusedinhydraulicfracturing,itisimperativethattheindustry, environmentalgroupsandregulatorsworktogethertofindmoreenvironmentallyfriendlychemicalsto use. Paddrillingshouldbeusedtodecreasetheamountofsurfaceareatakenbypadsites,whichwould decreasetheimpactonthenaturearounditandtheoveralllandscapeoftheregion. Centralizedfracturingshouldbeusedtodecreasethetrucktrafficthatcomesthroughlocationsby fracturingseveralwellsfromasingle,remotepadlocation. Successfulenvironmentallyfriendlyoperationsoftenusecombinationsofgoodmanagementpractices. LaterRigzonepublishedanarticleon9/6/11onthisstudy.Thispaperdocumentssomeofthe successfulpractices.Thispaperpointsoutthatapracticethatisusedincombinationwithpaddrillingis centralizedfracturing.Theconceptisverysimilartopaddrilling,inthatarecurringprocessiscompleted severaltimesfromacentrallocation.Thispracticereducestheamountoftrucktrafficthatcomes throughsitesbecausetheentireprocessiscompletedfromonelocation.Itcanalsobeusedin combinationwithpaddrillingand/orclosedloopfracturingsystemstosignificantlyreducetheuseof freshwaterandfurtherdecreasethevolumeoftrucktraffic. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Centralizedfracturingusesfracpumpslocatedonremote,centralpadsthatcanpumpfracwaterto remotesites.Linesarerunfromthepumpsatthecentralpadtoeachindividualwellsite.Thepumps allowforpumpingthefracfluidsthousandsoffeetawayfromthecentralpad(Optimizing2011).In somelocations,ithasevenbeenrecordedasfracturingupto140wells,evenwellsupto3milesaway fromthecentrallocation.Similartoothergoodmanagementpractices,centralizedfracturingalso reducesthetimespentperwellpreparingforproduction Encanacompletedacentralizedlocationforwaterusedforfracturingandtreatment,savingcostand loweringEnviornmentalimpact.TheEnvironmentalAssessmentofthisprojecttotheBureauofLand Managementisanexcellentpaperonthesystemsplan. TheEFDteamhasidentifiedGasFracasatechnologyusingLPGfracturingwhichhasdemonstrated significantbenefitinwellperformanceandareductioninenvironmentalimpactrelativetoconventional wellfracturing.PapersincludeJCPT,December2007,Volume47,No.12,LiquidPetroleumGas FracturingFluidsforUnconventionalGasReservoirs;SPE124480;SPE144093;SPE111063. References: WeconcurwitharecentreportonfracturingbyDavidPursell,ManagingDirectorHeadofMacro Research,Tudor,Pickering,Holt&Co.SecuritiesInc. 1.Hydraulicfracturingorfracingisunlikelytobebanned.Giventhescientificevidenceavailable todayandtheeconomicimpactofshuttingdownshalegasdrilling,wedontseeanoutrightbansticking federally,norinNewYorkorPennsylvania,andcertainlynotintheenergypatchesoftheGulfCoastand theWest. 2.ThethreatofnewfederaloversightismoreseriousinthewakeoftheBPoilspilldisaster.Ifyou thinknoonewillconnectdeepwateroiltoonshoreshale,thinkagain.Boththeoilspillandrecentgas drillingaccidentsspotlighttheinherentlydifficultnatureoftheoilandgasbusinessandtarnished industrycredibility. 3.Whetherornotthefedstakecharge,complianceandenvironmentalcostswillincrease.Theadded tabperwell,withoutfederalregulation,couldreach$200,000to$500,000,ontopofcurrentcostsper wellbetween$2.5millionand$10million.IfCongressdoesmandateEPAoversightoffracing,the industrypredictsfurthercostsof$125,000to$250,000perwell.Wethinkcostscouldbelessthanthat, givenchangescompaniesaremakingvoluntarily. 4.AnEPAstudyonfracingisjustgettingunderwayandcouldslowdownthelegislativetrain.The agencyaimstofinishthestudyin2012.Wethinkitcouldtakelonger,upto2013.TheEPAstudymay endupasapositiveforproducers,bybuyingtimetoachievewideradoptionofdrillingbestpractices.
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5.TheEPAstudywillmostlikelyidentifyriskstopublichealthfromsloppydrillingpractices.We expecttheagencytocallforbetterwelldesignandmaterialshandling.Statesarealreadystiffeningtheir standardsinanefforttoheadofffederalaction. 6.WhiletheEPAstudycontinues,oppositiontofracingandgasdrillingwillescalate,notdiedown. Attackingnaturalgashasbecomeakeystrategicgoalofmanyenvironmentalorganizations.Amonga varietyofreasonswidescaleadoptionofnewlyabundant,cheapnaturalgasthrowsoffamassembrace ofrenewableenergyforageneration. 7.Thenationalconversationaboutfracingwillcontinuetobeloadedwithdisingenuousarguments frombothsides.Environmentalistsusethetermfracingforallegedsinsnotdirectlytiedtothe completiontechnique.Theyareclaimingthereisnooversightfordrillingthatstates,infact,doregulate. Theyclaimthereisnoinformationaboutthecontentoffracfluids,whenmuchofitisdisclosedto regulators.Theindustryisguiltyoflackofrigortoo.Itrepeatsthemantrathatnotasinglecasehas tiedhydraulicfracturingtodrinkingwatercontamination.Maybetrue,butspills,wellblowoutsand inadequatetreatmentofflowbackwaternoneofitfracingpersehavecausedtroubleforsome communitiesandimpactedsomewatersupplies. 8.Overtime,theconversationwillshiftfromahardtoproveallegationthatfracingfluidscan migratefromdeepundergroundtocontaminateshallowaquiferstoabroader,moreaddressableset ofobjections. TheEFDeffortsarealsoreferencedinanumberofpublications.AnexampleisfromEliGruber,Ecologix CompanywhopublishedanarticleRethinkingtechnologiesforsaferfracingintheOilandGas FinancialJournal,Volume9article6:wherethearticlestated: Withwatertreatmentpredictedtoincreaseninefoldto$9billionby2020,theadvancementof innovativeandgroundbreakingtechnologieswillexpandtomeettheindustry'sneed.LuxResearch recentlyrevealedafewkeycompaniesthatareworkingtorevolutionizefracingthroughinnovative watertreatmentprocesses: Ascompaniessetouttorevolutionizetheindustrywithnewwatertreatmentsolutions,we'veobserved thatthemostcosteffectivetreatmentsystemsmustbebasedonamobileplatform. Mobilewastewatertreatmentsystemsallowfordrillingcompaniestooperateoffthegrid,whichisa valuabletimeandmoneysavingstrategy.Mobilejustmakesalotofsenseinanindustrywherejobsites areconstantlymoving. Anothersolutionisonthebrinkofrevolutionizingtheindustry.TheHoustonAdvancedResearchCenter (HARC)andPetrisTechnologyofHoustonwillbeteamingtogethertocommercializeageographic informationsystem(GIS)thatwillhelppredictandpreventecologicalharmfromdrillingoperations. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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Thesystemwillenabletheformulationoflandusebenchmarkstoassistintheoptimalplacementof wells,roads,gatheringlines,andothernecessaryinfrastructure.OGFJ WorkbeingdonebyEFDissupportedbyapaper:EstimatingFracRiskandImprovingFracPerformance inUnconventionalGasandOilWells.GeorgeE.King,ApacheCorporation,8November2011;Societyof PetroleumEngineersSPE152596attheHydraulicFracturingConferenceinTheWoodlands,TX.68 February2012.Theauthorstatedthat:Transparencyrequirescooperationfromallsidesinthedebate. Toenablemoretransparencyontheoilandgasside,bothtoassistintheunderstandingofoilandgas activitiesandtosetafoundationforrationaldiscussionoffracturingrisks,adetailedexplanationofwell developmentactivitiesisofferedinthispaper,fromwellconstructiontoproduction,writtenatalevelof generalpublicunderstanding,alongwithaninitialestimationoffracriskandalternativestoreducethe risk,documentedbyliteratureandcasehistories.KingreferencedseveraloftheEFDstudiesandpapers byBurnettandothersinthispaper.
