Linc Energy Blog

Let’s face it, the exploration and extraction of fossil fuels have been receiving its fair share of bad press lately. While some situations may warrant it, sometimes it’s difficult for people to remember the good things that have emerged from fossil fuels. For this reason, I thought it was a good time to remind us of the industry’s past and its accomplishments.

Energy and persistence conquer all things.
Benjamin Franklin

As early as 1821 we have been drilling for natural gas. In Fredonia, New York, William Hart dug a 27’ deep well. He excavated by hand using shovels to intentionally obtain natural gas. To create a pipeline, he hollowed out logs and sealed them using tar and rags, then transported the gas to light lamps at stores, shops and a mill.

During the 19th century natural gas was used primarily as fuel lamps, but because of the absence of pipelines the fuel was mostly limited to city streets. In the latter half of the century, most cities began replacing their street lamps with electricity and natural gas producers started seeking new ways to market the fuel.

It was Robert Bunsen who brought to light (pun intended) a new application for natural gas. When Bunsen mixed air with natural gas he created the “Bunsen burner,” and a new way to warm structures and cook foods was revealed.

Of course, pipelines were needed to bring the fuel to new markets and the first major line (120 miles) was built in 1891, but it was cost prohibitive and few were built following that, until after WWII. Improvements in welding and pipeline construction were discovered during the war effort, and these breakthroughs became instrumental in making pipelines affordable. So, in the 1950s and 1960s, thousands of miles of pipelines were built.

After WWII, natural gas became the preferred energy source and was incorporated in the housing boom construction at that time. Today, over half the U.S. homes are heated by natural gas. Additionally, natural gas is used to make electricity, is a feedstock in the manufacture of chemicals, fertilizers and plastics, and propels trucks, buses and cars.

In the 1970s natural gas supplies seemed to be dwindling and we entered the energy crisis. We were encouraged by oil embargoes to use other efficient measures to conserve energy, like insulating our homes.

Traditionally, natural gas comes from “permeable sand deposits.” To simplify, getting natural gas from a conventional source would be like drilling a hole, then allowing the gas to escape. In the 1980s, when our easy sources for natural gas started disappearing, drillers set out to recover gas from those unconventional or more challenging deposits which contain tight-gas sands. Using processes we had been using for years to stimulating oil and gas wells, methods like hydraulic fracking and horizontal drilling were adapted to explore these alternative sources.

It has taken years to learn how to extract gas from varying mediums like shale, coal, or tight gas sands. Obviously, we’re still learning, and will continue to do so. As these technologies are scrutinized are because of the recent Marcellus Shale incident, let’s remember where we’ve come from. In one century we’ve gone from lamp lights to heating more than half the U.S. homes. We’ve gone from building a 120 mile pipeline to having a network of pipelines that are hundreds of thousands of miles.

Apparently even the ancient gods of Mesopotamia had issues extracting natural gas. It is speculated that the ancient eternal fires were caused when natural gas escaped from the earth and was ignited by lightening. While we still have more to learn about extracting natural gas, taking safety precautions certainly should be our top priority, but you have to admit, we’ve come a long way from the eternal fires and lamp lights, wouldn’t you say?
 

Tags: Robert Bunsen, pipelines, gas extraction, William Hart, horizontal drilling, fracing, hydraulic fracking, fracturing, drilling, Marcellus Shale, alternative energy, fossil fuel, energy, natural gas

With the depletion of our fossil fuels, we are being forced to find new ways to extract natural gas and hydraulic fracking is a technology which has enabled us to extract gas from hard-to-tap shale in many areas of the U.S. including Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, West Virginia, Texas and Louisiana.

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.
-Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732

Hydraulic fracking (a/k/a fracing or fracturing) has been used by the oil & gas industry for more than 60 years. While it has been more commonly used to stimulate the production of older producing wells, the technology has evolved and now allows the extraction of natural gas from shale or sand. This new drilling technology makes extracting gas commercially viable in areas we once thought were impossible. This is one of the reasons natural gas was recently touted the “fuel of the future.” It burns 70% cleaner than coal and its costs have come down. Natural gas could be the fuel to bridge us to new renewable energies, but with the recent blowout at the Marcellus Shale formation, drilling has been put on hold and hydraulic fracking is subject to increasing scrutiny.

During hydraulic fracking a fracturing fluid is injected at high pressure into sand or shale in some cases as deep as 10,000 to 13,000 feet below ground. The intent of fracking is to loosen natural gas which has become trapped in tiny bubbles. A deep well is dug and the fracturing fluid is pumped down under high pressure to fracture the shale and let the gas flow back up to the surface. The fracturing fluid contains a proppant, suspended particles to hold the fractures open.

One of the environmental concerns of fracturing is the leak off from the fracturing fluid. Some fluid is loss in permeable rock and can make its way to a water source. Additionally, air and land contamination were among the concerns that arose during the well blowout at the Marcellus Shale on June 3, 2010. During this incident, 35K gallons of fracturing fluid were sprayed in the air and over the landscape.

The concern of course is the actual compounds used in fracturing fluids are somewhat secretive which makes it difficult to assess environmental concerns. The composition of fracturing fluids varies depending on the basin and needs, but can include toxic substances and carcinogens like: benzene, formaldehyde, kerosene, toluene and xylene. (1)

Recently the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission voted to require full disclosure of the hydraulic fracturing fluids used in natural gas exploration. (2) On the federal level, congress is being urged to repeal an exemption in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which would force the drilling companies to fully disclose the chemicals used in their hydraulic fracking.

There is no doubt that we need natural gas as a resource. The answer isn’t to abandon the premise of extracting natural gas from difficult places. But, if we are to continue down this road, don’t you think we owe it to ourselves and our children to do it safely?
 

(1) http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/ogdsgeischap5.pdf

(2) http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_069139a4-5b9b-51c3-a599-a38f788e8ff4.html

Tags: drilling, Marcellus Shale, alternatives, fracing, fracturing, hydraulic fracking, natural gas, energy, nonrenewable energy, shale extraction