Hydro Frack Blows Out Oil Well

[ASRG]

This isn't the old fracking we were used to. Usually the old methods involved nitrogen or propane and pressures were relatively low (generally around 1,000 psi or less).
The new methods are called "hydro fracking", lots of water (millions of gallons), very high pressure 17,000-20,000 psi! Various chemicals added (surfactants, propellants, biocides,lubricants, solvents,etc.) and lots of "fracking sand" (could be plastic pellets).
The old wells were vertical wells and usually the frack took place at the target zone (or a few perforated target zones). The wells in the shale and tight sands are nearly all horizontal.....when they get to the target zone they run horizontally down the shale seam up to 2km. Then they perforate down the casing and multi-stage frack down the whole length of the horizontal bore at intervals....some as high as every ten meters (depending on how "tight" the shale/sands are).
It is literally blasting the shale/sands apart by brute force. The frack sand is forced into the fractures and hold them open to let the gas/oil flow. All the chemical goodies help to dissolve the oil so it can flow easier.
This high pressure multi stage fracking process has been described as "extreme subterranean chaos" by the USA, EPA. It is very hard to control where the frack goes...a natural fault in a formation can expand beyond control....likely what happened here.

[ASRG]

Forgot to add the new well spacing rules for unconventional gas and oil: On Oct. 6/11 the ERCB changed the well spacing rules for unconventional O & G. The old well spacing rules were basically one NG well per section and one oil well per quarter (this wasn't completely correct as there were some excemptions earlier).
The new regulations recognized the reality of new horizontal bore technology. The new rules are a "horizontal leg" can be drilled every 150 meters from a central vertical well......and can be fracked every 10 meters down every leg. This means practically every square foot under your land becomes a paying target zone in the shale/tight sand layer. Coalbed methane is now subject to these same regulations.

[per]

Yikes, thanks.

[riders2010]

I guess maybe on the positive side smoking may be reduced, however the message may be difficult to spread as many that take a walk outside to have a smoke may not come back after the ignition from the match and the methane! lol

The way things work these days with political spin, one wouldn't be too surprised to hear the frac industry handing out free matches and proclaiming their efforts have reduced cancer through less smokers!

[forage]

Everyone should take a look at ASRG web re the posting Alta. water in Peril. Well done. Time someone picked up ball and ran with.
Asrg I really cann't get to involved as the position I am in right now as a friend of mine that is working at the same oil sands plant made a statement about the Ecana's cbm impacts on his dad's farm and one of the supervisors over heard him at the supper table and they hauled his ass up to management as the same company that owns this plant owns the cbm side. Long story short he got his walking papers.Really cann't afford that right now.

[ASRG]

Like any other group, our board and membership are a very diverse group. Sometimes we have some real struggles over the positions we take.
The practice of hydro fracking was one of those! Some of us are very pro industry.....some of us are very green!
I classify myself as both!
We could all agree it presented problems for water with the present Alberta regulatory situation? Until there are real safeguards in place, with real oversites....we are calling for a ban.
It is obvious the ERCB is incompetent to police the industry. The eastern slopes are seeing some major activity with hydro fracking the cardium zone...and several problems are showing up! When they really get into the Dugenay shales......we fully expect to see more problems. The Viking zone in central and east central Alberta look very promising (a few test wells are coming in pretty good).......there will be water issues big time when they crank it up there....as the companies will probably need to pull water out of fresh water aquifers for the fracks.
All we can hope for is the government takes a step back and makes sure they get it right.....rather than just go to it....and try to fix the mess afterwards!

[forage]

ASRG there seemed to be a lot of resenitment towards the game the ERCB is playing at the Olds task farce meeting. Every time I read or heard from their spin doctors I really wonder what is the real truth. The pictures that appeared in the press regarding the blowout showed the truth and I think without them the ERCB would have issued no press release or it they had the material splatted all over the ground would have only being Honey instead of Oil.

[ASRG]

Make no mistake here: without those pictures and our reports........you would never have heard anything about this wreck? How long has this been going on? We'll probably never know?
What are we doing here? Why are we letting these companies do these sort of things? What kind of government would put us at this kind of risk?
Maybe I'm some kind of dumbie or something.........I thought my government was supposed to be looking out for me............instead of screwing me and trying to kill me! WTF?

[forage]

You have to ask yourself just how important our ground water aquifers really are or are they only there for the oil and gas industry to screw up by hydrofracing. From what I have read shale gas exploration has the potential to drill up every inch of Alberta landbase. Time to tell Ted Morton to back off.

[ASRG]

With the new well spacing rules of Oct 6/11, yes it is possible that every square inch of "unconventional oil & gas" (shale, tight sands, coalbed) could become a potential pay zone.
The dismal price of NG ($2.21/mmbtu) will likely exclude any pure gas plays unless they are rich with higher price hydrocarbons (propane, butane, hextane pentane, etc.).
We are sending a letter to Ted Morton/Fred Horne/Dave Hancock/ERCB Dan McFadden asking for a moratorium on high pressure hydro fracking until a proper scientific review can be done and real regulations put in place to insure we don't have these ecidents.
Of course our request will likely go in the garbage can.....it will probably take a few deaths before anything is done?