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CollaborativeEffortBetweenSamHoustonStateUniversityandTexasA&MUniversity:Measuring Effectiveness WithsupportfromtheEFDproject,ourteamconductedaseriesofstudiesaimedatmeasuringthe effectivenessofanEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingprogram.Focusgroups,interviews,andhousehold surveyswereusedtocollectdatainmultiplestudysitesaroundtheUnitedStateswhereenergy developmentisorisquicklybecominganintegralpartofthelocalsociety.Thesesitesincluded communitieswithinTexas,Utah,NewYork,andPennsylvania.Whiletheresultsfromthesestudies pertainingtopublicperceptionandsocialimpactsaredetailedinthepaperslistedbelow(andwere sharedinthepresentations),wewillhighlighttwoofthemorepertinentfindings/recommendations: First,ineachstudy,thefindingsrevealedthatover8in10individualsbelievedthatnaturalgas operatorsmustadoptandusemoreenvironmentallyfriendlydrillingpractices.And,thedatafromone oftheTexasstudiesrevealedthatanoverwhelmingmajorityofcitizensareinfavorofeliminatingor relaxinggovernmentalregulationsthatlimitoilandnaturalgasdevelopmentexplorationandproduction inenvironmentallysensitivesettingsastheenergyindustryadoptsandusesamoreenvironmentally friendlyapproachtodevelopment.Therealityisthatanincreasingnumberofindustryoperatorsare currentlystrivingtosatisfyenergydemandswhilesafeguardingthenaturalenvironment.Operatorsare producinghydrocarbonsusinganenvironmentallyfriendlyapproachtoenergydevelopment,which includesadvancesinareassuchas:rigtechnology,drillingtechnology,wastemanagement,lowimpact accessandtransport,andpollutioncontrol.However,thefindingsfromourstudiessuggestthatthe environmentallyfriendlydrillingpracticesusedbyoperatorsarenotfullyrecognizedorunderstoodby thepublic.Inshort,theenergyindustrymustdoabetterjobofeducatingthepublicaboutitslow impacttechnologies.Concomitantly,though,industrymustrecognizethatitalonewillnotchangepublic (mis)perceptions.Oilandnaturalgasproducersandservicecompaniesmustpartnerandworkwith governmentandregulatoryagenciesiftheyaretocorrectmisconceptionsandgainthepublicstrust. TheEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystemsProgramisaprimeexampleofthiseffort. Second,basedonourstudies,weproposethatenergyoperatorsmustmakeamoreconcertedeffortto communicateopenlywiththepublicandenhanceinvolvementatthecommunitylevel.Localresidents needtobeinformedaboutlocalenergydevelopments.Opencommunication,includingfulldisclosure aboutthepotentiallypositiveaspectsandnegativeconsequencesofenergydevelopment,islikelyto reducethechancesofrumorsandinaccuraciesaboutcurrentactivitiesandproposeddevelopments. Moreover,findingwaystoworkwithandgivebacktocommunitieswillcontributetotheconnection betweenlocalresidentsandtheenergyindustryand,inturn,maydecreasecommunitydissatisfaction andincreasesupportofindustryoperations.Sucheffortswillsurelymeaninvestmentsintimeand money.Failuretodoso,however,mayprovetobeevenmoretimeconsumingandcostly.
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport InvitedResearchBasedPresentations
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Theodori,GeneL.2012(April27).PublicReactiontoShaleGasDevelopment.Presentationdelivered attheCenterforResearchExcellenceinScienceandTechnologyResearchonEnvironmental SustainabilityinSemiAridCoastalAreas(CRESTRESSACA)EnvironmentalandEnergy SustainabilityConference.Houston,TX. Theodori,GeneL.2012(April25).AssessingOppositionandSupportforShaleGasDevelopment. PresentationdeliveredattheSocietyofPetroleumEngineersReducingEnvironmentalImpact ofUnconventionalResourceDevelopmentAppliedTechnologyWorkshop.SanAntonio,TX. Theodori,GeneL.2012(April10).WaterManagementinOil&GasUnconventionalDevelopments:A SociologicalPerspective.Plenarypresentationdeliveredatthe2012AmericanAssociationof DrillingEngineersFluidsTechnicalConferenceandExhibition.Houston,TX. Theodori,GeneL.2011(August9).CaseStudy:FindingsforthePublicsWillingnesstoAdopt PurificationofOil&GasWastewaters.Presentationdeliveredatthe7thAnnualPracticalShort CourseonWaterDesalination,ProcessandWastewaterIssues&Technologies.CollegeStation, TX. Theodori,GeneL.2011(May18).PublicPerceptionofOil&GasIndustry.Presentationdeliveredat theEastTexasEnergyExpo.Center,TX. Theodori,GeneL.2011(January27).SociologyofUrbanDrilling.Presentationdeliveredatthe InternationalAssociationofDrillingContractorsOilandGasShaleDrillingTechnologyWorkshop. Houston,TX. Theodori,GeneL.2010(October22).NaturalGasDevelopmentandSocialWellBeing.Presentation deliveredatthePennsylvaniaStateUniversity,DepartmentofAgriculturalEconomicsandRural Sociology,M.E.JohnLectureSeries.UniversityPark,PA. Theodori,GeneL.2010(August10).FindingsforthePublicsWillingnesstoAdoptDesalination (Purification)ofOilfieldBrine.Presentationdeliveredatthe6thAnnualPracticalShortCourse onWaterDesalination,ProcessandWastewaterIssues&Technologies.CollegeStation,TX. Theodori,GeneL.2010(March3).NaturalResources,EnergyDevelopmentandPolicy:Technological andSociologicalConsiderations.PresentationdeliveredatCenterforEnvironmentalResearch, Education,andOutreach,WashingtonStateUniversity.Pullman,WA. Theodori,GeneL.2009(August).FindingsforthePublicsWillingnesstoAdoptDesalination (Purification)ofOilfieldBrine.Presentationdeliveredatthe5thAnnualPracticalShortCourse onWaterDesalination,ProcessandWastewaterIssues&Technologies.CollegeStation,TX.
