From The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel (Charles Ashby):
More than two dozen craft brewers from around the state, including several on the Western Slope, are asking Gov. John Hickenlooper to be more beer friendly and less oil-and-gas friendly. The brewers, including 13 from such Western Slope places as Paonia, Telluride and Montrose, sent a letter to the former-brewer-turned governor Friday asking him to be more concerned about the environmental impacts the oil-and-gas industry has on the state and less interested in the industry itself.
Before becoming governor and mayor of Denver, Hickenlooper was one of the state’s first microbrewers, starting the Wynkoop Brewing Co. in Denver’s lower downtown in the late 1980s that later became part of a small restaurant/pub empire. He did that, however, after he was laid off from his job as a petroleum geologist for the oil and gas industry.
The brewers say Hickenlooper has been too lenient with production companies, citing as examples the recent lawsuits his administration has filed against local communities over water and environmental ordinances they’ve enacted in recent months. “I think there is a natural concern from brewers about the oil and gas industry since good, clean Colorado water is our most important ingredient in beer,” said Gretchen King, co-owner of Revolution Brewing in Paonia.
“We want to be known as a state of natural beauty, pristine natural resources, outdoor activities and great beer, not just a state that promotes drilling and the gas industry,” added Chip Holland, head brewer at Glenwood Canyon Brewery in Glenwood Springs. “We need to strike a balance between this type of energy development and conservation for our economy’s sake.”
The brewers have requested a face-to-face meeting with the governor to discuss the matter — over beers, of course.
Hickenlooper’s office had only just received the letter, but his press secretary, Eric Brown, said the governor would respond. “The craft brewing industry is a great economic driver for Colorado, and we value our relationship with brewers across the state,” Brown said.
More coverage of water and oil and gas from (David Persons):
Oil and gas industry officials who oversee operations in shale plays — like the Niobrara in Weld County — have lots of things on their minds these days. They are concerned about HAPs (hazardous air pollutants), VOCs (volatile organic compounds), TDS (total dissolved solids), and TSS (total suspended solids).
However, the one concern that supercedes all others is H2O — water. Without it, the current shale oil boom would be nothing more than a big bust. Fortunately for the oil and gas industry, Colorado has enough water and the industry consumes only a tiny percentage of the water consumed in the state. Obtaining that water, however, can be time-consuming and, in some cases, costly. But, that is only the beginning of a series of water-related challenges, say industry officials who took part in the recent Water Management For Shale Plays 2013 Summit in Denver.
Besides obtaining the necessary water, industry officials say they face challenges in transporting water, storing water, the use of flowback and produced water, water treatment, recycling/ reuse, meeting air quality standards related to water storage, and eventually water disposal.
Despite those challenges, there’s no second-guessing the enthusiasm of shale industry officials about the potential of the industry in northeastern Colorado. “It’s an exciting time because we have, thanks to the shale plays, an abundance of oil and gas,” said Ken Burris, vice president of Water/Geosciences for WorleyParsons. “Isn’t it nice that we can thumb our nose at OPEC and tell them we don’t need them?”
Burris also pointed out the potential of the shale plays in the U.S. is tremendous and promises to be long-term. “The person who drills the last hole in shale play has not been born yet,” Burris said. “We’ll be in this for a long time.”
Acquiring water
Colorado, unlike most shale play states, has an abundance of surface water that starts on the snowy slopes of the Rocky Mountains and ends up in our streams, rivers and reservoirs. Colorado produces so much water, that what’s left (after farm draws, municipal draws, and manufacturing/industrial draws) flows out of state and is covered by nine separate compacts for downstream users. “Water today (in Colorado) is not a limiting factor (for oil and gas operations),” said Dick Wolfe, the state engineer for the Colorado Division of Water Resources.
While many might suspect that oil and gas companies are using a lot of Colorado’s produced water, that is not the case. The largest users of Colorado’s water are farmers. “About 86 percent of the water used in Colorado is used for agriculture,” Wolfe said. “Less than one-tenth of one percent is used for oil and gas wells.”
Many oil and gas companies prefer using fresh water for their drilling operations. However, it’s not the only water source available, Wolfe said. He pointed out that besides the available surface water, oil and gas companies can use ground water (below the surface) and produced water (water returned through drilling after flowback water has been retrieved). “All oil and gas wells produce water,” Wolfe said.
The problem with ground water or produced water is that it must be determined if the water is tributary or nontributary. All groundwater is considered tributary to natural surface streams except when it is determined to be isolated and has no effect on a surface stream. In that case, it is determined to be nontributary, Wolfe said. If the groundwater is tributary, it requires a well permit which can take time. If it’s nontributary, it doesn’t require a permit. Wolfe said nearly all the groundwater and produced water in the Niobrara is nontributary and varies from clean to salty.
While fresh water is still highly preferred, it’s not the only source of water for drillers. Water can also be obtained from nearby municipal/industrial firms in the form of waste water. And some drillers are learning to recycle flowback water and treat and use produced water.
Transporting water
One of the big headaches for oil and gas companies is transporting water to the drill site and then hauling water that can’t be recycled to a water disposal well site. By and large, there are just two options for bring water to the site: trucking or piping. Each has its advantages and drawbacks, said Drew Poeckes, the director of engineering for West Dakota Water LLC. Trucks are inefficient, create dust, destroy roads (an overloaded truck can destroy a road 20 times faster than a normally loaded truck) and have a safety impact on roads. However, they are cheaper and more cost-effective.
Pipes take years to build. Right-of-way acquisition can be costly and also take time. It has a high upfront cost.
Because of the economics, most oil and gas companies prefer trucking, Poeckes said.
Storing water
One way to limit truck trips and reduce wear and tear on roads is to store fresh water on site. It has been done in a variety of ways over the years: earthen tanks, above ground tanks, burial tanks, port-a-dams, and lined tanks. Storing flowback water, on the other hand, requires enclosed storage tanks.
Jonathan Hoopes, the president and COO of GreenHunter Water LLC, said his company has developed a MAG tank — a modular above ground tank — for storing fresh water. “Our goal is to reduce truck time since that is about 75 percent of the cost of handling fluids,” Hoopes said. He says his company’s MAG tank can hold about 60,000 barrels of water and takes only two days to set up.
Use of flowback and produced water
One way to reduce the demand for fresh water at drilling sites is to reuse flowback water and to use produced water. Halliburton, one of several oil and gas companies operating in the Niobrara, is rapidly becoming a leader in this area. Flowback water generally is defined as a water-based solution that flows back to the surface during and after the completion of hydraulic fracturing. It consists of the fluid used to fracture wells in the shale formation. Produced water is naturally occurring water found in shale formations that flows to the surface throughout the entire life span of the gas well. “One of the oldest problems we have in drilling is produced water,” said Walter Dale, the strategic business manager for Halliburton. “We actually make more water than oil and gas. We have about 111 billion barrels of water produced annually.”
Dale said Halliburton, long known for its insistence for fresh water, is now looking to maximize the reuse of water (flowback and produced) to reduce water sent for disposal. At the same time, this would minimize the waste stream and reduce trucking. “Our focus is to virtually eliminate fresh water from fracking and use alternative water sources,” Dale said. “When you make fracking fluid, you do not need fresh water. You can do it with impaired waters. “It’s a paradigm shift … and it will take time (to be widely accepted).”