Hydraulic Fracturing Jana Rolland, Morgan Hamilton, Josh Medicoff, Morgan Teske, Ari Getzlaf, Renne Baldwin, Kihan Yoon-Henderson, and Lucas Vianna
● 1947: First experimental hydraulic fracturing treatment in the USA took place in Kansas ● 1980s-early 90s: Mitchell Energy and Development Corporation successfully combines horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing ● The combination has resulted in a rapid expansion of the industry, or a “shale gas revolution"
1. Vertical wellbore is created 2. Once reaching a depth of 2500-3000 meters (~6000 feet), the drill turns and extends horizontally for ~1.5 km 3. When complete, perforating guns create hole through the well wall and into the shale Process typically takes 4-5 months.
To create fractures, water combined with proppants and solvents are pumped through the well at 5000 psi. The process may be repeated as many as 20 times in a single well in order to access large amounts of shale gas.
Major Arguments Anti: Pro: ● Technological sophistication ● Abundance of supply ● Environmental degradation ● Lower natural gas prices (and related public health ● Cleaner environmental concerns) footprint ● Increased seismicity ● Economic development ● Unclear profitability opportunities
Economics Of Unconventional Natural Gas
BC Unconventional Monthly Raw Gas Production Retrieved from: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/energy-sources-distribution/clean-fossil-fuels/natural-gas/shale-and-tight-resources-canada/british- columbias-shale-and-tight-resources/17692
Increased Supply = Decreased Price ● Individual household: ~ $300 decrease Industry: cheaper production of ● petrochemicals and agrochemicals ● Price decrease to industry felt by consumers
Monthly Average Natural Gas Spot Prices in Canada Retrieved from: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/natural-gas-facts/20067
Job Creation In North Dakota in Relation to Fracked Oil Retrieved from: https://www-annualreviews-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/10.1146/annurev-resource-100814-125023
Hydraulic Fracking, Environment, and Climate Change The “bridge fuel.” Josh Medicoff
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ● Methane, a problematic ● Upon combustion, less greenhouse gas CO2 ● Substantial fugitive ● Methane v. carbon emissions dioxide ○ Flowback period ○ Drill out ● 60% increase in US will ○ Venting/leaks displace coal and oil ● 3.6%-7.9% CH4 emitted into atmosphere
Climate Change ● Downstream emissions lower than oil and coal ● Danger of methane emissions ○ Short term ○ Long term ● Difficulty of tracking fugitive emissions Fracturing site at Jonah ○ 1.5x - 5x higher than reported field, Wyoming, USA, ○ Tech innovation?
Air Quality ● Upstream air quality ● Lower downstream ● Production of emissions of ○ SO2; NOx; mercury infrastructure worsens air quality ● Reduction in toxic coal ● Volatile Organic ash Compounds (VOC) emitted post-completion ● Fewer secondary pollutants ○ Benzene, toluene ○ Radiation
Induced Seismicity ● Earthquakes generated by reducing effective stress of a fault zone and releasing energy ● In fracturing, occurs by: ○ Hydraulic fracturing itself (less intense) ○ Wastewater disposal (more intense) Oklahoma, USA. Red -> seismic events, black -> wastewater volume. Scanlon et al. ● Measures to reduce seismicity exist The product is less CO2 emitting, but the structural conditions of creating this product are worse.