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Theodori,GeneL.2009(June).PublicOpinionResearchonUrbanGasDrillers.Presentationdelivered attheShaleEnergySymposium.FortWorth,TX. Theodori,GeneL.2009(April).PublicPerceptionofShalePlays.Presentationdeliveredatthe4th AnnualDevelopingUnconventionalGasConference.FortWorth,TX. Proceedings Haut,RichardC.,DavidBurnett,TomWilliams,GeneTheodori.2010.BalancingEnvironmental TradeoffsAssociatedwithLowImpactDrillingSystemstoProduceUnconventionalNaturalGas Resources,CSUG/SPE137430.ProceedingsoftheCanadianUnconventionalResources& InternationalPetroleumConference.Richardson,TX:SPE. Theodori,GeneL.andDouglasJacksonSmith.2010.PublicPerceptionoftheOilandGasIndustry:The Good,theBad,andtheUgly,SPE134253.Proceedingsofthe2010SocietyofPetroleum EngineersAnnualTechnicalConferenceandExhibition.Richardson,TX:SPE.
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APPENDIXListofReferences
Publications 2012 1. RigzoneArticles: a.FirstMoversinEcoDrilling:GoingDopeless,25April2012. b.FirstMoversinGreenDrillingSeries,23March2012. c.FirstMoversinEcoDrilling:WhattoDowithThosePeskyDrillCuttings,21March2012. d.TheGreatCrewChangeMeetsEcoDrilling:DisappearingRoads,15February2012. 2. HartE&PTechbookArticle: a.EnvironmentallyFriendlyNoLongeranOxymorontoOilandGas,August,2012. 2. C.E. Cooke, Jr., SPE, Cooke Law Firm; J.T. Watters, SPE and L.T. Watters, SPE, CSI Technologies, LLC;S.R.Wann,DanimerScientific,LLC;D.Zhu,SPEandY.S.Hwang,SPE,TexasA&MUniversity (2012). "EcoFriendly Creation of Propped Hydraulic Fractures" paper SPE 152189 presented at theSPEHydraulicFracturingTechnologyConference,06Feb12,TheWoodlands,TX. Haut, R.C. Ph.D, Houston Advanced Research Center, Williams, T. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program. Reducing Environmental Tradeoffs Along Texas Coastal Areas. PresentedattheGCAGS201262ndAnnualConventioninAustin,TX. Horner, Robert. The Evolving Regulatory Landscapes of Shale Gas Development, paper to be presentedattheWesternEnergyPolicyResearchConference,Boise,ID,August3031,2012. Murphy, David and Harto, Christopher. Survey of Existing Environmentally Friendly Drilling Technologies,BestPracticesandResearch,Argonnetechnicalreport,underreview. Theodori, Gene L. Public Perception of the Natural Gas Industry: Data from Two Barnett Shale Counties.EnergySources,PartB:Economics,PlanningandPolicy7:275281.
3.
4.
5.
6.
2011 1. RigzoneArticles: a.FirstMoversinEcoDrilling:GreenerResultstobeClicksAway,21December2011. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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b.FirstMoversinGreenDrilling:LowFootprintRigs,17November2011. c.HautSpearheadsGreenDrillingMovement,3October2011. d. Analysis: Research Group Defines Best Fracking Practices to Ease Concerns, 6 September2011. 2. HartE&PArticles: a.EFDProgramExpands,1October2011. 3. DrillingContractorArticles: a.Drillingautomation:Isresistancefutile?,6July2011 b. JIP aims to minimize environmental risks, coastal impact through technology, 24 May 2011. 4. DiscoverMagazineArticle a.FrackingNation,May2011. 5. EFDTeamquotedbythepress: a. Producers find environmentallyfriendly technology can boost bottom line, Midland ReporterTelegram,16November2011. b.DotEarth:AFrackingMethodWithFewerWaterWoes?,NewYorkTimes,8November 2011. c.ShaleGasFrackingWithouttheHazards,DailyYonder,8November2011. d.NewWaterlessFrackingMethodAvoidsPollutionProblems,ButDrillersSlowtoEmbrace It,AlbanyTimesUnion,6November2011. 6. Alonzo, J. and Stuver, S., Hydraulic Fracturing Phase Emissions Profile (Air Emissions Field Survey No. 1, Texas A&M Technology Commercial Applications Technology Technical Report to the EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingProgram,December,2011. Platt, F. M, Burnett, D. B., Vavra, C.J. Pretreatment Options for Frac Flowback brine, Plant TestingofOilRemovalMaterials,CSUG/SPE147417,presentedCalgary,CA.,November,2011. Mutz,K.M.,Rice,K.L.,Walker,L.,Palomaki,A.C.,Yost,K.D.:BMPsforMinimizingEnvironmental Impacts: A Resource for Communities, Government and Industry, paper SPE 147503 presented attheSPEAnnualTechnicalConferenceandExhibition,Denver,CO,30October2November.
7.
8.
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport 9.
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Theodori, G.L., Avalos, M.E., Burnett, D.B., and Veil, J.A.: Public Perception of Desalinated Water from Oil and Gas Field Operations: A Replication Journal of Rural Social Sciences 26(1):92106,2011. McLeroy,K.M.DeterminationofTotalOrganicCarbonsinDifficultSampleMatricesUtilizingthe Supercritical WaterOxidation TOC Procedure EPA Proceedings of the Technical Workshops for theHydraulicFracturingStudy:Chemical&AnalyticalMethods,May2011. Quinlan, E., van Kuilenburg, R., Williams, T., Thonhauser, G.: The Impact of Rig Design and Drilling Methods on the Environmental Impact of Drilling Operations, paper AADE11NTCE61 presented at the 2011 AADE National Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston, TX, 1214 April2011. Haut, R.C., Williams, T., Theordori, G., Slutz, J.: Balancing Environmental, Societal and Energy Production Issues, extended abstract presented at the Australian Petroleum Production and ExplorationAssociation(APPEA)2011Conference,1013April2011. Gentry, B., JacksonSmith, D., Belton, L., Theodori, G.: Assessing Opportunities and Barriers to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in Utahs Uintah Basin, whitepaperpublishedonwww.efdsystems.org,April2011. Stuver, S., Burnett, D. B., Haut, R. Reducing Water Needs in Energy Production and Lowering Environmental Footprint of Oil and Gas Development, Report to City of San Antonio, Texas. April,2011. Burnett, D.B., McDowell, J., Scott, J.B., Dolan, C.: Field Site Testing of Low Impact Oil Field Access Roads: Reducing the Environmental Footprint in Desert Ecosystems, paper SPE142139 PP presented at the SPE Americas E&P Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Conference, Houston,TX,2123March2011. Haut, R.C.: We Can Minimize Negative SideEffects of Shale Drilling, Houston Chronicle, 12 February2011. Burnett, D. B. Advanced Membrane Filtration Technology for CostEffective Recovery of Fresh Water from Oil and Gas Produced Brine, U.S. Department of Energy National Environmental TechnologyLaboratory27279NETL,2011.
