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And just how many have made the technology for exploiting shale reserves available to Pakistan? Zero.
Pakistan's vast Shale Oil & Gas Reserves | Updates & Discussions
- Thread starter RiazHaq
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And just how many have made the technology for exploiting shale reserves available to Pakistan? Zero.
US is where the shale gas extraction technology was developed. Almost all of the world's shale gas today is being produced in the US.
However, other companies elsewhere, particular Polish companies, are very active in starting to do shale and tight gas exploration. Here's one example in Pakistan:
KARACHI - Pakistan is expected to start producing 30 Million Cubic Feet per day (MMCFD) of tight gas in July-August this year from Sajawal gas field located in the district of Dadu. According to media reports quoting government officials this would be first time the country would be producing tight gas. Pakistan has estimate tight gas reserves of about 40 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF). The first tight gas sales and purchase agreement was signed on November 13, 2012 in Islamabad for production from a tight gas reservoir in Pakistan from Kirthar Block in Dadu, Sindh. The Kirthar Block is jointly owned by Polish Oil and Gas Company (PGNiG), which has 70 percent stake and Pakistan Petroleum Limited owns 30 percent. For the implementation of this project, SSGC has been awarded a contract for the construction of 52-km pipeline from Kirthar Block’s Rehman Gas Field which will be integrated into SSGC’s system at Naing Valve Assembly through the Bhit gas pipeline.
Pakistan
Here's an excerpt of a paper describing the difference between shale gas and tight gas:
All Shale Gas reservoirs are not the same. There are no typical Tight Gas reservoirs. These two statements can be found numerous times in the literature on shale gas and tight gas reservoirs. The one common aspect of developing these unconventional resources is that wells in both must be ‘hydraulically fractured’ in order to produce commercial amounts of gas. Operator challenges and objectives to be accomplished during each phase of the Asset Life Cycle (Exploration, Appraisal, Development, Production, and Rejuvenation) of both shale gas and tight gas are similar. Drilling, well design, completion methods and hydraulic fracturing are somewhat similar; but formation evaluation, reservoir analysis, and some of the production techniques are quite different.
Much of the experience in shale and tight gas has been developed in the US and in Canada, to a lesser extent; and most of the technologies that have been developed by operators and service companies are transferable to other parts of the world....
Comparisons and Contrasts of Shale Gas and Tight Gas Developments, North American Experience and Trends
All Shale Gas reservoirs are not the same. There are no typical Tight Gas reservoirs. These two statements can be found numerous times in the literature on shale gas and tight gas reservoirs. The one common aspect of developing these unconventional resources is that wells in both must be ‘hydraulically fractured’ in order to produce commercial amounts of gas. Operator challenges and objectives to be accomplished during each phase of the Asset Life Cycle (Exploration, Appraisal, Development, Production, and Rejuvenation) of both shale gas and tight gas are similar. Drilling, well design, completion methods and hydraulic fracturing are somewhat similar; but formation evaluation, reservoir analysis, and some of the production techniques are quite different.
Much of the experience in shale and tight gas has been developed in the US and in Canada, to a lesser extent; and most of the technologies that have been developed by operators and service companies are transferable to other parts of the world....
Comparisons and Contrasts of Shale Gas and Tight Gas Developments, North American Experience and Trends
Pakistan's Sui Southern Gas Co (SSGC) signs first ever tight gas agreement with PPL and Polish Gas consortium for 20 million cubic feet of gas per day starting in 2013:
Pakistan joins the Tight Gas Club - A landmark achievement by SSGC
SSGC is now ready to receive its first gas delivery from Rehman Gas Field. The major scope of this project, Pakistan’s first ever Tight Gas Project, involved construction of 6”/8” dia x 52 Km pipelines that include flow lines and export pipeline. This project was conducted in one of the hardest terrains and under toughest climatic conditions where temperature soared to as high as 50oC. A maximum of 20 mmcfd will be injected in the SSGC’s system through the Field.
Other salient features of the project:
· Objective: This achievement is also in line with MD’s strategic objective of FY 2012-13
· Agreement: The project commenced after the agreement signed between SSGC and a consortium of Polish Oil and Gas Company and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. (PPL) in November 2012.
