Drillers dropping diesel for cheaper natural gas

Reuters ^ | u Apr 12, 2012 | Anna Driver

[thackney]

North American oil and gas companies are trying to take the sting out of low natural gas prices by using it instead of costlier diesel fuel to drive their drilling rigs.

Oilfield technology such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked record supplies of natural gas in North America, pushing prices to a 10-year low and cutting profits. The oversupply has prompted gas producers to actively promote the fuel as a low-cost, cleaner burning means of fueling vehicles and other equipment.

Apache Corp, the largest U.S. company focused solely on oil and gas exploration and production, is in the process of converting its first rig to run on power generated by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Canada's Encana Corp's already has 15 of its more than 40 rigs driven by gas, and plans to convert even more.

"What we need to do is increase the amount of natural gas demand in this country," Steve Farris, chief executive of Apache, said in a recent i n terview in New Orleans. "From an economic standpoint, it's a no brainer."

Two years worth of fuel savings can cover the cost of conversion, according to Encana.

U.S. natural gas producers including Chesapeake Energy Corp and Apache have long touted compressed natural gas as a fuel for truck and vehicle fleets. Now, more energy companies are looking to natural gas as a means of powering their drilling rigs.

"We've seen interest just kind of explode in the last six to eight months," said Ron Bertasi, chief executive officer of Prometheus Energy Group Inc, which provides LNG and services to energy companies to run drilling rigs.

So far Prometheus, owned by Cargill Inc backed-Black River Asset Management and Royal Dutch Shell's technology fund, service about 10 rigs that have been converted to run on natural gas...

[thackney]

In 2010:

Encana’s drilling rigs to run entirely on natural gas. After successfully testing the LNG storage and vaporization system the units were readied for operation in the Haynesville Shale Play covering vast amounts of Northern Louisiana. The design of the system was a successful collaboration between Prometheus, Ensign and Encana. The project enabled Encana to realize an estimated $1,000 per day fuel savings versus a drilling rig burning diesel, while also reducing NOx and PM emissions by as much as 25%.

http://www.prometheusenergy.com/solutions/producers/documents/EncanaCaseStudy.pdf

[EQAndyBuzz]

“The project enabled Encana to realize an estimated $1,000 per day fuel savings versus a drilling rig burning diesel, while also reducing NOx and PM emissions by as much as 25%.”

Wonderful, now you did it. The minute Obama finds out he will regulate it out of existence.

[ngat]

So, what’s taking so long for somebody to jump on T. Boone Pickens for saying natural gas’ best use is as a motor fuel?

[PapaBear3625]

There will be even more savings when manufacturers produce equipment and engines that run on LNG, rather than users having to take a diesel engine and apply a separately purchased conversion kit.

[cripplecreek]

I’ve long said that the wealth of natural gas under Michigan could have an enormous industrial benefit in the form of cheap energy even with the unions and high taxes.

Unfortunately our power companies are going green in an effort to soak up tax breaks and subsidies for themselves and driving prices even higher.

Personally I would sell the natural gas to industrial parks at wholesale prices and let them generate their own power completely independent of other private consumers. They could even sell the excess electricity to local communities.

[GonzoGOP]

So, what’s taking so long for somebody to jump on T. Boone Pickens for saying natural gas’ best use is as a motor fuel?

Turn it into methanol and make it easier to handle. NG you need a reinforced fuel tank so anything smaller than an SUV is going to take a performance penalty due to the weight of the tank. Convert the car to flex fuel (could be done for $100-$500 per car) and you can burn methanol, ethanol or good old fashioned gasoline. You have to burn twice as much methanol as gasoline, but if it is less than half the price it is still a good deal. You use whatever is cheaper. And you don't need any new infrastructure.

Sometimes options are better than plans.

[DiogenesLamp]

So, what’s taking so long for somebody to jump on T. Boone Pickens for saying natural gas’ best use is as a motor fuel?

This is a topic in which I am highly interested. I have researched conversions for several years. A "legal" conversion, (i.e. one using an EPA certified system and installer) can cost $12,000.00 for a car. That is simply too excessive to make it practical.

There are kits that people can buy on Ebay to do conversions, and these kits run around $500.00, and they do not include the CNG fuel tank, which must be bought separately. CNG fuel tanks cost from $200.00 used, up to several thousand for new. (Depending on size, of course)

The main problem with getting CNG popularized is the high cost of conversion, and the general absence of CNG filling stations. I am currently working on both problems for my area. I am installing my own CNG filling station on my property, and I am going to convert all my own vehicles over to natural gas.

I intend to sell my compressed natural gas for $1.00 per gallon. Hopefully other enterprenuers will follow suit, and CNG can be expanded to take over transportation from gasoline and diesel.

If we could convert our transportation fuels from an oil based system, we could tell those D@mned Arabs to go to H3ll and we would therefore stop supplying them with money which allows them to try and kill us. It is in the best interest of our country to do this, and I am doing my part.