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20092010 1. Haut, R.C., Burnett, D., Williams, T., Theodori, G.: Balancing Environmental Tradeoffs Associated with Low Impact Drilling Systems to Produce Unconventional Natural Gas Resources, paper CSUG/SPE1337430PP presented at the Canadian Unconventional Resources & International PetroleumConference,Calgary,Alberta,Canada,1921October2010. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
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2. Haut, R.C., Bergan, J.F., Judy, J., and Price, L.: Living in Harmony Gas Production and the Attwaters Prairie Chicken, paper SPE133652PP presented at the SPE Annual Technical ConferenceandExhibition,Florence,Italy,1922September2010. 3. Veil,J.A.,Puder,M.G,Bruno,M.,andFleming,C.:RegulatoryConsiderations,chapterinSocietyof Petroleum Engineers Monograph Vol 24, Solids Injection of Exploration and Production Wastes, N. NagelandJ.McLennan,eds.,September2010. 4. Produced Water Volume Estimates and Management Practices, manuscript accepted September 21,2010forpublicationinupcomingissueofSPEProductionandOperations. 5. Veil, J.A., Clark, C.E.: Produced Water Volume Estimates and Management Practices, manuscript acceptedSeptember21,2010forpublicationinupcomingissueofSPEProductionandOperations. 6. Pickett, A.: Technologies, Methods Reflect Industry Quest to Reduce Drilling Footprint, American Oil&GasReporter,July2010,pp.7181. 7. Haut, R.C. and Fischer, M.W.: Cooperative Efforts Lead to Safer Operations, Harts E&P, January 2010,pp.3233. 8. Redden, J.: Drilling Advances: Is Green Drilling on the Horizon? World Oil, December 2009, Vol. 230No.12. 9. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program to Reduce Impact of Operations on Ecosystems, NETL E&PFocus,Winter2009Oil&NaturalGasProgramNewsletter. 10. Haut, R.C. and Dishaw, R.: Shoulder/Thread Verifier System Uses Thermal Imaging to Detect PotentialConnectionProblems,DrillingContractor,November/December2009,pp.6873. 11. Clark, M. and Hotby, Q.: Prevention Technology Can Help Drilling, Service Rigs to Minimize EnvironmentalFootprintattheSource,DrillingContractor,November/December2009,pp.7479. 12. Mutz,K.andHaut,R.:BestPracticesDatabaseReducesImpactofDrilling,Production,April,2010. 13. Theodori, Gene L., Mona E. Avalos, David B. Burnett, and John A. Veil. (forthcoming). Public Perception of Desalinated Water from Oil and Gas Field Operations: A Replication Journal of Rural SocialSciences. 14. Theodori, Gene L. and Douglas JacksonSmith. 2010 (September). Public Perception of the Oil and GasIndustry:The Good,theBad,andtheUgly,paperSPE134253presented atthe2010Societyof PetroleumEngineersAnnualTechnicalConferenceandExhibition.Florence,Italy. 15. Theodori, Gene L. 2009. Paradoxical Perceptions of Problems Associated with Unconventional NaturalGasDevelopment.SouthernRuralSociology24(3):97117.
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16. Theodori, Gene L., Brooklynn J. Wynveen, William E. Fox, and David B. Burnett. 2009. Public Perception of Desalinated Water from Oil and Gas Field Operations: Data from Texas. Society and NaturalResources22(7):674685. 17. Anderson, Brooklynn J. and Gene L. Theodori. 2009. Local Leaders Perceptions of Energy DevelopmentintheBarnettShale.SouthernRuralSociology24(1):113129.YuO.K.,MedinaCetina Z, Briaud, J.L. and Burnett, D. (2009), "Towards a Probabilistic Selection of Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems," 16th International Petroleum and Biofuels Conference, Houston TX, 35 November. 18. AlYami A.S., Schubert J., MedinaCetina Z. and Yu OY, (2010), Members Drilling Expert System for the Optimal Design and Execution of Successful Cementing Practices, Proceedings of the IADC/SPE Asia Pacific Drilling Technology Conference and Exhibition, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 13 November2010. 19. Yu O.K., MedinaCetina Z. and Briaud J.L. (2011), Towards an UncertaintyBased Design of Foundations for Onshore Oil and Gas Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) Systems, Proceedings oftheGeoFrontiersConference,DallasTXUSA,March1316. 20. Yu O.Y., MedinaCetina Z., Geikema S., Briaud J.L. and Burnet D., (under review), "Causal vs. Non Causal Selection of Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems," Journal of Economics and ManagementoftheSocietyofPetroleumEngineeringSPE. 21. Yu O.Y., MedinaCetina Z., Geikema S., Briaud J.L. and Burnet D., (under review), "RiskBased SelectionofEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling(EFD)Systems,"JournalofSystemsEngineering. 22. Burnett, D.B, Yu, O.Y., and Schubert, J.J., Well Design for Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems: Using a Graduate Student Drilling Class Team Challenge to Identify Options for Reducing Impacts, SPE/IADC119297,PreparedforpresentationattheSPE/IADCDrillingConferenceandExhibitionheld inAmsterdam,TheNetherlands,1719March2009. Presentations 2012 20120716 Utica Shale Appalachian BasinResearch Consortium (focus on industrygovernment collaborations) presented to representatives from the Shenhua Group; within the DOE FossilEnergyGlobalKnowledgeNetworkprogram. Preliminary Results on the Effect of LandUse LandCover Methods of Classification and Data Resolution on SWAT Model Predictive Ability. Poster presented at the 3rd Biennial Colloquium on Hydrologic Science and Engineering of the Consortium of Universities for theAdvancementofHydrologicScienceInc.(CUAHSI),Boulder,CO.
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Environmentally Friendly Drilling: Air & Waste Management Association Annual Conference&Exhibition,SanAntonio,TX. Assessing Opposition and Support for Energy Development in Environmentally Sensitive Areas. Presented at the 18th International Symposium on Society and ResourceManagementinEdmonton,Alberta,Canada. Best Management Practices for Oil and Gas Development. Presentation made at The InstituteforEnergyLaw3rdLawofShalePlaysConferenceinFortWorth,TX. BMPs on Public Lands: Protecting Water and Wildlife. Public Lands Committee session, Developing North Americas Oil and Gas Resources, Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission,MidyearSummit,Vancouver,B.C. TheEFDTechnologyIntegrationProgram:IOGCC,Vancouver,B.C. Developing North Americas Oil and Gas Resources. Presented at the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, Midyear Issues Summit (Public Lands Committee) in Vancouver,B.C. Ukraine Shale Gas: Environmental