Thread: Oil and gas....I love my job!!

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Some rather emotive statements here.

Would you care to elaborate what "toxic cancerous chemicals" are being used to "deliberately and permanently infect our drinking water FOREVER"?

Fair points. I am not a scientist, so I read a lot. I ask questions. Before posting, I wanted to ensure my rant was well founded as I knew I'd be called out on it.

So, googling away, I found this: Hydraulic fracturing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some pretty powerful statements in there. I'm sure that many of the CSG miners will claim "that's not us"... Well, I'd like to wager heavily that they wouldn't let their kids swim in the water that comes back up. Ever. And I'd equally wager that they would not buy a productive farm that had been fracked on either. But...but...IT'S SAFE they wail. My ass.

Now, before anyone flys off the handle at me, I am cynical for a reason. I spent 5 years as a trader for the commonwealth bank when I was a kid. Forex, bills, futures, notes, etc. Heavy duty stuff. There was an exact price for everything...right from production to consumer.

Guess what the price that was attached to "the future". I.e. not what it will cost us as a commodity next week/year, but next generation? Hazard a guess?

If you said zero, you would be right. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's their problem, not ours.

We rape the sea with close to zero consideration of the effect for our grandkids. We dig the coal because we can't get it to china fast enough....we buy petrol at $1.70 a litre and not one cent is priced into the fact we won't be able to fill a tank in 10 years....one decade. Gone. (had a next door neighbour who was a big Texan oil CEO... Get a few beers in him and the truth came out thick and fast....There Ain't None Left Boy!)

Fracking? Let's bottle it and sell it at Woolworths alongside the Perier!

It's perfectly safe.

I think I have already stated that fracking in geo-sensitive areas is wrong. Please let me explain because some people have no idea apart from a blinkered view that they have read somewhere. Fracking is used to fracture a hydrocarbon rich formation, thereby allowing better ingress of the hydrocarbon into the well. Fracking cannot be controlled perfectly so a nearby usable aquifer will also suffer fracturing. The hydrocarbons can then migrate, under pressure, into the aquifer. Water tastes bad, carcinogenic, you can light your water tap up etc.

This is bad!

Hydrocarbon migration causes aquifer pollution not the chemicals used in the fracking process. I over 10 years in the industry, upsteam, so I think my view is just a bit better than a guy with 5 years in finance. I still can't work out your expertise on this.

Fracking in a geologically stable area, the Cooper Basin for example, why not? The fracturing takes place around 9000ft underground. The useable aquifer up there is approximately 200ft deep. There is no affect on it at all.

How do I know this? I'm also a licensed waterwell driller and drilled 10 bores up there and not one had gas in it.

Originally Posted by Evanism

Fair points. I am not a scientist, so I read a lot. I ask questions. Before posting, I wanted to ensure my rant was well founded as I knew I'd be called out on it.

So, googling away, I found this: Hydraulic fracturing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some pretty powerful statements in there. I'm sure that many of the CSG miners will claim "that's not us"... Well, I'd like to wager heavily that they wouldn't let their kids swim in the water that comes back up. Ever. And I'd equally wager that they would not buy a productive farm that had been fracked on either. But...but...IT'S SAFE they wail. My ass.

Now, before anyone flys off the handle at me, I am cynical for a reason. I spent 5 years as a trader for the commonwealth bank when I was a kid. Forex, bills, futures, notes, etc. Heavy duty stuff. There was an exact price for everything...right from production to consumer.

Guess what the price that was attached to "the future". I.e. not what it will cost us as a commodity next week/year, but next generation? Hazard a guess?

If you said zero, you would be right. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's their problem, not ours.

We rape the sea with close to zero consideration of the effect for our grandkids. We dig the coal because we can't get it to china fast enough....we buy petrol at $1.70 a litre and not one cent is priced into the fact we won't be able to fill a tank in 10 years....one decade. Gone. (had a next door neighbour who was a big Texan oil CEO... Get a few beers in him and the truth came out thick and fast....There Ain't None Left Boy!)

Fracking? Let's bottle it and sell it at Woolworths alongside the Perier!

It's perfectly safe.

Evanism, I'm not "calling you out". I asked a very simple question, which you quoted, however you have not answered that question, other than to provide a Wikipedia link (which I had already read).

Rants (your words) like yours do not help to educate people as to how good or how bad fracking is.

BTW until I know more I have no position on this, for or against, I usually try and educate myself preferably using reputable scientific sources.

I am by training an industrial chemist so sweeping statements like yours do not add to my, or others', knowledge.

Thank you.

From what I've seen of the coal seam gas and shale gas industry, when problems occur it's due largely to the activities of "cowboys" within the industry. Sloppy casing cement jobs and well completions lead to shallow aquifers not being adequately isolated from underlying frac/reservoir zones. Add in the gung-ho attitude of some operators towards the owners of the land they're drilling on and I'm not surprised that CSG is a dirty word in many rural parts of Queensland/NSW.

I chose not to be involved in coal seam and shale gas work as I have issues with the level of professionalism and some of the stuff that's going on within that industry. I spend my days offshore working conventional oil and gas exploration wells.....no offense intended wireliner but offshore the working conditions are better (eg two Geologists working 12 hours shifts instead of one Geologist working absurd hours) and one gets to work with generally more professional people.

