unconventional gas development from shale plays: myths and realities related to human health impacts

7/31/2019 Unconventional Gas Development from Shale Plays: Myths and Realities Related to Human Health Impacts

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Unconventional Gas Development from Shale Plays:Myths and Realities Related to Human Health Impacts

A. R. Ingraffea, Ph.D., P.E.

Cornell Universityand

Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for

Sustainable and Healthy Energy, Inc.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

December 2, 2011 1


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Unconventional Development of

Gas from Shale Formations:

Myths and Realities Related to Human Health Impacts

Fracing is a 60-year-old Well-Proven Technology.

Fluid Migration from Faulty Wells is a rare phenomenon.

The use ofmulti-well pads and cluster drilling reduces surface impacts.

Natural Gas is a Clean Fossil Fuel.

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Fracing for gas development is a 60-year-old

well-proven technology.

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Why Is Shale Gas Development

Unconventional

Because it requires 4 technologies only recently combined to make

gas production from shales technically and economically feasible.

Directional drilling: needed to access a thin layer of shale with long

laterals.

High frac fluid volumes: needed to stimulate gas release from many

existing fractures.

Slickwater: needed to control the amount of power needed to pump

large volumes of frac fluids, at high pressures, quickly, over long

distances, through small diameter casing. Clustered, Multi-well Pads: needed to access as much of the gas

inventory as possible, under constraints of leasing and capital.

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High Volume, Slickwater Fracing from

Long Laterals (HVSFLL): The Concept

5

~ 2000 m

~ 100 m

Pay zone

Cap rock

Cap rock

Not to scale

The Lateral

Shale Layer


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Unconventional




laterals.


existing fractures.





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Early Joints at Taughannock Falls

Geneseo-Burket (Devonian black shale)

Taughannock Falls State Park, Trumansburg, N.Y.

Photo Courtesy T. Engelder

Gas Producing Shales are Heavily Fractured Naturally

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Unconventional




laterals.


existing fractures.





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Targeting the Shale Layer Via Multiple, Horizontal

Wells from Clusters of Pads

9From Cody Teff, Shell Appalachia, WELL CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES IN THE MARCELLUS


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Example of Spatially Intense Development:

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Property,

Barnett Shale Play

53 pads on 18,076 acres,30 square miles

Each red line is a well

Each red dot is a pad

Almost complete

coverage

Patchwork, mostly ideal

units

One developer


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Summary of the Technology:

HVSFLL Is a Recently Developed Process

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From NYS SGEIS revised draft, page 5-5, 2011


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Fracing for gas development is a 60-year-old well-

proven technology.

Myth

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Truth

Unconventional development of gas using high

volume, slickwater fracing from long laterals is NOT a

60-year-old well-proven technology; it is still being

developed.

Health Impact Insufficient time to conduct scientific investigations of

impacts due to process itself and inevitable accidents.


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Fluid Migration from Faulty Wells is a rare

phenomenon.




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Gas Is Supposed to Rise

Inside the Production Casing,

Not Outside

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VIDEO of

Methane Bubbling

At Well Head


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Bubbling in Muncy Creek, Lycoming County, PA:

Example of Migration of Hydrocarbons

Video Courtesy of Ralph Kisberg, Responsible Drilling Alliance 15


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Observation: What Does This All Look Like

Downhole?

Laboratory-Scale Experiment: A Block of Real Rock

Drill It, Right Down the Middle

Case It

Cement It

Perforate It

Frac It, with Red Dye in the Frac Fluid

Break Open the Block

See What Happened

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One Can See Perforations and Hydraulic Fractures

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4 in.


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FRESH WATER AQUIFER ZONE

SHALLOW PRODUCING ZONE

INTERMEDIATE PRODUCING ZONE

CONDUCTOR PIPE

SURFACE CASING

PRODUCTION CASING

GOOD MECHANICAL INTEGRITY

TARGET PRODUCING ZONE

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CEMENT CHANNELING

PRESSURE

BUILDS UP

CONDUCTOR PIPE

SURFACE CASING

PRODUCTION CASING





CASING

CEMENT

FORMATION

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LEAK THROUGH CASING

CONDUCTOR PIPE

SURFACE CASING

PRODUCTION CASING

FORMATIO

N

CASING





PRESSURE

BUILDS UP

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22From Watson, PAPER 2004-297Petroleum Societys 5th Canadian International Petroleum Conference