and Regulatory Assessment presentation at the RegionalShaleGasWorkshopinPoland,UkraineandKyiv. An ArcGISServer based framework for oil and gas E&P decision support. PowerPoint resentedattheESRIPetroleumUserGroup(PUG)Meeting,Houston,TX. Public Reaction to Shale Gas Development. Presentation delivered at the Center for Research Excellence in Science and TechnologyResearch on Environmental Sustainability in SemiArid Coastal Areas (CRESTRESSACA) Environmental and Energy SustainabilityConference.Houston,TX. Assessing Opposition and Support For Shale Gas Development. Presented at SPE Reducing Environmental Impact of Unconventional Resource Development workshop, SanAntonio,TX. Energy and the Environment: Application of Framing Theory to Gas Shale Development. Presented at SPE Reducing Environmental Impact of Unconventional Resource Developmentworkshop,SanAntonio,TX. An ArcGISServer based framework for oil and gas E&P decision support. PowerPoint presentedattheMidAmericaGISConsortiumBiennialMeeting,KansasCity,MO. The Industry Must Apply Best Practices for Shale Gas Development. Presented at SPE Reducing Environmental Impact of Unconventional Resource Development workshop, SanAntonio,TX.
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Produce Water Analytical Field Trials and Methodology Development. Presented at SPE Reducing Environmental Impact of Unconventional Resource Development workshop, SanAntonio,TX. Emissions from Oil and Gas Sites are at Risk of being Overestimated. Presented at SPE Reducing Environmental Impact of Unconventional Resource Development workshop, SanAntonio,TX. Advanced Geoprocessing with Python. Workshop presented at the MidAmerica GIS ConsortiumBiennialMeeting,KansasCity,MO. Water Management in Oil & Gas Unconventional Developments: A Sociological Perspective. Plenary presentation delivered at the 2012 American Association of DrillingEngineersFluidsTechnicalConferenceandExhibition.Houston,TX. Modeling the Effects of NonRiparian Surface Water Diversions on Flow Conditions in the Little Red Watershed. PowerPoint presented at the 2012 Fayetteville Shale Symposium,FortSmith,AR. Reading and Writing Spatial Data for the NonSpatial Programmer. Poster presented at thePyConU.S.,SantaClara,CA. UkraineShaleGas:RegulatoryandEnvironmentalReview:Washington,DC Creating A Companys Environmental Culture to Improve Performance in the Energy Industry: IADC Health, Safety, Environmental & Training Conference & Exhibition, Houston,TX. A Big Fracing Mess: An Examination of Public Perception of Hydraulic Fracturing. Presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Rural Sociological Association, Birmingham,AL. Factbased Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas Resource Development:GroundWaterProtectionCouncilUICConference,Austin,TX. Natural Gas Research and Resources at CU Boulder. Drawing the Blueprint for a Sustainable Natural Gas Future. Presented at the Museum of Nature and Science in Denver,CO.
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2011 20111213 Environmentally Friendly Drilling Programs. Presentation given at the Oklahoma UnconventionalResourcesForum,Tulsa,OK. Low Impact O&G Activity; Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems. Presentation given attheCrismanInstituteforPetroleumResearchForum,CollegeStation,TX.
20111207
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IntermountainOilandGasBestManagementPractices.PresentationgivenattheRPSEA Onshore Production Conference: Technological Keys to Unlocking Additional Reserves, Golden,CO. Reducing Environmental Footprints by Providing Unbiased Science for Policy and Cost Effective Operations. Presentation given during panel discussion at the World Shale Gas Conference&Exhibition,Houston,TX. ShaleGas TheEnergyWaterNexus. Presentedas partofthewebinarseries Hydraulic Fracturing: Fresh Facts & Critical Choices sponsored by the Clean Water for America AllianceandtheAmericanWaterResourcesAssociation. Providing Science and Solutions to Shale Development. Presentation given during special environmental panel discussion at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition,Denver,CO. Balancing Environmental Tradeoffs Clearing the Air. Presentation given at the ColoradoOilandGasAssociationWesternSlopeAnnualMeeting,GrandJunction,CO. Testimony given to the Secretary of Energy/Energy Advisory Board/Natural Gas Subcommittee.Washington,DC. Examining the Effects of Unconventional Natural Gas Development on Community Attachment,Satisfaction,andAction:DatafromtheBarnettShale.Presentationgivenat the17thInternationalSymposiumonSocietyandResourceManagement,Madison,WI. Produced Water Management and Disposal: Toward Beneficial Reuse Practices. Presentation given at the 17th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management,Madison,WI. Public Perception and Reaction to Shale Gas Development. Presentation given at the EastTexasEnergyExpo,Center,TX. Creating a Companys Environmental Culture to Improve Performance in the Energy Industry. Presentation given at the IADC Environmental Conference & Exhibition, Trinidad. Public Perceptions of Marcellus Shale Knowledge Gaps: Preliminary Findings and New Questions. Paper presented at the Marcellus Shale MultiState Academic Research Conference.Altoona,PA. EPA Technical Workshops Office of Research and for the Hydraulic Fracturing Study: Chemical&AnalyticalMethods. Reducing Environmental Footprint in Shale Gas Development Emerging Technologies. PresentationgivenattheSPEATWWorkshop,Pittsburgh,PA.
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Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems. Program review given at RPSEA forum in Denver,CO. Shale Gas The EnergyWater Nexus. Presented at the American Water Resources Associationspringspecialtyconference,Baltimore,MD. Balancing Environmental Tradeoffs Associated with Natural Gas Production. PresentationgivenatCornellUniversity. This is All New to Us: Rural Residents Views on Gas Drilling and Water Resources in an EmergingEnergyHotspot.PaperpresentedattheAnnualMeetingoftheSouthernRural SociologicalAssociation.CorpusChristi,TX. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program. Presentation given at the USEA LuncheonForum,Washington,DC. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program. Presentation given at the SPE HydraulicFracturingForum,TheWoodlands,TX.