· Main Departments involved in commissioning: Planning and Development, Projects and Construction, Legal, Finance, HSEQA and L&EM Departments.
· Tendering Process: SSGC participated in the competitive bidding process last year and won the pipeline project bid (Rs 235 million).
· Resources: The Company utilized in-house resources, engaging the manpower and equipments for a period of 6 months since SSGC had no major transmission project for construction during this time.
· The Project enriched SSGC’s portfolio as an enterprising company.
http://www.ssgc.com.pk/ssgc/media_center/pdf/2012_12_december.pdf
Pakistan joins the Tight Gas Club - A landmark achievement by SSGC
SSGC is now ready to receive its first gas delivery from Rehman Gas Field. The major scope of this project, Pakistan’s first ever Tight Gas Project, involved construction of 6”/8” dia x 52 Km pipelines that include flow lines and export pipeline. This project was conducted in one of the hardest terrains and under toughest climatic conditions where temperature soared to as high as 50oC. A maximum of 20 mmcfd will be injected in the SSGC’s system through the Field.
Other salient features of the project:
· Objective: This achievement is also in line with MD’s strategic objective of FY 2012-13
· Agreement: The project commenced after the agreement signed between SSGC and a consortium of Polish Oil and Gas Company and Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. (PPL) in November 2012.
· Main Departments involved in commissioning: Planning and Development, Projects and Construction, Legal, Finance, HSEQA and L&EM Departments.
· Tendering Process: SSGC participated in the competitive bidding process last year and won the pipeline project bid (Rs 235 million).
· Resources: The Company utilized in-house resources, engaging the manpower and equipments for a period of 6 months since SSGC had no major transmission project for construction during this time.
· The Project enriched SSGC’s portfolio as an enterprising company.
http://www.ssgc.com.pk/ssgc/media_center/pdf/2012_12_december.pdf
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Recently there has been a lot of literature available on fracking in various journals also in the Chemical Engineering Progress, a publication of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, which I get every month.
No doubt shale gas and tight gas were formed in different ways. However since extraction process of both the tight gas and shale gas involves horizontal drilling and end product (Methane) is the same, many in the oil industry don’t differentiate between the two.
Polish company starting fracking in Pakistan is really very good news for energy hungry Pakistan. However one must be fully aware of environmental implications of fracking.
Firstly, fracking wells life span is short sometimes as little as 5 years. Secondly, fracking involves very large amount of water. An average well would require anywhere between 2 to 4-million gallons of water over its life cycle. Pakistan is short of water and it remains to be seen how fracking will affect over all water situation in Sind province.
Thirdly, during the fracking process, millions of gallons of fracking fluid – a mixture of water, sand and toxic chemicals – are injected into the ground to break up the shale/ rock and release natural gas. Some of the fracking fluid remains underground where it could potentially contaminate groundwater in the future, but much of it is brought back to the surface as wastewater. That wastewater contains fracking chemicals as well as naturally occurring radioactive materials and metals found in the surrounding soil. The wastewater is often pumped into holding ponds where it can leak and settle into surrounding groundwater, and impact wildlife.
I am not trying to be a spoil sport but ‘Nothing is for nothing’ and we should be fully aware of all pro & cons of fracking process.
No doubt shale gas and tight gas were formed in different ways. However since extraction process of both the tight gas and shale gas involves horizontal drilling and end product (Methane) is the same, many in the oil industry don’t differentiate between the two.
Polish company starting fracking in Pakistan is really very good news for energy hungry Pakistan. However one must be fully aware of environmental implications of fracking.
Firstly, fracking wells life span is short sometimes as little as 5 years. Secondly, fracking involves very large amount of water. An average well would require anywhere between 2 to 4-million gallons of water over its life cycle. Pakistan is short of water and it remains to be seen how fracking will affect over all water situation in Sind province.
Thirdly, during the fracking process, millions of gallons of fracking fluid – a mixture of water, sand and toxic chemicals – are injected into the ground to break up the shale/ rock and release natural gas. Some of the fracking fluid remains underground where it could potentially contaminate groundwater in the future, but much of it is brought back to the surface as wastewater. That wastewater contains fracking chemicals as well as naturally occurring radioactive materials and metals found in the surrounding soil. The wastewater is often pumped into holding ponds where it can leak and settle into surrounding groundwater, and impact wildlife.
