Moving Beyond Misinformation: Education and Engagement
The Process
Misperception: Hydraulic Fracturing is Injecting Fluids
into Groundwater
Drilling Distance
Wells Fargo Center ~700 ft
7000 ft.
Aquifer 400-800 ft.
Casing
Multiple layers surrounding the aquifer Cement Conductor Casing Cement Surface Casing Drilling Mud/Cement Production Casing Production Tubing
Surface Casing Purpose
• Protect ground water• Provide stable wellbore
during drilling operation• Provide well control during
drilling Depth Requirements
• Set by State and BLM regulations
• Extends below the aquifer Cement Helps
• Protect casing from corrosion
• Provide zonal isolation• Support casing in wellbore
Production Casing Purpose
• Provide zonal isolation• Provide well control• Well path to productive
intervals Cement Requirements
• Set by State regulations• Set by BLM regulations• Operator requirements
Cement Helps• Protect casing from
corrosion• Support casing in
wellbore
Misperception: Hydraulic Fracturing is Not Engineered
Fracture Design Data Required
Petrophysics/Formation properties k, Φ, ν, E, σ, Pp, BHT
Fluid properties Multitude of fluid types n’, K’, μ, break profile,
Pf, Proppant properties
Variety of proppant types
β, sg, size, CD0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (hr)
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
0.0001
0.001
K'
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (hr)
0.6
0.8
1.0
n'
HALLIBURTON FLUID PROPERTIES Fluid
WG-18Temp
200GelConc
30
StimWin v4.8.003-Dec-06 13:33 Predict-K
3.0
Pump Schedule A pump schedule is required for the
simulator to determine the predicted fracture geometry• Fluid and proppant volumes• Treatment rate• Additive rates
Frac Job
Treatment Graph
5/30/200308:50 09:00 09:10 09:20 09:30 09:40 09:50 10:00 10:10 10:20
5/30/200310:30
Time
0
2500
5000
7500
10000
12500A
0
30
60
90
120
150B
0
10
20
30
40
50C
Casing Pressure (psi) Bottom Hole Pressure (psi) Slurry Rate (bpm)Surface Proppant Conc (lb/gal) BH Prop Con
A A BC C
StimWin v4.8.006-Dec-06 17:42
Frac Job
Misperception: Drilling is Getting Riskier
Fractured Contact
Footprint
1 Well Pad or 32?
Misperception: Drilling and Hydraulic Fracturing Uses Too
Much Water
Colorado Water Use
Total (Million gallons/Day) Total (Billion gallons/Year)
Irrigation (crop) 12,322 4497
Irrigation (golf course) 41 14
Public-supply 864 315
Domestic 34 12
Industrial 142 52
Livestock 33 12
Mining 21 8
Thermo-electric 123 45
Total withdrawals 13,581 4957
Source: USGS 2005 Estimated Withdrawals and Use of Water in Colorado, 2005
Horizontal Well Activity
2011 517 Horizontal wells permitted
2009-2011 220 Horizontal wells spud
Example: 1,000 wells x 5M gal = 5B gal 0.11% of Colorado annual irrigation water use 0.10% of Colorado annual water use
Estimate All Well Activity
2010 2098 wells completed
2011 Estimate Water Use 1000 horizontal wells (5M gal) 1500 vertical wells (1M gal)
Conservative Estimate: 0.14% of Colorado annual irrigation water use 0.13% of Colorado annual water use
Water Requirements
Natural gas has one of the lowest water usage rates per MMBTU
Misperception: There is No Data Showing Groundwater is
Protected
COGCC Groundwater complaints
Hundreds of complaints No verified instances of hydraulic fracturing
harming groundwater in Colorado Water sampling
Since 2000, baseline and periodic water sampling for over 2,000 water wells in the San Juan Basin
Independently verified; no significant increase in chemical concentrations
Meaningful Engagement and Education
FracFocus Website
23
HF Disclosure Example
Baseline Water Sampling
Pre and Post-drilling water samples taken around new well starts
Increased transparency & accountability for industry
COGA Fast Facts
Resources
Hydraulic Fracturing Fact Sheet COGCC Gasland Correction Document COGA’s The Truth About Gasland Other Fact Sheets
• Natural Gas Facts• Socioeconomic Benefits• Produced Water• Natural Gas Supply
www.coga.org
Questions?
Thank you for your interest in Colorado’s oil and gas industry!
www.coga.org
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