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ThefollowingpresentationsweremadebyTexasA&Mduring2011: 20111208 Burnett, D. B., Environmentally Friendly Drilling: How Texas A&M can Save America, TexasA&MCrismanInstitute Burnett , D. B., Eagle Ford Shale: Impact of Gas Shale Development on South Texas Counties,TexasA&MAgriLifeExtensionService Burnett, D. B. Produced Water Desalination: Science and Solutions, Drilling EngineeringAssociation,Houston,Nov.,2011 Burnett, D. B., McLeroy, K. E., Technology for Management and ReUse of Produced Water,Nieva,Colombia Burnett, D. B., McLeroy, K. E. Lowering the Environmental Footprint of E&P Operations: bytheLand,Sea(water),andAir,BrighamEnergy,Austin,TX Burnett, D. B., Treatment and ReUse of Frac Flowback Brine and Produced Water, U. ofWyomingHydraulicFracturingForumRuckelehouseEnergyInstitute,Laramie,WY. Burnett, D. B., Nathan, V., Drilling the Eagle Ford Shale: Science and Solutions, presentedtoFriendsoftheShale,Laredo,TX Platt, F. M., Burnett, D. B., Report on Field Trials of Mobile Filtration Unit. Texas A&M Membrane/FiltrationShortCourseTexas,CollegeStation,TX
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Burnett, D. B., McLeroy, K. E. Environmentally Friendly Drilling: South Texas Brine ManagementPractices,ConocoPhillips,Houston Burnett, D. B. Lowering the Environmental Footprint of E&P Operations: by the Land, Sea(water),andAir,Chesapeake,Energy,OKCityOK Higgins, M. E., Burnett, D. B., Societal Issues Related to Leasing Fort Worth Nature Center for (Barnett Shale) Drilling , International Symposium for Society and Resource Management,Madison,WS., Burnett,D.B.,McLeroy,K.E.LoweringtheEnvironmentalFootprintofE&POperations: bytheLand,Sea(water),andAir.TheEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystemsProgram, DukeUniversityNicholsSchooloftheEnvironment Burnett, D. B., Desalination as an alternative to offsite disposal in conventional oil, GlobalWaterIntelligence Burnett, D. B. Lowering the Environmental Footprint of E&P Operations: By the Land, Sea(water),andAirCalgaryCA. Burnett,D.B.,ReducingEnvironmentalFootprintinGasShaleOperations,SPEAdvanced TechnologyWorkshop,Pittsburgh,PA. Burnett, D. B., TAMU Mobile desalination and disappearing roads, Texas A&M AgriLife ExtensionServicesWorkshop,Ft.Stockton,TX Burnett, D. B., TAMU Mobile desalination and disappearing roads, Texas A&M AgriLife ExtensionServicesWorkshop,Midland,TX Burnett, D. B., TAMU Mobile desalination and disappearing roads, Texas A&M AgriLife ExtensionServicesWorkshop,Ozona,TX Burnett,D.B.,TexasA&MMembrane/FiltrationShortCourseTexas,CollegeStation,TX Haut, R. S. Stuver, S., Burnett, D. B., Reducing Water Needs in Energy Production and LoweringEnvironmentalFootprintofOilandGasDevelopment,AlamoAreaCouncilof Governments,SanAntonio Burnett, D. B., Vavra, C.J., Platt, F. J., McLeroy, K. E. Membrane Treatment to Optimize Beneficial ReUse of Oil Field Brines, SPE Summit Environmental Issues Related to HydraulicFracturing,TheWoodlands. Burnett, D. B., Vavra, C. J., Platt, F. M., Reducing Water Needs in Energy Production and Lowering Environmental Footprint of Oil and Gas Development , presentation to CleanwaterSolutions,LTD.,CollegeStation,TX.
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Geospatial Decision Support for Reducing Environment Impact in Natural Gas Shale Operations, Managing Fayetteville Shale Play Development Workshop. Workshop held inFayetteville,AR. DecisionSupport System for Pad Siting, West Slope Colorado Oil & Gas Association EnvironmentalSummit,GrandJunction,CO. ReducingEnvironmental ImpactsintheFayetteville ShalePlayusingGeospatialDecision Support, A Spatial Quest: Twenty Years of Mapping the Natural State, Arkansas GIS UsersForum,HotSprings,AR. Natural Gas in the New Energy Economy, Panel discussion part of Clean Energy Day, UniversityofColorado,Boulder,CO. Natural Gas Development and Social WellBeing. Presentation delivered at the Pennsylvania State University, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology,M.E.JohnLectureSeries.UniversityPark,PA. Geospatial Decision Support for Reducing Environment Impact in Natural Gas Shale Operations, Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of NaturalGasDevelopmentintheUintahBasin.WorkshopheldinVernal,UT. Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP Project, Presented at the Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in the Uintah BasinConference,Vernal,UT. Minimizing the Surface Footprint for Unconventional Gas, Presented at the 2010 GCAGS/GCSSEPMAnnualMeeting,SanAntonio,TX. Water Availability and Management in Shale Gas Operations, Presented at the Ground WaterProtectionCouncilWater/EnergySustainabilitySymposium,Pittsburg,PA. Public Perception of the Oil and Gas Industry: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Presentedat the2010SocietyofPetroleumEngineersAnnualTechnicalConferenceand Exhibition.Florence,Italy. Water Modeling in the Fayetteville Shale, 17th International Petroleum & BioFuels EnvironmentalConference,SanAntonio,TX. Water Availability and Management in Shale Gas Operations, Presented at the 17th International Petroleum and Biofuels Conference, San Antonio, TX, August 31 September2,2010.
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The Regulatory Environment, presented at the 17th International Petroleum and BiofuelsConference,SanAntonio,TX,August31September2,2010. Deep in the Heart of Texas Barnett Shale Perceived and Objective Community Level Impacts of Unconventional Gas Development, Presented at the annual meeting of the RuralSociologicalSociety,August1215,Atlanta,GA. FindingsforthePublicsWillingnesstoAdoptDesalination(Purification)ofOilfieldBrine. Presented at the 6th Annual Practical Short Course on Water Desalination, Process and WastewaterIssues&Technologies.CollegeStation,TX Assessing Opportunities and Barriers to Improving the Environmental Footprint of Oil and Gas Development in Utah. Presented at the Utah Governors Energy Forum. Salt LakeCity,UT. Water Management Technologies & Regulatory Requirements for Different Locations and Environments, Workshop presented at the 2010 Summer Meeting of the IOGA of NewYork,FindleyLake,NY. The