I am not trying to be a spoil sport but ‘Nothing is for nothing’ and we should be fully aware of all pro & cons of fracking process.
No source of energy is without risks, including wind. Here's an excerpt from a San Francisco Chronicle report:
The long hot summers of the San Joaquin Valley suck great tsunamis of cool coastal air through the Altamont Pass, producing winds so powerful that a person can lean nearly 45 degrees without falling down.
Such awesome force gave birth in the early 1980s to the world's largest collection of wind turbines, pioneers in what is now America's fastest-growing form of renewable energy and an increasingly important weapon in the battle against global warming.
But the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area is also a symbol of the wind industry's biggest stain - the killings of thousands of birds, including majestic golden eagles, by turbines. The result has been a wrenching civil war among those who are otherwise united in the struggle to save the planet and its creatures.
It's been nearly a year since a controversial legal settlement was forged among wildlife groups, wind companies and Alameda County regulators. That agreement, opposed by some parties to the dispute, promised to reduce deaths of golden eagles and three other raptor species by 50 percent in three years and called for the shutdown or relocation of the 300 or so most lethal of the approximately 5,000 windmills at Altamont.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/THE-DEADLY-TOLL-OF-WIND-POWER-3299197.php
Although it does burn much cleaner than coal and oil, the process of extraction of shale gas in Pakistan, or anywhere else, is not without risks, particularly risks to the environment. In the United States, there have been many reports of ground water contamination from chemicals used to fracture rocks, as well as high levels of methane in water wells. In the absence of tight regulations and close monitoring, such pollution of ground water could spell disaster for humans and agriculture.
Given Pakistan's heavy dependence on natural gas for energy and as feedstock for industries such as fertilizer, fiber and plastics, it's important to pursue shale gas fields development under reasonably tight environmental regulations to minimize risks to the ground water resources.
Haq's Musings: Pakistan's Vast Shale Gas Deposits
Shale gas extraction uses a lot less water than other forms of energy production and the water can be reused in producing more gas.
Here's a comparison:
One MMBtu, or 1 million British thermal units, a standard measurement for the energy content of fuels, was produced from these energy sources using the following amounts of water:
Deep shale natural gas 0.60-5.80 gallons
Nuclear (uranium ready to use in a power plant) 8-14 gallons
Conventional oil 8-20 gallons
Synfuel-coal gasification 11-26 gallons
Coal (ready to use in a power plant) 13-32 gallons
Oil shale 22-56 gallons
Tar sands/oil sands 27-68 gallons
Fuel ethanol from corn 2,510-29,100 gallons
Biodiesel from soy 14,000-75,000 gallons
Deep shale gas drilling uses least amount of water
The long hot summers of the San Joaquin Valley suck great tsunamis of cool coastal air through the Altamont Pass, producing winds so powerful that a person can lean nearly 45 degrees without falling down.
Such awesome force gave birth in the early 1980s to the world's largest collection of wind turbines, pioneers in what is now America's fastest-growing form of renewable energy and an increasingly important weapon in the battle against global warming.
But the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area is also a symbol of the wind industry's biggest stain - the killings of thousands of birds, including majestic golden eagles, by turbines. The result has been a wrenching civil war among those who are otherwise united in the struggle to save the planet and its creatures.
It's been nearly a year since a controversial legal settlement was forged among wildlife groups, wind companies and Alameda County regulators. That agreement, opposed by some parties to the dispute, promised to reduce deaths of golden eagles and three other raptor species by 50 percent in three years and called for the shutdown or relocation of the 300 or so most lethal of the approximately 5,000 windmills at Altamont.
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/THE-DEADLY-TOLL-OF-WIND-POWER-3299197.php
Although it does burn much cleaner than coal and oil, the process of extraction of shale gas in Pakistan, or anywhere else, is not without risks, particularly risks to the environment. In the United States, there have been many reports of ground water contamination from chemicals used to fracture rocks, as well as high levels of methane in water wells. In the absence of tight regulations and close monitoring, such pollution of ground water could spell disaster for humans and agriculture.
Given Pakistan's heavy dependence on natural gas for energy and as feedstock for industries such as fertilizer, fiber and plastics, it's important to pursue shale gas fields development under reasonably tight environmental regulations to minimize risks to the ground water resources.
