Hydraulically

The multi-year review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the potential risks on public drinking water sources from hydraulically fracturing (fracking) natural gas wells includes case studies in five unconventional drilling areas around the country in the Marcellus, Barnett and Bakken shales, as well as the Raton Basin.

The multi-year review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the potential risks on public drinking water sources from hydraulically fracturing (fracking) natural gas wells includes case studies in five unconventional drilling areas around the country.

Effective Oct. 15 (Monday), producers have to notify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by e-mail two days in advance of their plans to hydraulically fracture (frack) natural gas wells. An e-mail address system has been set up to allow operators to notify the the agency, said Khary Cauthen, senior director of federal relations with the American Petroleum Institute. Producers would send e-mails to EPA offices in the regions where they are operating. The EPA recently “made known” to producers a list of the e-mail addresses, according to API. “Having to notify the EPA two days before a specific operation we felt…makes sense. In other iterations of this rule, it was a longer time period of notification that did not make sense because sometimes locations or weather or what may have you will change exactly what the operation is. Two days before is appropriate,” Cauthen said. The notification requirement was part of the new source performance standards for fracked wells, which the EPA finalized in August (see NGI, Aug. 27). Both the API and the Independent Petroleum Association of America protested the EPA final standards, which are aimed at restricting volatile organic compounds and sulfur dioxide emissions from onshore natural gas operations, including fracked wells.

Beginning Monday, producers will have to notify the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) two days in advance by e-mail of their plans to hydraulically fracture (frack) natural gas wells

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is operating under a “misperception of initial production from gas wells,” which “has led to a drastic overestimate of methane emissions from hydraulically fractured [fracked] natural gas wells,” according to Darren Smith, environmental manager for Devon Energy Corp.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is operating under a “misperception of initial production from gas wells,” which “has led to a drastic overestimate of methane emissions from hydraulically fractured [fracked] natural gas wells,” according to Darren Smith, environmental manager for Devon Energy Corp.

Stimulating natural gas and oil production by hydraulically fracturing horizontal wells doesn’t pose a big risk for triggering earthquakes that are strong enough for a human to feel, but other types of energy-related activities could make the ground noticeably shake, according to the conclusions of major government science report released on Friday.

Stimulating natural gas and oil production by hydraulically fracturing horizontal wells doesn’t pose a big risk for triggering earthquakes that are strong enough for a human to feel, but other types of energy-related activities could make the ground noticeably shake, according to the conclusions of major government science report released on Friday.

When it takes 75,000-100,000 bbl of water to hydraulically fracture (frack) a shale well, “the oil and gas industry is effectively a water industry and delivers oil and gas as a byproduct…so welcome to the water industry,” an environmental services executive told a Houston energy audience Wednesday.