![]() 02/18/2018 at 21:53 • Filed to: None | ![]() | ![]() |
As some of you know, I used to work in the oil and gas industry; I used to be a frac engineer. I didn’t fully understand all the technology that went behind poking holes in the earth before I got into the industry. One of the things that has fascinated me is the response to what Saddam did to the oil wells in Kuwait; putting out all those fires.
This is only a trailer, but if you have Netflix, there is a movie on there called !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It is about the aftermath of the first gulf war. I enjoyed watching it, and would recommend it. Sadly, it’s not on youtube like the last oil and gas related video I recommended:
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Fires of Kuwait was very interesting, definitely recommend it.
![]() 02/18/2018 at 22:03 |
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![]() 02/18/2018 at 22:05 |
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At first, I thought this was going to be a nonsensical video, but that is perfect.
![]() 02/18/2018 at 22:30 |
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Frac Engineer...
Oh.... Well, how do you feel about hydraulic fracturing?
I mean, there’s a lot of info out there but I’d value info from someone with experience!
![]() 02/18/2018 at 22:39 |
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I feel like there is a lot of misinformation out there about fracking. Personally, I don’t believe it’s terrible, like some people make it out to be.
Don’t really know, you have any specific questions?
![]() 02/18/2018 at 22:47 |
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Well, the information out there is pretty scary: toxic water, more earthquakes, irreparable damage to the earth, etc.
I live in a country where we can’t use tap water because of how badly held up our pipes are, earthquakes killed almost a thousand people just last year, and well, our president legalized fracking in 2012; no big expansion of it has be done (not that we need it...yet) but still, the thought of having stronger earthquakes more often is very scary to us.
I just wonder how bad it is compared to normal extraction and if it is as unsustainable as some claim.
![]() 02/18/2018 at 22:57 |
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As far as ground water contamination goes, I don’t buy it unless the cement job is shit. Physics determines how the frac grows; for most formations it doesn’t propagate up; if it does it’s not worth fracking that formation. As far as earthquakes go, it’s not frac, it’s salt water disposal; water produced from wells injected back into the ground. Without frac we wouldn’t have this problem, but it’s not a direct problem, it’s a side affect. If we injected the water back into ground deeper, we wouldn’t have this problem, but that’s expensive.
![]() 02/18/2018 at 23:01 |
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So, as long as it is done the right way, fracking is not necessarily dangerous? But doing it that way is expensive.
Well, I mean, once Opec stops trying to sink American investment in shale oil it could be worth it.
![]() 02/18/2018 at 23:18 |
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It’s not expensive, there was one well I did not frac cause the cement job was trash. There are a lot of people who claim frac is terrible, I don’t buy it. We fracked a lot in the 80s, why has it just come the forefront.
OPEC fucked themselves, all they got was shale producers figuring out how to economically produce.
![]() 02/18/2018 at 23:33 |
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But you just said that injecting water deep down to prevent earthquakes was expensive? Plus, NPR and other publications always talk about Oklahoma’s earthquake issue.
I don’t want to talk shit of a process that, as oil becomes more scarce, will keep the world going in terms of energetic needs, but I simply want to understand. You clearly know a lot more about it and I’ll take your word for it that if fracking is done correctly there isn’t a sizeable impact to 3rd parties.
I hate Opec with all my guts.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 00:12 |
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Just watched the fires of Kuwait. That was nuts. Heard and seen a lot of it before but holy hell not one person in that doc was wearing any type of respiratory protection! Geez I bet most of them paid dearly with health issue later in life. Brave folks to risk like and limb on foreign soil.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 01:28 |
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There are never problems when things are done properly, but oil companies have a long history of not doing things properly, sometimes even deliberately. The worst case scenario is something which always has to be kept in mind.
Sometimes the string of events that leads to a fatal disaster are so improbable (and yet still perfectly within the realm of possibility) that nobody could foresee the problem occurring. Until it does. Want some fun reading? Look up Hutchinson, Kansas.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 01:32 |
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The gas leaks?
![]() 02/19/2018 at 01:41 |
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Yup: https://www.propublica.org/article/an-unseen-leak-then-boom
![]() 02/19/2018 at 01:52 |
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Jesus..... that’s crazy!
Well... I wonder if someone will toughen up standards to make sure things are done properly and people aren’t killed!
![]() 02/19/2018 at 11:09 |
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It’s expensive because you need a lot of horsepower and those pumps are expensive and thirsty. It’s easier to pump it into an old well that is shallow. It costs millions to drill these wells, so you save costs where you can..
I hate OPEC as well, but probably for different reasons than you do.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 11:13 |
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but do shallow pumps fix the earthquake issues?
![]() 02/19/2018 at 11:17 |
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I think if we stopped injecting the water into shallow wells it would certainly help.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 11:22 |
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Well, you sir just found a way fix Fracking’s image problem:
Inject water into deep wells despite the cost.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 21:10 |
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The thing is, in a case like this, even though the company knew what it was doing might not be the best practice, nobody could have forseen what the result was going to be.
Some of this is tangentially related to fracking. When you’re pumping stuff into the ground, crazy things can happen. They’re not likely to happen, but not likely and not possible are two different levels of risk.
Makes me kind of think the money invested into pumping shit into the earth might have better been spent growing sugar beets and turning it into alcohol fuel.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 21:21 |
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Well, it does it into rubber fuel lines.
I think that companies should be held to a high standard, and if that means that they should have their subsides removed and treated like real companies, well... I’d rather see that fallout than earthquakes.
As e90 says, it can be done responsibily and it is still the energy that moves the world. Not to discourage use of renewable and ecologic sources... it’s to simply put it in contrast.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 22:28 |
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I do sometimes think continued investment into oil is just throwing good money after bad. When you get into fracking and oil shale, etc. you’re pretty much entering the territory of diminishing returns.
![]() 02/19/2018 at 22:42 |
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So do I, but the facing out of petroleum has to be controlled and slow so that it doesn’t disturb the global economy. Perhaps if car makers were forced to make alternative fuel vehicles that actually make sense (Electric cars aren’t sustainable, you know) maybe ethanol, or even hydrogen could fill a void... or an organic oil recipe...
I’m not immersed enough in the topic to know for certain about the replacement for hydrocarbons, I do know that electric vehicles contaminate a lot and lithium is very scare, so is cobalt. So Elon’s vision is unsustainable.
My bet is on fuel cells.
![]() 02/20/2018 at 01:41 |
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I don’t know, WWII proved alternatives will be found on short notice if they have to be found. And alternative fuels/technologies back then were pretty bad.
In the 1970's alcohol fuels got a lot of renewed interest, and technology and agriculture have advanced so much since that alcohol is probably the safest/most reliable alternative (as of now) in real terms. It still gets a lot of bad press for political reasons, and because lots of anachronistic data from the 70's is still presented in arguments against it.
The biggest issue is probably that manufacturers don’t want to risk choosing the next fuel, and making the wrong choice. Electricity is a safe bet, as it is understood and available, but as you point out, not an ultimate solution.
![]() 02/20/2018 at 09:44 |
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I’m thinking something more like
“Hey, BMW, if you don’t sell an ethanol , a fuel cell, and an electric version of the 3 series we will kick you put of the US market”
“Hey, shell, if you don’t star selling ethanol, hydrogen, and electricity in all of your gas stations say bye bye to oil subsides”
Give the power of choice to the consumer....