Inextricable Linkage between Water and Energy, Presented at the 2010 Summer MeetingoftheIOGAofNewYork,FindleyLake,NY. Exploration and Production of Oil and Natural Gas in Environmentally Sensitive Areas: Views from the Public. Presented at the 15th International Symposium on Society and ResourceManagement.Vienna,Austria WaterandEnergyRelationshipswithaFocusonOilandGasProducedWater,Presented at the 10th Biannual Research Review Meeting, National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Multiphase Transport Phenomena, EastLansing,MI. Minimizing the Surface Footprint for Unconventional Gas, Presented at the 2010 Global UnconventionalGasForumAmsterdam,Netherlands. Water & Energy Inexorably Entwined Dance Partners, but without Perfect Choreography, Seminar presented to staff at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge,TN. OptionsforManagementofProducedWater,PresentedattheGoldschmidtConference, Knoxville,TN. Opportunities and Barriers to Environmentally Friendly Energy Exploration and Production Practices in the Uinta Basin, Presented at the 16th International Symposium onSocietyandResourceManagement,CorpusChristi,TX.
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Produced Water Nuisance Byproduct or Valuable Resource? Presented at the UniversityofWyomingProducedWaterConference,Laramie,WY. Water & Energy Inexorably Entwined Dance Partners, but without Perfect Choreography,seminarpresentedtostaffattheNationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory, Golden,CO. DisappearingRoadsCompetitionFinals,TexasA&MUniversity. The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program, Presented at the RPSEA UnconventionalNaturalGasForum,Golden,CO. ConferenceKeynoteSpeakerfortheAADEConference,Houston,TX. Houston Association of Professional Landmen (HAPL), Petroleum Club, Houston, LuncheonPresentation. Natural Resources and Environmental Issues and Energy Policy: A Sociologists Perspective, Presented at the Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach,WashingtonStateUniversity,Pullman,WA. Energy Development, Natural Environments and Quality of Life: The Good, the Bad, and theUglyasPerceivedbyTexans.PresentedattheAnnualMeetingoftheSouthernRural SociologicalAssociation.Orlando,FL. From the Past to the Future: The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program, Presentedatthe2009IOGAConference,Buffalo,NY. Environmental Stewardship of Natural Gas Operations, Presented at the 2009 IPEC Conference,Houston,TX. Causal vs. NonCausal Selection of Onshore Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems, Presentedatthe2009IPECConference,Houston,TX. Pretreatment Options for Water Based E&P Wastes, Presented at the 2009 IPEC Conference,Houston,TX. EnvironmentalBenefitsofKERSSystemwithElectrical/DieselRigs,Presentedatthe2009 IPECConference,Houston,TX. Team Challenge: Environmentally Friendly Drilling Using Low Impact Access Practices for DesertEcosystems,Presentedatthe2009IPECConference,Houston,TX. Public Opinion on Exploration and Production of Oil and Natural Gas in Environmentally SensitiveAreas,Presentedatthe2009IPECConference,Houston,TX.
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ConstructedWetlandTreatmentSystemsforEnvironmentallyFriendlyDrilling,Presented atthe2009IPECConference,Houston,TX. A Crystal Ball View of the Energy Industry in 2025: How Environmentalists Hold the Key to America's Future Energy Security, Presented at the 2009 IPEC Conference, Houston, TX. Intermountain Oil and Gas BMP Project, Presented at the Best Practices for Community andEnvironmentalProtectionWorkshop,Rifle,CO.
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Workshops 2012 20120612 20120517 EFDProgram:MilestoneReviewheldinTheWoodlands,TX. Best Management Practices for Utica and Marcellus Development Workshop, Morgantown,WV. EFDTouroftheOffshoreTechnologyConference,Houston,TX.
21020502 2011 20111110 20110817 20110726
EFDProgram:ManagingtheEagleFordDevelopmentWorkshopheldinKingsville,TX. EagleFordShaleFracturing:ScienceandSolutionsWorkshopheldinLaredo,TX. Lowering the Environmental Footprint of Marcellus Shale Development Workshop held inMorgantown,WV. BestManagementPracticesWorkshopheldinBoulder,CO. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Workshop held at the American Association of Drilling EngineersConference,Houston,TX. ManagingtheEagleFordDevelopmentWorkshopheldinSanAntonio,TX.
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EFDManagingFayettevilleShalePlayDevelopmentWorkshopheldattheUniversityof Arkansas,Fayetteville,AR.
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EFD/BMP Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of NaturalGasDevelopmentintheUintahBasin.WorkshopheldinVernal,UT. EFDEuropeKickOffForumheldinFlorence,Italy PTTCEFDWorkshop/ForumheldinPittsburgh,PA. Water Management Technologies & Regulatory Requirements for Different Locations and Environments, Workshop presented at the 2010 Summer Meeting of the IOGA of NewYork,FindleyLake,NY. The Eagle Ford Shale, 16th International Symposium on Society and Resource ManagementinCorpusChristi,TX. PanelDiscussion,NaturalGasSolutionsSummit,Aspen,CO. PanelDiscussion,OffshoreTechnologyConference,Houston,TX. The EFD University/National Laboratory Alliance, Oak Ridge, TN, Special workshop with employeesfromtheOakRidgeNationalLaboratory. Best Practices for Community and Environmental Protection, Rifle CO, Over 160 participants from academia, industry, environmental organizations, regulators, landownersandothers
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Exhibits 2011 2011/10/15 EnergyDay,Houston,TX.
2011/09/2428 GroundwaterProtectionCouncilAnnualForum,Atlanta,GA. 2011/05/1718 EastTexasEnergyExpoinCenter,TX. 20102009 2010/06/0710 16thInternationalSymposiumonSocietyandResourceManagement,CorpusChristi,TX. 2010/05/20 IADC Onshore Drilling Conference & Exhibition, Omni Houston Hotel Westside, Houston, TX.
2010/01/2627 IADC Health, Safety, Environment & Training Conference & Exhibition, Omni Houston HotelWestside,Houston,TX. RPSEAEFDProject0812235
EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Awards 20091005:
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EnvironmentalPartnership/ChairmansStewardshipAward, InterstateOilandGasCompactCommission.

