Posted on 13 December 2011 by Sustainability Digest
On January 13, 1994 the ratio(*) of the price of oil to the price of natural gas was 1.14. Today it hit a record high over this period of 5.26. Gas traded at $3.28 today, just 21% of the $15.38 / mmBtu it traded for on December 13, 2005. Shale gas is providing gas in [...]
Posted on 28 September 2011 by Sustainability Digest
Image: Lars Plougmann via flickr
The connection between increased access to family planning and greenhouse gas emissions has been covered here before, but since World Contraception Day was this week and we’re still Read the full story on TreeHugger
Posted on 12 August 2011 by Sustainability Digest
Photo credit: SkinnyLawyer via Flickr/CC BY
The GlobalPost thinks it might. As you may be aware, the European Union is planning on instituting a carbon tax on airlines that fly in and out of its member nations. The deal is set to take effect, but the rumblings from the international community — and the airlines balking at the prospect — are beginning to intensify….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Posted on 28 June 2011 by Sustainability Digest
Photo: Rachel Cernansky
I spent part of last month walking from home to home in Kagamega, Kenya, a mostly-rural region known for one of the last remaining tracts of the Congolese forest belt. It is not dissimilar to so much of the developing world, however, in its lack of access to clean water, which is available to about 15 percent of homes in rural areas, according to Francis Odhiambo, Provincial Public Health Officer for the region.
I was in Kakamega with the Carbon for Water campaign, run by Vestergaard Frandsen, the company behind the LifeStraw water filter and o…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Posted on 31 May 2011 by Sustainability Digest
Renault has received orders for 100,000 of its Renault Fluence Z.E. electric car from Better Place for massive deployment in Israel, Denmark, and other countries. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is the clear leader in freeway speed electric car sales with Nissan delivering the LEAF, and both using common electric drive system and lithium battery components. These [...]
Posted on 18 April 2011 by Sustainability Digest
Image: Lee Jordan via flickr
Royal Dutch Shell has released a sustainability report for 2010 showing that its direct greenhouse gas emissions rose by nine percent, and natural gas flaring—a wasteful practice that contributes its own emissions—increased by 32 percent. Shell attributes the increase to expanded production, including in Nigeria, where it says security has improved. People <a href="http://www.ny…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Posted on 16 April 2011 by Sustainability Digest
EPA’s Gina McCarthy, Seventh Generation’s Terry Tamminen, PG&E’s Steven Kline receive Climate Champion awards from Climate Action Reserve. Photos by R.Cruger
“Across the world, all eyes are on California,” was stated several times during North America’s largest annual carbon conference this week in Los Angeles. It referred to the big timely news of the week, Governor Jerry Brown signing the AB 32 legislation requiring that 33% of energy come from renewable sources by 2020. At the event “Navig…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Posted on 21 February 2011 by Sustainability Digest
Photo: Royal Court
At last, a play about the environment that isn’t preaching to the converted and is bringing in the crowds. The Heretic at London’s Royal Court Theatre is painfully witty in its intelligent look at what we believe in 2011.
It helps that it stars Juliet Stevenson, one of the most interesting actresses on the theatre scene. Playing a scientist and skeptic, the dialogue with her colleague makes for some of the sharpest and funniest parts of the p…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Posted on 12 January 2011 by Sustainability Digest
Photo: SupplyChainDigital
Even though voters turned out in force to reject the oil company-led effort to repeal California’s pioneering climate law, many folks still don’t know exactly how it works. There are a bunch of misconceptions lingering in the air, and thankfully, GreenBiz has gone to considerable lengths to clear 10 of the most common ones up. Here’s a snippet:
Posted on 05 January 2011 by John Gabriel
Enhanced Well Recovery Basics
Oil and Gas recovery isn’t all that hard to understand. It’s not that it’s easy, it’s just fairly simple to describe. We’ll explain how it works without making it more technical than it needs to be in this article. In depth and incredibly complex scientific and field research is underway to make EOR (enhanced oil recovery) more effective, but the concept won’t change all that much. Enhanced recovery is the last in line when it comes to getting more oil out of a well, but it can also produce much higher yields. Oil Well Recovery Levels
* Primary – natural processes * Secondary – Water or Gas injection * Tertiary (enhanced recovery) – use of expanding or dissolving gases, chemicals or thermal techniques
Oil wells will normally yield around 10% of their total reserves due to natural processes. The secondary stage can coax a well to give up another 20 to 40%. Tertiary enhanced recovery options can yield an additional 30% to 60%. In other words EOR can effectively double oil production from a well. And up until this point we’re only talking about oil. Using C02 fracturing for enhanced well recovery for natural gas is also highly effective. How It Works
We won’t spend much time talking about liquids and thermal processes since they make up such a small portion of the market, especially in the western half of the US. Most wells, both oil and gas will use CO2 as the primary agent. Since we talk a lot about CO2 emissions here at Efrac, it’s important to note that we’re not just fans of enhanced recovery because we provide services to the process, but that we actually think the process produces a long chain of win-win-win-win-win situations.
Enough beating around the bush then. CO2 well recovery works by injecting CO2 deep underground near a well site. The CO2 expands and displaces oil and gas in the nearby rock or sand formations which pushes the oil or gas up and out. CO2 in, more oil and natural gas out. Sure it’s a simple idea, but it takes a whole team of skilled engineers to pull it off. Anyone can pump gas into a hole, making it push something out of another hole is quite a different story.
At Efrac we specialize in making gas well recovery more profitable for production companies that own the wells and also the environment. CO2 injection for EOR is fairly straightforward since most of the carbon dioxide is permanently trapped once injected. But since gas wells don’t work the same way CO2 injection can lead to venting huge amounts of methane and carbon. We solve that problem with membrane separation to separate the methane from the carbon – returning the natural gas to the well owners. How Enhanced Recovery Helps Everyone Win
Much higher profits from well fracturing is one win for producers. It’s also a win for the environment since methane rates seven times more potent than CO2 on the greenhouse gases list. Capturing that methane prevents natural gas from being vented to the atmosphere after a well frac. Better well production from enhanced recovery can also lead to lower prices for natural gas – a win for consumers.
But the wins don’t stop there. Using CO2 for EOR also provides a very effective means of sequestering CO2 underground. Carbon captured from a variety of sources is perfect for EOR. Taking all that carbon that would have simply been allowed to vent into the air and using it to do something quite useful instead is a big win. It not only keeps it out of the atmosphere and traps it far underground, it also helps produce more domestic oil.
EOR is just one of those things with very few drawbacks. It helps us produce more from our domestic oil reserves while reducing our carbon emissions at the same time. It aids producers of oil and gas to yield more product to consumers with minimal cost and effort which raises production – steadying markets, reducing foreign oil consumption and even stabilizing rising petroleum costs in the long term.
There is still much more research and development to be done on EOR before it becomes a major part of the oil and gas industry. But as prices for materials and labor for CO2 injection falls, and its effectiveness rises; it’s only a matter of time before this segment of the energy production sector booms. We’re proud to be a part of taking care of the environment and our economy – one well at a time.
Efrac is dedicated to finding new and innovative ways to make enhanced oil recoverywork. To learn more about what you can do to help visit efracsystems.com