[DiogenesLamp]

Turn it into methanol and make it easier to handle. NG you need a reinforced fuel tank so anything smaller than an SUV is going to take a performance penalty due to the weight of the tank. Convert the car to flex fuel (could be done for $100-$500 per car) and you can burn methanol, ethanol or good old fashioned gasoline. You have to burn twice as much methanol as gasoline, but if it is less than half the price it is still a good deal. You use whatever is cheaper. And you don't need any new infrastructure.

Do you know of a means to produce methanol as cheaply as natural gas? As far as the tanks go, you can get them in different sizes and different weights, it all depends on how much you are willing to spend. The Cheaper tanks are heavier, and the expensive tanks are lighter, but even the heavier tanks are not a significant burden for a normal automobile, and not a burden at all for heavier trucks or tractor trailer rigs.

Bear in mind, that CNG vehicles burn either CNG *OR* gasoline. At $1.00 per gallon, you can see that it is worthwhile to use CNG as often as possible, but being able to also use gasoline makes it less of a concern if CNG stations aren't as readily available.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Personally I would sell the natural gas to industrial parks at wholesale prices and let them generate their own power completely independent of other private consumers. They could even sell the excess electricity to local communities.

I used to sell systems to do just that.

[wild74]

Encana has a nice filling station CNG right next to the red river in Coushatta. Encana and Shell has just about shut down the drilling in the Haynesville shale because of the low prices and dry gas.

[wild74]

Encana has a nice filling station CNG right next to the red river in Coushatta. Encana and Shell has just about shut down the drilling in the Haynesville shale because of the low prices and dry gas.

[Marko413]

Wait wait wait, this is confusing! This article seems to imply that if we drill more, it drives prices down? But that can’t be because Obama said that drilling for more oil wouldn’t drive oil prices down!

/sarcasm

[bert]

I have enjoyed several interviews of Boone Pickens by Cavuto.

Pickens strongly pushes LNG for fueling , especially of our big rig fleet. He says that if the big rigs were converted, the pressure on supply would evaporate and prices would come down.

He is a plain and outspoken man who seems to tell it like it is. One winders if he is not involved in the transition noted. It would be application of using the thoughts at home before pressing others to make the change.

[thackney]

Keep in mind Pickens already controls the largest Nat Gas vehicle fueling company in the US.

I am not saying he is wrong in this, but his company will grow fantastically if the US subsidizes or otherwise mandates this system.

I see what Pickens is doing as more than mere advertising to the free market.

[X-spurt]

T. Boone may not be our pick politically, but he's right about promoting NG as the best motor fuel to decrease the quantity of oil we consume and need to import from muslim’s that prefer freedom and America dead.

What most people never realize is that methane (Natural Gas) is a renewable resource. It can be produced (by the anaerobic microbes) in 30 days in sewer plants and landfills from almost any organic waste.

Additionally, most never know that there is likely an unlimited supply of NG in hydrolyzed methane in most oceans just waiting to be unlocked.

[6ppc]

One winders if he is not involved in the transition noted

T Boone is a huge player in the natural gas market, so he has a vested interest in pushing it. Still makes a lot of sense, but to me it makes more sense to use it for generating electricity.

It would take a long time and a lot of money to build an LNG/CNG infrastructure to support fueling over the road vehicles. Makes sense for service vehicle fleets, but not over the road.

[GonzoGOP]

Do you know of a means to produce methanol as cheaply as natural gas?

Since natural gas is the feed stock for methanol obviously no. But the current spot price for methanol is only 1.34 a gal.

The big economy is not in the fuel but in the cost of conversion. You need no new infrastructure for Methanol. The conversions are cheap, and even cheaper if put in at the factory. Current supply and delivery systems for gasoline will work just as well for methanol. Room temperature liquids are just easier to handle than a gas. Even an fairly easy to handle gas like methane.

If the price of natural gas does go up you can use ethanol or gasoline instead of methanol. The ability to rapidly and effortlessly switch between three fuels will force the price down to that of the cheapest alternative.

A flex fuel car can burn gas without having to lug around the extra fuel tank. For a methane burner to be able to switch between fuels you need both a gasoline and a methane tank. That just adds mass as one of the two tanks is always dead weight.

As a final advantage the ability to rapidly switch between fuels is a strategic advantage. For the prepper it is nice to know that in the case of a fuel disruption caused by Iran or Saudi Arabia, or just rioting here in the US, you can use whatever fuel you can get your hands on. Most high school chemistry students can brew up ethanol in a pinch. Methanol is a bit harder, but not beyond the ability of a garage mechanic.

[GonzoGOP]

The conversions are cheap, and even cheaper if put in at the factory.

Just as a side note, in the case of Fords with electronic fuel injection the cars can be converted to flex fuel with a software upgrade alone. The fuel lines and seals are already flex fuel compatible.

[ngat]

“Sometimes options are better than plans.”

Yes, but that is completely antithetical to the way the world works now. In a world where government controls everything, plans are better than options.

By the way, are the flex-fuel vehicles of the last few years capable of using methanol as well as E-85 without modification? I mean, could I take my E-85 flex-fuel
SUV over to the dragstrip, fill up with some methanol racing fuel, put it in the tank, and just drive off?