Hydraulic Fracturing Water Use
Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016
Water Footprint Since 2000 hydraulic fracturing has increased ● use in oil/gas production from 2% to 50% Increase in water use per well rose by up to ● 770% Increase in production requires an increase in ● Gas: 390,000 to 6.27 million gallons per well ● Oil: 70,000 to 2 million gallons of water per water usage - predicted to significantly ● increase w/ time well
Distribution? Source: Kondash, Lauer, Vengosh, 2018
Source: Piemonte, 2016
Wastewater Previously injected hydraulic fluid ○ Proprietary chemical mix ■ Surfactants, biocides and even toxic ■ substances like volatile organic compounds and carcinogens Produced water = briny water that has long ○ been underground and comes up during operation of the well Salts, toxic elements, organic matter, ■ and naturally occurring radioactive material Source: Canada’s Oil and Natural Gas Producers, 2017
Public Health Risks of Hydraulic Fracturing
Public Health Risks of Hydraulic Fracturing Water contamination health ● risks Non-contamination health risks ● Water scarcity considerations ● Governmental regulation and ● Rocky View Weekly (2013) risk avoidance potential http://www.frackingcanada.ca/fracking-calgary/
Public Health Risk Via Water Contamination How is the water ● contaminated? Effects of Contamination ● Instances of ● Contamination https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/global-warming/issues/fracking/environmental-impacts-water/
Public Health Risk from Other Fracking Implications ● Fracking site dangers ● Air pollution ● Noise pollution https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2016/12/22/noise-polluti on-from-oil-and-gas-development-may-harm-human-healt Komerek & Cseh, 2017 h
Governmental Regulation of Public Health Risks ● Regulation considerations ● Examples: ○ US ○ China ○ France https://www.scmp.com/news/china/soci ety/article/2187718/chinese-demonstrat ors-rage-sichuan-government-and-blam e-fracking
Political Aspects of Fracking Renne Baldwin
https://upfront.scholastic.com/issues/2016-17/022017/the-fight-over-fracking.html
Moratoriums aren’t as strong as they look https://thenarwhal.ca/what-is-fracking-in-canada/
Indigenous sovereignty is not respected. https://www.cgai.ca/first_nations_lng_canada_and_the_politics_of_anti_pipeline_protes ts
The United States exports more natural gas than it imports. https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=38152
“ C a n a d a ’ s e n e r g y p r o g r a m c a n c o m p l i m e n t t h e U S . ” “Together… we could be supplying friends and allies… giving them an alternative to the kind of oil they might buy that has strings attached, whether it's Russian oil, or Saudi oil, or Iranian oil or anyone else's.” - Christopher Sands
Case Study: Hydraulic Fracturing in British Columbia & Treaty 8 territory
Background information BC produces 25% of all natural gas in ● Canada, and Canada ranks 4th globally in natural gas production ● In 2011, production of unconventional gas surpassed conventional natural gas production in the province ● Currently 85% of natural gas production in BC is from unconventional gas sources Source: BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, 2019 Conventional versus unconventional gas production in BC Source: BCOGC, 2016 as reproduced in BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, 2019
Development of Hydraulic Fracturing in B.C. Hydraulic fracking “boom” in Northeastern ● B.C. beginning in the mid 2000s ● Rapid sale of petroleum and gas tenures by the Province to industry 4 major shale gas “plays” in the Province: ● ○ The Horn River Basin The Liard Basin ○ ○ The Cordova Embayment The Montney Formation ○ These four major shale gas plays are located ● within Treaty 8 territory Source: BCOGC, 2018
Petroleum and natural gas tenures on Fort Nelson First Nation Territory, 2006 versus 2013 Source: Garvie, Lowe, & Shaw, 2015
Treaty 8 First Nations and Hydraulic Fracturing BCOGC consultation has been ● The BC Oil and Gas Commission is ● critiqued for: responsible for ensuring First Nations rights are being respected Lack of a landscape view of the ○ cumulative effects of fracking Consultation takes place during the ● permitting process on a permit by ○ Not taking concerns raised by permit basis Treaty 8 First Nations seriously when making development decisions
The Fort Nelson First Nation Traditional territories contain 3 out of the 4 ● major shale gas plays (Horn River, Liard, & Cordova) Experienced a rapid expansion of the ● fracking industry Has expressed concerns over habitat ● fragmentation, water acquisition and contamination by the industry, air pollution, community exposure to toxic substances, threats to wildlife, and increased seismic activity due to fracking Screenshot from Fort Nelson First Nation website - the nation has many independent projects researching and monitoring the effects of fracking on their territories
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