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Mechanisms of Gas Migration

Gas Migration Through Cement: percolation duringcuring

Cement Sheath Failure: high temp, high pressure,

perforation

Improper Cement Design and Placement: poor

chemistry, poor mud cleanup, low cement top

Casing Failure: Corrosion, joint failure, fracture

Cross Flow Between Adjacent Wells

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From Watson, PAPER 2004-297Petroleum Societys 5th Canadian International Petroleum Conference

h l ll ll d


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Since the earliest gas wells, uncontrolled

migration of hydrocarbons to the surface has

challenged the oil and gas industry

Brufatto et al., Oilfield Review, Schlumberger, Autumn, 2003

SCP=Sustained Casing Pressure.

Also called sustained annular

pressure in one or more of thecasing annuli.

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Sustained Casing Pressure and Gas

Migration Are Chronic Problems

25

Watson and Bachu, SPE 106817, 2009.


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New Scientific Data on Methane Contamination of Water Wells

26www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1100682108

M h


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Fluid Migration from Faulty Wells is a rare

phenomenon

Myth

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Truth Fluid Migration from Faulty Wells is a well-

known, chronic problem with an expected rateof occurrence.

Health Impact Contamination of USDW with drilling fluid, frac fluid,

released hydrocarbons.


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The use of clustered, multi-well pads reduces

surface impacts.

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Example: Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Property


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Example: Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Property,

Barnett Shale Play

53 pads on 18,076 acres,30square miles

Each red dot is a pad

Each red line is a well

Almost complete

coverage

Patchwork, mostly ideal

units

One developer


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The Barnett Shale Play, Texas

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Dimock, Pennsylvania

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?????

Horn River Area NE British Columbia


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Horn River Area, NE British Columbia

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E S N ! Thi O I It


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Encana Says No! This One Is It

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417 million gallons of water

78,400 tons of sand

8 milllion gallons of fracing chemicals

500 frac intervals

10,000 foot laterals

40,000 hp for fracing pumps


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Notice NNW-SSE orientation of

non-square, about 256ha,

spacing unit. Geology and

leasing control.

Direction of max

horizontal stress

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An Industrial Ideal Pad/Well Buildout Scenario NS


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An Industrial-Ideal Pad/Well Buildout Scenario:NS


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Clustering of Pads in Tioga County, PA

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Myth


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The use ofmulti-well pads and cluster drilling

reduces surface impacts.

Myth

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The use ofmulti-well pads and cluster drilling

facilitates and prolongs intense industrialization

and leaves a larger, long-term footprint.

Truth

Health Impact

Long term noise, dust, light pollution; NOxemissions; higher spill probabilities of frac fluid;

venting and accidental emissions of produced

gases.

U ti l D l t f


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Natural Gas is a Clean Fossil Fuel.

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CO Concentration in the Atmosphere


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CO2 Concentration in the Atmosphere

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Seasonal fluctuation

2 ppm increase per year450 ppm a tipping point

We have about 30 years

Methane Concentration in the Atmosphere:


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Methane Concentration in the Atmosphere:

Historical Record

42http://www.ecen.com/eee55/eee55e/growth_of%20methane_concentration_in_atmosphere.htm

Methane Is a Much More Potent Greenhouse Gas


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Methane Is a Much More Potent Greenhouse Gas

than Carbon Dioxide: 105 time more Potent over 20

years, 33 Times over 100 years.

It Is Vented and Leaked. During initial frac fluid flow-back period

Routinely and continuously at the well site

During liquid unloading

During gas processing

During transmission, storage, and distribution

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Marcellus Well Being Finished Outside Dimock Pa


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Marcellus Well Being Finished Outside Dimock, Pa

June, 2011: Major Source of Methane Emission

Photo and FLIR Methane-Tuned Video Courtesy Frank Finan 44

ll ll h d d k


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Marcellus Well Being Finished Outside Dimock, Pa.