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RPSEAEFDProject0812235 PreparedforRPSEA EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystemsProgram HoustonAdvancedResearchCenter

System Engineering Design Methodology Low Impact Well Design Optimization

2. Environmentally Friendly Drilling Foundations - System Engineering Design Methodology

3. Bayesian Decision Networks (BDN) and Score Card System (SCS)

3.1.3. Subsystem: Site and Rig / Subset: Access Road

Low dust emission infrastructure Green completions.

Env. Causal Nodes

Cost Causal Nodes

Public Perception Causal Nodes

Restoration Societal Uncertainty Nodes

Site and Rig

Table 3. Correlation for Score Card and Power Technologies.

Technology Subset Conventional rig Power Unconventional Rig Power

Questions SC Air 6, Air 7 Air 8

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Apendix1

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Apendix2

RPSEAEFDProject0812235 4.2BestPracticesDatabase KathrynMutz UniversityofColoradoLaw NaturalResourcesLawCenter Preparedforthe EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystemsProgram HoustonAdvancedResearchCenter July,2012

The LINGO Initiative and RPSEA Follow-on

Figure1:A:StepsinproducinggasfromawelllocatedintheFayettevilleShale;B:Regulatorystepsthat operatorsmustfollowduringtheprocessofdevelopingawellintheFayettevilleShale;C:Technologiesand practicesusedtolimitenvironmentalimpactsofnaturalgas.

HSP Map Viewer

Figure 6. IPAS architecture overview.

ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.3.1

ArcGIS Server Web ADF and ASP.NET 2.0

Data mining program

http://www.esri.com/arcgisserver http://www.mathworks.com/products/matlab/ 8 http://www.geostor.arkansas.gov/G6/dev/API.htm 9 http://www.geostor.arkansas.gov

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport PublicPerception Thecorefindingsfromthisstudyincluded:

MappingTOC,thermalmaturitythickness Determiningkeycriteriaforwellplacement Determiningkeycriteriaforlaterallocation/direction/length Geologicmodelingtopredictlowflowbackareas

Alternative(greener)fracfluids Smartproppants(reduceuseofsandresources) LowpercentofFBW;restmayplugportionsofthereservoir MakingfracchemistryworkinhighsalinityFBWinthenextwell Improvedefficiencytoreducetrucks,wateruse,landdisturbance

Inadequateinfrastructure,especiallyinthenortheast&east o o o o Roadsupgradeandrepairpublicroads;buildlocationroads Drillsiteswooded,hilly;crossmanystreams;pitsversustanks,cover Rigsbegintousesmaller,lighter? gatheringnetworkgathering&collectionlines

Finally,itshouldbenotedthatthefracingprocessitselfandthecombinationofadditivesused intheprocessarecontinuingtoevolveandimprovetomoreeffectivelystimulatethereservoir,enhance production,andimproveenvironmentalandsafetyconcerns. ExpandingEnvironmentalandSocialIssues RPSEAEFDProject0812235

AllConsultingandtheGroundwaterProtectionCouncil,2009,Modernshalegasdevelopmentin theUnitedStates:aprimer:preparedforU.S.DepartmentofEnergyunderDEFG26 04NT15455,77p Considine,Timothy,RobertWatsonandSethBlumsack,2009,Theeconomicimpactsofthe PennsylvaniaMarcellusShalenaturalgasplay:anupdate:21p

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Summary&Accomplishments:

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Publisher:SocietyofPetroleumEngineers DocumentID:142139MS

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Project Objective

Facilitate prototype test of low impact rig.

Figure 1, LOC 400 Drilling on location in the Netherlands 2010

Figure 5, Emissions from drilling operations (in kg/y)

Energy from the existing power grid

[hrs] 137 0.74 1.4 kWH

[kWh] 55185 29715 56600 141500

CWD [gal] 0 4017 2567 5377

This equates to a 10day drilling program

TOTAL [usd/gal] 3.6 7 [cent/kWh] 15 24

20913 [usd] 75,285 146,388 [usd] 37,500 60,000 50% 41%

Max Difference (CWD/ELECTRIC)

Table 3, Cost savings for a typical well (USD)

Table 4, Noise profile of the LOC 400 drilling rig at 300m

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Conclusion

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Technology EngineDesignTechnologies FuelInjectionSystem ChargeAirSystem CombustionChamber ElectronicControl

~90%PMreduction, ~75%NOxreduction, largereductionsin HC/COemissions achievedinthe1980 1990timeframe

Smallemissioneffect withmodernengines andqualitydiesel fuels

1%NOxreductionfor Nichemarkets:marineand every1%addedwater stationaryengines; centrallyfueledfleets (emulsions)

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Technology DieselOxidationCatalyst

EmissionImpact Highreductionof HC/COemissions;PM conversiondepends onfuelsulfur,usually limitedtomaximum 2030% Significance

NOxreduction potentialof~1020% inpassivesystems,up to50%inactive systems NOxreduction potentialupto~50%

Uncertain;NOxreduction potentialinsufficientfor longtermregulatory objectives.

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport AvailableDieselRetrofitTechnologies

EmissionsReductions Technology HC PM NOx

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport Technology HC LeanNOxCatalyst (LNC)withaDPF PM

EmissionsReductions NOx 5 30%

ExhaustGas Recirculation (EGR)withaDPF

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport ReducedFracturingFootprints

EnvironmentallyFriendlyDrillingSystems FinalReport InvitedResearchBasedPresentations