Wednesday, July 20, 2011

GAS DRILLING COULD MEAN 574 MILLION TRUCK TRIPS IN NEW YORK STATE

Note: This is original work by Steve Coffman. Republished here w/permission. -- BH


GAS DRILLING COULD MEAN
57 MILLION TRUCK TRIPS IN FINGER LAKES

Where that number comes from:

In 2009, New York’s DEC issued its dSGEIS that included a chart for truckloads of water, chemicals and materials for a single frack pad with eight horizontally-drilled wells. The chart (6.13.1) listed numbers of truck trips for minimum and maximum truckloads.

To calculate an average number of truckloads, I combined the DEC minimum and maximum and divided by two. To account for the return-trip traffic, as well, I doubled the calculated average.

Average truck traffic for one fracking of a single pad with eight wells = 14,750 trips. 14750 trips per 8-well pad (÷) by 8 = 1844 truck trips per well

Since many wells are fracked more than once (some as many as 10 times), and each refracking requires at least as many truck trips as the first, [See note below], I estimated 3 refracks per well as a conservative number:

1844 truck trips + 3 refracks (5,532 truck trips) = 7,376 truck trips per well

To estimate the total number of truck trips in the Finger Lakes, I multiplied the average number of trips per well (7,376) by the expected number of wells in the Finger Lakes Region: 7,780.

Why 7,780 wells? Dr. Terry Engelder, Marcellus Shale expert and geosciences professor at Penn State University estimated that full development of the Marcellus shale in New York State could entail 77,800 wells over 50 years. [source:www.fwbog.com Table 2]. Since the richest part of the Marcellus Shale is in the adjacent counties to the south and east of the Finger Lakes, I used a 10% share as a conservative amount for the Finger Lakes Region.

7,780 wells X 7,376 truck trips per well = 57,385,280 truck trips in the Finger Lakes Region; that is, 1,148,000 per year, 3,144 a day, 131 an hour, 24/7 --- for 50 years.

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UTICA SHALE NOTE: Given the deeper and broader expanse of the Utica Shale in NYS, if/when it is developed, the above numbers could be doubled or tripled --- to over 100 million more heavy truck trips in the Finger Lakes Region for Utica Shale development.

For Utica Shale fairway in the Finger Lakes Region, see:

REFRACKING NOTE: According to Halliburton Corporation, largest U.S. hydrofracker: “It is important to note that a well drilled in the Marcellus shale may have to be fracked several times over the course of its life to keep the gas flowing, and that each fracking operation may require more water than the previous one. “It has been established that only 10% of GIP [gas in place] is recovered with the initial completion. Refracturing the shale can increase the recovery rate by an additional 8% to 10%. Simple reperforation of the original interval and pumping a job volume at least 25% larger than the previous frack has produced positive results in vertical shale wells.”

source: Halliburton. Jan. 2007. “Developing Gas Shale Reserves .“ Advances in Unconventional Gas. A Hart Energy Publication. p. 28.

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GAS DRILLING COULD MEAN 574 MILLION TRUCK TRIPS IN NEW YORK STATE
by Steve Coffman

Where that number comes from:

In 2009, New York’s DEC issued its dSGEIS that included a chart for truckloads of water, chemicals and materials for a single frack pad with eight horizontally-drilled wells. The chart (6.13.1) listed numbers of truck trips for minimum and maximum truckloads.

To calculate an average number of truckloads, I combined the DEC minimum and maximum and divided by two. To account for the return-trip traffic, as well, I doubled the calculated average.

Average truck traffic for one fracking of a single pad with eight wells = 14,750 trips. 14750 trips per 8-well pad (÷) by 8 = 1844 truck trips per well

Since many wells are fracked more than once (some as many as 10 times), and each refracking requires at least as many truck trips as the first, [See note below], I estimated 3 refracks per well as a conservative number:

1844 truck trips + 3 refracks (5,532 truck trips) = 7,376 truck trips per well

To estimate the total number of truck trips in the New York State, I multiplied the average number of trips per well (7,376) by the expected number of wells in the Finger Lakes Region: 77,780.

Why 77,780 wells? Dr. Terry Engelder, Marcellus Shale expert and geosciences professor at Penn State University estimated that full development of the Marcellus shale in New York State could entail 77,800 wells over 50 years. [source:www.fwbog.com Table 2].

77,780 wells X 7,376 truck trips per well = 573,852,800 truck trips in New York State; that is, 11. 5 million trips per year, 31,444 a day, 1,310 an hour, 22 every minute --- 24/7 for 50 years.

==============================================================================

UTICA SHALE NOTE: Given the deeper and broader expanse of the Utica Shale in NYS, if/when it is developed, the above numbers could be doubled or tripled --- to at least 1-2 billion heavy additional truck trips in NYS --- averaging 30 million heavy truck trips every year, 82000 per day, 3,425 per hour, 57 per minute, 1 every second --- 24/7 for 50 years.

