Posted on 08/01/2012 10:22:07 AM PDT by thackney
The booming oil and natural gas fields might be stifled by an oppressive drought that’s restricting access to water and pitting the energy sector against farmers and homeowners.
According to a CNNMoney story, Neal Dingmann, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in Houston, said drilling could decline by 5 percent in small- to mid-size companies due to drought conditions.
More than 60 percent of the United States is suffering from drought conditions, and as a result, farmers are turning down contracts to sell water and restricting energy companies’ access to it.
“We’re having difficulty acquiring water,” Chris Faulkner, CEO of Breitling Oil and Gas, told CNNMoney.
Drillers use millions of gallons of water in the hydraulic fracturing process, which injects sand, water and chemicals underground at high pressure to release trapped oil and natural gas from shale formations.
Less water means less drilling, analysts say.
In July, Pennsylvania water regulators stopped issuing permits to natural gas drillers to siphon water from streams because of the drought, according to Reuters. The move affected about 30 companies, not all of them in the energy sector, the wire service reported.
Talisman Energy suspended some operations in the area due to the restricted access to water, but The Woodlands-based company told Reuters that the main reason for the slowdown was low natural gas prices.
“With the low natural gas prices, our frac activity is slower and therefore our consumption of water is also low as a result,” Pam Tragesser, a spokeswoman for Talisman Energy, said to the wire service.
The drought conditions are also pitting the energy sector against homeowners who are seeing their own water consumption restricted. Texas environmentalists hope to convince the Legislature to pass water-conservation requirements during next year’s session.
An environmental group, Environment Texas, is urging Texas to pass a bill that would limit drillers’ access to fresh water and require them to reuse water after fracturing.
“There are a lot of problems with fracking, and so we want to minimize the damage from fracking, including by requiring recycling,” Luke Metzger, the group’s director, told Bloomberg News in early July.
Recycling might reduce water use, but it also increases companies’ costs, analysts noted.
Recycling can cost 50 percent to 75 percent more than sending water in deep-water injection wells. Those wells have drawn criticism since researchers tied them to minor earthquakes in Oklahoma, Ohio and Texas.
This dingleberry fellow must not realize that oil production is taking place in many deserts which have ZERO rain and 115 to 125 degree temps year round.
LLS
I keep expecting to get notice from the water company about restricting water usage. But until I do I will continue to water my tomatoes, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes, and 3 newly planted trees. I figure the cost trade off in NOT having to mow the lawn all summer, would be allocated in keeping a few plants alive... and water for the birds that are keeping the bug population at an all time low.
I have noticed that the jet stream is way off what I have considered normal. I am nearly done in from the hot blasting heat. And from what I saw in the 'forecasters' modeling data there is no relief in sight. 1980 was a hot summer here in these parts but I think this year has far surpassed even that year.
I am most thankful for air conditioning, and know that the critters in the wild got to be suffering big time. But I am tired of hearing the sound of it running. Had I known in April/May what was ahead I doubt seriously I would have planted such a large garden.... My little strawberry patch produced 40 gallons picked strawberries... and my corn bed produced over 300 ears of corn... now mind you I had to water both to get there. I literally just got finished putting away the last of the corn harvest, and now moving on to what tomatoes survive..
I know my experience is a particle of dust of the big picture. But there are the ignorant naysayers who have NO clue just how wide and deep this drought is over a very large land mass.
waterless-natural-gas-fracking-method-unveiled
No water, but I could imagine environmentalists getting upset at the petrocarbons being pumped into the wells causing leaks. The article seems to imply that this is being done in NY state because of environmental concerns, but it is hard to discern, at least for me.
I’ve read about it. This was one of several misleading articles because it was NOT done in New York. Most of these articles were meant to pump up the stock and fill a page to sell ad space.
Water is the carrier of sand and delivers the pressure to the rock. It could be done with many fluids but water tends to be the cheapest. You will not save money buying millions of gallons of propane.
The NY commissars outlawed water fracking, but like most dolts didn’t understand there are ways around their laws.
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