The process known as fracking has been met with fierce opposition. It has been suspended or banned in some parts of North America and in other countries.
A couple of documentaries – Gasland and Burning Water (Rosebud Alberta) - have increased the public’s awareness of this topic.
Some of the concerns relate to water. Both the huge amounts of water that are required in a frac job as well as fears that the process will end up damaging aquifers and ground water.
A new approach, using propane instead of water, was in the news the other day.
It may (or may not) solve one of the problems, but I doubt this is the end of the story.
Calgary-based GasFrac offers propane substitutes for water in shale fracking
By Anna Driver,
Reuters
Calgary Herald
November 22, 2011
HOUSTON — Many controversies surround hydraulic fracturing of underground shale deposits in the quest for oil and gas, but a small Canadian oilfield services company has pioneered a way around one of them: the use of prodigious amounts of water in the process.
“Fracking” generally involves blasting millions of gallons of water down a shale well to free up oil and natural gas, and then the water needs to be disposed of because it may contain toxic drilling byproducts like heavy metals.
Much of the water required for a so-called frack job is sourced from lakes, rivers or city water systems, and water is in short supply in some drilling areas, such as drought-plagued Texas.
Calgary-based GasFrac Energy Services Inc is winning customers, including Chevron Corp, by using a flammable propane gel instead of the water, chemicals and sand typically blasted into rock or tight sand formations to release trapped oil and gas.
One benefit of the growing technology is that no water is used.
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