For Utica Shale fairway in the New York State, see:

REFRACKING NOTE: According to Halliburton Corporation, largest U.S. hydrofracker: “It is important to note that a well drilled in the Marcellus shale may have to be fracked several times over the course of its life to keep the gas flowing, and that each fracking operation may require more water than the previous one. “It has been established that only 10% of GIP [gas in place] is recovered with the initial completion. Refracturing the shale can increase the recovery rate by an additional 8% to 10%. Simple reperforation of the original interval and pumping a job volume at least 25% larger than the previous frack has produced positive results in vertical shale wells.”

source: Halliburton. Jan. 2007. “Developing Gas Shale Reserves .“ Advances in Unconventional Gas. A Hart Energy Publication. p. 28.



GAS DRILLING COULD MEAN 574 MILLION TRUCK TRIPS IN NEW YORK STATE

Where that number comes from:

In 2009, New York’s DEC issued its dSGEIS that included a chart for truckloads of water, chemicals and materials for a single frack pad with eight horizontally-drilled wells. The chart (6.13.1) listed numbers of truck trips for minimum and maximum truckloads.

To calculate an average number of truckloads, I combined the DEC minimum and maximum and divided by two. To account for the return-trip traffic, as well, I doubled the calculated average.

Average truck traffic for one fracking of a single pad with eight wells = 14,750 trips. 14750 trips per 8-well pad (÷) by 8 = 1844 truck trips per well

Since many wells are fracked more than once (some as many as 10 times), and each refracking requires at least as many truck trips as the first, [See note below], I estimated 3 refracks per well as a conservative number:

1844 truck trips + 3 refracks (5,532 truck trips) = 7,376 truck trips per well

To estimate the total number of truck trips in the New York State, I multiplied the average number of trips per well (7,376) by the expected number of wells in the Finger Lakes Region: 77,780.

Why 77,780 wells? Dr. Terry Engelder, Marcellus Shale expert and geosciences professor at Penn State University estimated that full development of the Marcellus shale in New York State could entail 77,800 wells over 50 years. [source:www.fwbog.com Table 2].

77,780 wells X 7,376 truck trips per well = 573,852,800 truck trips in New York State; that is, 11. 5 million trips per year, 31,444 a day, 1,310 an hour, 22 every minute --- 24/7 for 50 years.

==============================================================================

UTICA SHALE NOTE: Given the deeper and broader expanse of the Utica Shale in NYS, if/when it is developed, the above numbers could be doubled or tripled --- to at least 1-2 billion heavy additional truck trips in NYS --- averaging 30 million heavy truck trips every year, 82000 per day, 3,425 per hour, 57 per minute, 1 every second --- 24/7 for 50 years.

For Utica Shale fairway in the New York State, see:

REFRACKING NOTE: According to Halliburton Corporation, largest U.S. hydrofracker: “It is important to note that a well drilled in the Marcellus shale may have to be fracked several times over the course of its life to keep the gas flowing, and that each fracking operation may require more water than the previous one. “It has been established that only 10% of GIP [gas in place] is recovered with the initial completion. Refracturing the shale can increase the recovery rate by an additional 8% to 10%. Simple reperforation of the original interval and pumping a job volume at least 25% larger than the previous frack has produced positive results in vertical shale wells.”

source: Halliburton. Jan. 2007. “Developing Gas Shale Reserves .“ Advances in Unconventional Gas. A Hart Energy Publication. p. 28.



5.7 Source Water for High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing
As described below, it is estimated that 2.4 million to 7.8 million gallons of water may be used
for a multi-stage hydraulic fracturing procedure in a 4,000-foot lateral wellbore.

Maximum allowed truck weight --- 80,000 pounds

Average heavy truck weight (empty) --- approx. 30,000 pounds

Therefore, a semi-trailer truck can carry a maximum of approx. 50,000 pounds.

50,000 pounds / 8.34 pounds per gallon of water = 5,995 gallons per truckload (max.)

1 million gallons / 5,995 gallons per truck = 167 truckloads

DEC’s 2009 dSGEIS 5.7 estimates the amount of water used per well at 2.4 - 7.8 million gallons -- an average of 5.1 million gallons per well

5.1 million gallon = 851 trucks per well + 851 return trips -- for a total of 1,702 truck trips per well. Just for the water.

source: Steve Coffman

==================================================================

NYSDEC dSGEIS (6.13.1) [truck traffic for a single pad with eight wells]:

Drill Pad and Road Construction Equipment 10 – 45 Truckloads
Drilling Rig 60 Truckloads
Drilling Fluid and Materials 200 – 400 Truckloads
Drilling Equipment (casing, drill pipe, etc.) 200 – 400 Truckloads
Completion Rig 30 Truckloads
Completion Fluid and Materials 80 – 160 Truckloads
Completion Equipment – (pipe, wellhead) 10 Truckloads
Hydraulic Fracture Equipment (pump trucks, tanks) 300 – 400 Truckloads
Hydraulic Fracture Water 3,200 – 4,800 Tanker Trucks
Hydraulic Fracture Sand 160 – 200 Trucks
Flow Back Water Removal 1,600 – 2,400 Tanker Trucks

As many as 8900 truckloads --- Roundtrip 17,800 truck trips per 8-well pad. [minimum trips from above chart 11,360 trips; average -- 14,750 trips]

As many as 2,225 heavy truck trips per well for each frack. [minimum -- 1420 trips; average --1844 trips]

If refracking takes place (5-10 times is not unusual), multiply 2,225 by the number of refracks to get the total number of maximum truck trips per well.

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