Putting Out the Fire:
Proven Technologies to Improve Utilization of
Associated Gas from Tight Oil Formations
LESLEY FLEISCHMAN
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
NOVEMBER 17, 2015
Flaring of associated gas from tight oil formations
pollutes and wastes energy resources, delivering no
energy benefit to society
Flaring from the Bakken Formation in N Dakota
Flaring of associated gas from tight oil formations
pollutes and wastes energy resources, delivering no
energy benefit to society
Flaring from the Bakken Formation in N Dakota
but the quantity of Flaring from the Bakken:
flaring is staying high
• Produces as much CO2
as three coal-fired
power plants
• Consumes enough
natural gas to heat
~1.7 million homes
Flaring of associated gas from tight oil formations
pollutes and wastes energy resources, delivering no
energy benefit to society
Flaring from the Bakken Formation in N Dakota
“Traditional”
gas gathering
systems bring
the vast
majority of
non-flared gas
to market.
When pipelines are not available at tight oil wells, or the pipelines
can’t take all the gas, what other technologies can utilize the
associated gas?
Question:
Are there mature technologies, beyond gas gathering
systems, that are proven ways to utilize associated gas
in tight oil plays?
• Tight oil presents specific
challenges to gas utilization:
• High gas-to-oil ratios
• Well production rates
rapidly change over
hours / days / months;
wells produce half of
their lifetime gas in
their first two years
• Combined with classic rush dynamics & permissive regulation, utilization of
the gas from tight oil formations (Bakken, Eagle Ford) has been poor.
Carbon Limits Flaring Study
• Previous reports describing technologies and
approaches to utilize stranded gas have focused on
conventional oil fields.
• Clean Air Task Force worked with Carbon Limits, a
consultancy (based in Norway) with extensive
experience in greenhouse gas emissions
quantification and reduction strategies for the oil
and gas industries, to assess technologies for
utilizing associated gas specifically from tight oil
formations.
Flaring occurs for three main reasons
1. Emergencies / Upset conditions / Mishaps
2. Lack of gas utilization capacity – isolated well flaring
3. Lack of gas utilization capacity – pipeline-connected flaring
Both isolated well flaring and
pipeline connected flaring are
significant in tight oil basins in
the U.S.
The technologies highlighted in
this report address both
isolated well and pipeline-
connected well flaring.
Approach
Potential technologies were carefully screened for maturity,
appropriate scalability, and portability
Deployed commercially in more than one tight
Mature
oil developments
Initial Technology
Delivery to site within weeks or months
Screening
Right Sized and
Able to up or down in a modular manner
Scalable
Moved to new site within a day or week
Dismantled or scaled down once pipeline is in
Portable
place
Technologies Examined
• Ammonia production
• Compressed natural gas (CNG) trucking
• Gas injection into nearby underground reservoirs
• Gas-to-power – grid
• Gas-to-power – local
• Mini Gas-to-Liquids – Methanol
• Mini Gas-to-Liquids – Fischer Tropsch (synthetic diesel)
• Mini-Liquefied natural gas
• Recovery of natural gas liquids (NGLs)
Commercially Available Technologies
• 3 technologies in-use in tight oil fields & meet screening criteria
1) Trucking CNG short distances (CNG Trucking)
2) Extracting Natural Gas Liquids from the gas (NGL Recovery)
3) Using the gas for electric power generation (Gas-to-Power)
• NGL Recovery and Gas-to-Power technologies are partial
solutions, which typically can use some but not all gas at a site.
• These technologies can be paired with one another so that most
or all of the gas at a site can be used.
• These technologies can be profitable for well owners and provide
a low cost means of pollution abatement for CO2 and other
pollutants, particularly NOx.
Cost Model Methodology
• Assess the economic and environmental impact of the
technologies using a simple cost model.
• The model uses a typical associated gas production profile as
an input:
• A typical well in the Bakken
• Key factors:
• Gas composition: lean or rich based on data from the
Bakken)
• Number of wells per pad
• Single well (1 well) and Multiple wells (4 wells) per pad
• Build size of the gas utilization technology.
