Hydraulic Fracturing Jana Rolland, Morgan Hamilton, Josh Medicoff, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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

Pro:

• Abundance of supply
• Lower natural gas prices
• Cleaner environmental

footprint

• Economic development
• pportunities

Anti:

• Technological sophistication
• Environmental degradation

(and related public health concerns)

• Increased seismicity
• Unclear profitability

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

• Upon combustion, less

CO2

• Methane v. carbon

dioxide

• 60% increase in US will

displace coal and oil

• Methane, a problematic

greenhouse gas

• Substantial fugitive

emissions ○ Flowback period ○ Drill out ○ Venting/leaks

• 3.6%-7.9% CH4 emitted

into atmosphere

Climate Change

• Downstream emissions lower than
• il and coal
• Danger of methane emissions

○ Short term ○ Long term

• Difficulty of tracking fugitive

emissions ○ 1.5x - 5x higher than reported ○ Tech innovation?

Fracturing site at Jonah field, Wyoming, USA,

Air Quality

• Lower downstream

emissions of ○ SO2; NOx; mercury

• Reduction in toxic coal

ash

• Fewer secondary

pollutants

• Upstream air quality
• Production of

infrastructure worsens air quality

• Volatile Organic

Compounds (VOC) emitted post-completion ○ Benzene, toluene ○ Radiation

Induced Seismicity

The product is less CO2 emitting, but the structural conditions of creating this product are worse.

• 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)

• Measures to reduce seismicity exist

Oklahoma, USA. Red -> seismic events, black -> wastewater

• volume. Scanlon et al.

Hydraulic Fracturing Water Use

Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2016

Water Footprint

• Gas: 390,000 to 6.27 million gallons per well
• Oil: 70,000 to 2 million gallons of water per

well

• 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

water usage - predicted to significantly increase w/ time

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

• peration 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

risk avoidance potential

Rocky View Weekly (2013) 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

Komerek & Cseh, 2017

https://wvutoday.wvu.edu/stories/2016/12/22/noise-polluti

• n-from-oil-and-gas-development-may-harm-human-healt

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

• rs-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

https://thenarwhal.ca/what-is-fracking-in-canada/

Moratoriums aren’t as strong as they look

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

“Together… we could be supplying friends and allies… giving them an alternative to the kind of

• il they might buy that has strings attached,

whether it's Russian oil, or Saudi oil, or Iranian

• il or anyone else's.”

“ C a n a d a ’ s e n e r g y p r

• g

r a m c a n c

• m

p l i m e n t t h e U 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

• The BC Oil and Gas Commission is

responsible for ensuring First Nations rights are being respected

• Consultation takes place during the

permitting process on a permit by permit basis

• BCOGC consultation has been

critiqued for: ○ Lack of a landscape view of the cumulative effects of fracking ○ Not taking concerns raised by 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

Fort Nelson First Nation, Fracking & Concerns over Water

Water acquisition:

• Concerns over withdrawals

○ Once water is contaminated, cannot re-enter the system ○ Wastewater stored in deep injection wells

• Successfully got Province to cancel

water license granted to natural gas company Nexen Water contamination:

• Lands Department has initiated extensive

water monitoring projects

• Community members no longer feel safe

drinking the water, or ingesting the animals that drink the water => a threat to traditional foodways

https://www.youtube.com/watc h?v=6of6SAvFSvg

Blueberry River First Nation Cumulative Impacts Trial

“The territory that we live in, and that we, our parents and grandparents have always relied upon is now so developed, it is becoming unrecognizable to us. We have almost nothing left to pass on to our future generations.”

• Blueberry River First Nation statement re: cumulative impacts trial

Case Study Hydraulic Fracturing in Pennsylvania

The Marcellus Shale

• Located beneath Ohio, West Virginia,

Pennsylvania and New York.

Location of all hydraulic fracturing/ horizontal drilling wells in PA (2014). Source: Beleche and Cintina (2018)

• Northeastern PA has the highest

production potential for natural gas due to the thickness of the Marcellus Shale at this location.

• In PA, gas production from this

shale represents nearly 40% of total hydraulic fracturing gas production in the US.

• Estimates suggest the Marcellus Shale

holds about 410.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Social Implications

• A significant increase in EIM has been observed within

the specific counties that fracking has occurred in.

Early Infant Mortality

Risk Ratio of EIM Source: Bubsy and Mangano (2017)

• Evidence was found which supports the

contamination of drinking water by radioactive material, including radium as a cause of the increased risk.

• Babies born 4 years after fracking expansion

(2007-2010) in counties with most wells were 28% more likely to die in the first month than babies born in those counties in the 4 years before fracking began (2003-2006).

Jobs and Capital

• Hydraulic Fracturing has created roughly

245,000 new direct and indirect jobs in PA.

Source: Sica and Huber (2017)

• 88% of the wells are owned by publicly

traded companies that distribute profits through a global network of investors.

• While there are some marginal local

economic benefits (job creation), a significant amount of wealth and profits flows elsewhere and often out of the country.

• Fracking associated with lower unemployment,

higher labor force participation and employment when comparing Pennsylvania to the state of New York.

Conclusion