Originally Posted by rod1949

So do you want to tell us what it is?

Wireline Engineer or Operator....most likely working for Baker Atlas?

Ex General Operator with Baker. Now with a different company but still shooting holes in casing. No open hole for this little black duck. 4 years is plenty!

Originally Posted by Evanism

Guess what the price that was attached to "the future". I.e. not what it will cost us as a commodity next week/year, but next generation? Hazard a guess?

...but for one beautiful moment..

Ok a question for those in the know. A question that no one has ever
answered to my satisfaction.

We see gas being "flared off" at various oil/petroleum/gas production sites.
Why is this done??

Originally Posted by artme

Ok a question for those in the know. A question that no one has ever
answered to my satisfaction.

We see gas being "flared off" at various oil/petroleum/gas production sites.
Why is this done??

Flaring of gas is done for a number of reasons:

1. when flow rate of gas is too low to make production economic. To lay on piping and a processing facility for a field in the middle of the desert with a small number of oil wells flowing minute amounts of gas is just not economic. In the "old days" before gas prices went through the roof this was very common on fields where flow rates would currently be considered economic.
2. flaring is carried out at production facilities to dispose of impurities that are produced from the wellhead along with the gas. Flaring can also be carried out in the event of an unexpected shutdown of part or all of the processing plant. Because shutting down the input to the plant is time consuming the gas flow is diverted to the flare stack until the shutdown can be effected. On a production facility subsea facility even when the subsea shut in valves in each well have activated there is still gas in the lines between the wells and the processing plant. There will also be gas in the pipeline connecting the facility with any onshore facilities.
3. Flaring is carried out during drill stem testing operations usually at the completion of drilling of exploration and appraisal wells on a field. In this case the production facilities have not yet been completed so flaring is the only option for the produced gas.

Note that these days flaring is generally only carried out where it is absolutely necessary and there are regulations in place that make it hard for an operator to needlessly flare off gas that can be economically produced.

Modern gas plants have all their emergency blow downs and venting/purging systems connected to a flare so when gas is expelled it is burnt and becomes Co2, which is a nicer greenhouse gas than methane. Which for those who didn't know, is what CSG actually is. Additionally, in a big shutdown the venting methane can initially drop to ground level where it can form an explosive mixture with air so burning it in a flare stack is much safer.

I also work in CSG and up until a year ago I was maintaining compression and processing plant machinery. I worked predominantly in an older plant where every machine had it's own purge and blowdown vents; it isn't unusual to get a gas reading from an adjacent machine which has just shut down, even though it may be 20m away and the vent my be 4m in the air.

I love listening to "discussions" regarding fracking; having been exposed to process water on an almost daily basis straight from the wells I'm pretty sure I'm not even slightly dead yet. Yes, some of the fracking chemicals are cancerous; but have you considered the actual amount being injected as a percentage of the total liquid used? Also, if this stuff stays in the ground forever, then exactly how can it harm you; conversely if it gets out and contaminates ground water then when does it run out, or is it a never ending source constantly replenishing itself? This industry is so (almost ridiculously) safety conscious that we have to carry MSDS for our sunscreen, yet we don't have any problems with contaminated process water coming from the wells.... because it's not contaminated with anything other than naturally occurring mineral salts. Any trace of fracking chemicals has to be almost homoeopathic in their concentration.

All our produced water is treated through a reverse osmosis plant which removes the main contaminant; salt. The resulting water is pure enough to be used for irrigation or chucked into the nearest river. This is a very handy by-product as many fields are in arid farmland.

Unlike Wireliner; I don't love my job, I do however enjoy many aspects of it; especially the pay and the 2wk on/off roster. Having spent over 2 decades in the Navy not knowing what I'd be doing 6 months in the future it's actually quite refreshing to be able to look in my diary and tell you exactly where I'll be at any point in the coming year.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

Unlike Wireliner; I don't love my job, I do however enjoy many aspects of it; especially the pay and the 2wk on/off roster. Having spent over 2 decades in the Navy not knowing what I'd be doing 6 months in the future it's actually quite refreshing to be able to look in my diary and tell you exactly where I'll be at any point in the coming year.

That makes two of us....starting to get too old to be getting up at 3.30am and sitting in helicopters for 2 hours for the flight out to a rig. I'm 56 and have been in this game for 28 years.....I'm tired of it and am winding down the number of days I work in a year.

My rotations arent as regular as yours.....I generally work single wells from start to finish. Occasionally I get onto a long term multiwell program with one operator and there's some semblence of regularity with hitches.

Thank you for the answers gentlemen!!!

Originally Posted by wireliner

Ex General Operator with Baker. Now with a different company but still shooting holes in casing. No open hole for this little black duck. 4 years is plenty!

As I understand, via the bush telegraph, you're in van 30.............questionable history that one wouldn't you say S3e&e?

UV light may well confirm or dispel certain "rumours" however if you aint got your own pillow that's the first place I'd be lookin ......sleep well (no pun intended ex foreman who still loves bakers!)