June, 2011: Major Source of Methane Emission

Video

Video courtesy of Frank Finan

Burn Offs at MarkWest Gas Processing Plant


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Burn-Offs at MarkWest Gas Processing Plant,

Houston, PA

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9/18/11

2:03pm

Photos courtesy of Robert Donnan

ff k l


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Burn-Offs at MarkWest Gas Processing Plant,

Houston, PA

9/28/11

7:28pm


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The Literature on Methane Emissions from Shale


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The Literature on Methane Emissions from Shale

Gas Development (* = Peer Reviewed)

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1. Howarth R W, Santoro R & Ingraffea A. Clim. Change106, 679690 (2011).*

2. Skone T.

http://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/SKONE_

NG_LC_GHG_Profile_Cornell_12MAY11_Final.pdf

3. Hughes D. Post CarbonInstitute, 2011; http://go.nature.com/gkboqm

4. Osborn S G., Vengosh A, Warner NR & Jackson RB. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 108,81728176 (2011). *

5. Kumar S. WorldWatch Institute, http://www.worldwatch.org/despite-methane-

emissions-upstream-natural-gas-cleaner-coal-life-cycle-basi.s

5. JiangM, Griffin W M, Hendrickson C, Jaramillo P, VanBriesen J & Venkatesh A.

Environ. Res. Lett. 6: 034014 (2011).*

6. Wigley T.. Clim. Change(2011). DOI 10.1007/s10584-011-0217-3.*

Comparison of Modeling Assumptions and Key Results
http://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/SKONE_NG_LC_GHG_Profile_Cornell_12MAY11_Final.pdfhttp://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/SKONE_NG_LC_GHG_Profile_Cornell_12MAY11_Final.pdfhttp://go.nature.com/gkboqmhttp://go.nature.com/gkboqmhttp://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/SKONE_NG_LC_GHG_Profile_Cornell_12MAY11_Final.pdfhttp://cce.cornell.edu/EnergyClimateChange/NaturalGasDev/Documents/PDFs/SKONE_NG_LC_GHG_Profile_Cornell_12MAY11_Final.pdf


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Time scale GWP heat/ Methane Methane

(years) electricity from gas from coal

(gC/MJ) (gC/MJ)

Howarth et al. 20 / 100 33 / 105 both 0.56 1.3 0.045 0.14

Hughes 20 / 100 33 / 105 both 0.56 1.3 0.045 0.14

Skone 100 25 electr. 0.34 0.17

Jiang et al. 100 25 electr. 0.40 Not reported

Worldwatch 100 25 electr. 0.34 0.094

Wigley 0 200 n/a electr. 0.34 1.4 0.107

U.S. EPA (2011) n/a n/a n/a 0.75 0.04

Comparison of Modeling Assumptions and Key Results

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Myth


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Natural Gas is a Clean Fossil Fuel.Myth

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Over its life-cycle, unconventional Natural Gas

is likely no cleaner than coal or petroleum,

and conventional gas is comparable to thoseother fossil fuels.

Truth

Health Impact

Exacerbation of global climate change.

h l k h l f


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Why Is Slickwater, High-Volume Fracing from

Long Laterals a Higher Risk to Public Health?

Requires much higher well density, many wells per square

mile.

Requires much more industrial development over large areas,

heavy equipment operating 24/7/365.

Requires much higher volumes of fracing fluid, millions of

gallons per well.

Produces much higher volumes of waste fluids and solids

containing hazardous materials: frac fluid chemicals, heavymetals, NORMS, NOx, VOCs.

Produces higher volumes of fugitive emissions of methane.

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Wh I Sli k Hi h V l i f


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As number of wells and volumes of waste increase,

probability of accidental releases of hazardous

materials into air and groundwater increases.

Cumulative effects on air and water and health fromthese and from purposeful emissions into the

atmosphere and releases into groundwater are

unknown.

Increased production, processing, storage,transportation and burning of natural gas and its liquid

companions (e.g. ethane, propane, butane) increases

emission of GHGs.53

Why Is Slickwater, High-Volume Fracing from

Long Laterals a Higher Risk to Public Health?


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http://www.psehealthyenergy.org/

Where Can You

Find Reliable

Information?


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Where Can You

Find Reliable

Information?

http://www.earthworksaction.org/oil_and_gas.cfm


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Thank You for Attending

and Participating Tonight

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The Barnett Shale Play Texas


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The Barnett Shale Play, Texas

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Di k P l i


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Dimock, Pennsylvania

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An Industrial-Ideal Pad/Well Buildout Scenario:Fredericton


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An Industrial-Ideal Pad/Well Buildout Scenario:NS


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An Industrial-Ideal Pad/Well Buildout Scenario: Mocton


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An Industrial-Ideal Pad/Well Buildout Scenario:Fredericton


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