Cost Model Results
• The model shows that all three technologies can be deployed
profitably, or at low net cost (details in following slides)
• Does not model some important factors that may improve the
overall economics of the systems
• Renting equipment instead of purchasing a single size
installation
• Using technologies in tandem.
• Since these technologies reduce pollution by large amounts,
the abatement cost of deploying them (net cost per ton of
avoided pollution) is negative or quite low.
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Recovery
• NGLs removed from associated gas with equipment on wellpads
and trucked away for sale.
• NGL systems work best with rich associated gas and are suitable
for both single and multi-well pads.
• The residue dry gas remaining after
NGL recovery can be gathered with
pipelines, captured with CNG trucking,
or used for power generation.
• In general, gathering and other gas
capture & utilization approaches work
better with drier gas, though
contractual arrangements may hinder
use of NGL recovery at wells hooked
to pipelines.
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) Recovery
(cont.)
• Systems that can capture C5 and heavier hydrocarbons are
simple and inexpensive, but reduce flaring a limited amount.
• Technologies that also capture C3 and C4 capture a larger portion
of the input gas and result in less flaring. They require a larger
initial investment, but smaller systems are profitable or low costs.
*Reflects cost in ND, where heavy natural gas liquids must be stored
and trucked to plant.
• Higher rates of flare reduction can be achieved by coupling NGL
recovery with other technologies.
Power Generation (Local)
• A variety of technologies are available for power generation, for
local loads, here we look at reciprocating engines and gas turbines.
• Local load systems work best when using lean associated gas,
including the residual gas after NGL recovery.
• Added benefit: reduce expense (and emissions) associated
with trucking in diesel fuel for on-site generators.
• The cost estimates for local loads shown below are for equipment
sized to match the power demand on the well-site (we did not
model costs for grid level solutions).
Power Generation (Grid)
• Grid level gas-to-power works best at sites with lean
associated gas and is suitable for large multi-well pad
developments in areas with small well spacing.
• This option should be considered if a number of wells are
distant from gas gathering systems.
CNG for transport to midstream systems
• Gas can be compressed at the well pad and trucked to a gas
processing plant.
• Can be scaled up to utilize nearly all of the natural gas produced,
and the CO2 abatement cost is negative in all scenarios we modeled.
• Feasible at wells relatively close to a processing plant or other point
where gas can be put into the pipeline system (20-25 miles or less).
• Cost estimates range between a smaller design size that maximizes
profitability of the deployment, and a somewhat larger size that
maximizes flare reduction (while remaining profitable).
*Reflects cost in ND, where natural gas liquids that drop out during compression must be
stored and trucked separately.
CNG trucking widely feasible
• Feasibility of CNG trucking in the
Little Missouri National Grassland in
western North Dakota
• What portion of flaring is from wells
close enough to processing plants
for CNG Trucking.
• Single wells: within 5 miles
• Small multi-well pads (2-4 wells):
within 20 miles
• Large multi-well pads (5+ wells):
within 25 miles
• Within the boundaries of the
grassland, at least 89% of gas flared
could be trucked to plants.
Jan 2015
On the Horizon:
Miniature Gas-To-Methanol for Well Sites
• Methanol is an industrial
feedstock manufactured at
vast scale from natural gas.
Historically, only very large
methanol plants have been
economic, but new
technologies offer promise for
miniature methanol plants
• Pilot running in tight oil fields
with promising results. Waiting
for first commercial
deployment.
Flaring as currently occurs in tight oil
plays is not a failure of technology
• In many oil basins, drilling occurs with ~zero routine flaring
(aside from flaring due to emergencies, unexpected
conditions, etc.).
• With proper regulation, oil development is planned properly
so it does not outpace pipeline capacity.
• Concerns are raised that long-term contracts for land and
rigs and the complex process of building pipelines make it
impossible to develop wells without some routine flaring.
• This report shows that even in situations where operators
cannot get pipelines due to unexpected issues, flexible
options exist to ensure that associated gas can be utilized.
Clean Air Task Force
www.catf.us
[email protected]