Haq's Musings: Pakistan's Vast Shale Gas Deposits
Shale gas extraction uses a lot less water than other forms of energy production and the water can be reused in producing more gas.
Here's a comparison:
One MMBtu, or 1 million British thermal units, a standard measurement for the energy content of fuels, was produced from these energy sources using the following amounts of water:
Deep shale natural gas 0.60-5.80 gallons
Nuclear (uranium ready to use in a power plant) 8-14 gallons
Conventional oil 8-20 gallons
Synfuel-coal gasification 11-26 gallons
Coal (ready to use in a power plant) 13-32 gallons
Oil shale 22-56 gallons
Tar sands/oil sands 27-68 gallons
Fuel ethanol from corn 2,510-29,100 gallons
Biodiesel from soy 14,000-75,000 gallons
Deep shale gas drilling uses least amount of water
Pakistan's frequent bailouts and blackouts are clearly related. The key to solving these interlinked crises is to put high priority on developing the country's vast but untapped domestic energy resources. These include shale oil, shale gas, tight gas, Thar coal, hydro and renewables like solar and wind. Reducing Pakistan's dependence on energy imports is also the key to making the nation less vulnerable to recurring external shocks from energy prices which vary wildly with international political and economic events and crises.
Haq's Musings: Why Blackouts and Bailouts in Energy-Rich Pakistan?
Haq's Musings: Why Blackouts and Bailouts in Energy-Rich Pakistan?
Argus Panoptes
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You may be possibly right, but pray tell us just WHO is going to develop these "vast" resources and more importantly, HOW? The WHEN can be explained later if you can answer these first two questions.
Here are a couple of news items on Pakistani imports in 2012-13:
Dawn:
Statistics showed the oil import bill reached $13.937 billion in July-May this year as against $10.467 billion over the last year, indicating an increase of 33.15 per cent.
Import bill increases - DAWN.COM
Daily Times:
The country has suffered $20.432 billion trade deficit during last fiscal year 2012-13, according to the official figures released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday.
July to June: The exports from Pakistan during last 12 months of the last fiscal year 2012-13 were recorded at $24.518 billion as compared with exports of $23.624 billion in the same period of previous fiscal year 2011-12, projecting an increase of 3.76 percent.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Dawn:
Statistics showed the oil import bill reached $13.937 billion in July-May this year as against $10.467 billion over the last year, indicating an increase of 33.15 per cent.
Import bill increases - DAWN.COM
Daily Times:
The country has suffered $20.432 billion trade deficit during last fiscal year 2012-13, according to the official figures released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday.
July to June: The exports from Pakistan during last 12 months of the last fiscal year 2012-13 were recorded at $24.518 billion as compared with exports of $23.624 billion in the same period of previous fiscal year 2011-12, projecting an increase of 3.76 percent.
Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Pakistanis. The same Pakistanis who have been exploring and developing oil and gas reserves in Pakistan for years....Pakistani companies like OGDL and PPL in partnership with foreign companies like PGNiG and ENI and UEP and others.
Who else?
Are you expecting angels to descend from the heaven to do it?
Argus Panoptes
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The same Pakistanis who have done such a great job of providing power to the country?! Right you are. We can already see just how successful this premise of yours is going to be, Sir. The record speaks for itself, loud and clear.
Do you understand the difference between fuel and electricity?
Do you know that Pakistan had abundance of gas until a few years ago? the gas that was explored and developed by PPL? the gas that powered much of the electricity generation?
Do you realize that OGDC and PPL have a lot of professional talent quite capable of doing the job?
Do you know that tight gas production by PGNiG and PPL has already started in Sajawal?
Have you any clue about the energy history of Pakistan since 1947? If not, I suggest you read Energy and Security in South Asia by Charles Ebinger.
Energy and Security in South Asia: Cooperation Or Conflict? - Charles K. Ebinger - Google Books
Stop being such a cynic! Don't give up on Pakistan!!
Argus Panoptes
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Yes Sir, I do understand more than a few things actually even though it might be more convenient for you to assume that I do not.
I have no cynicism, only realism. I have not given up on Pakistan, but neither do I believe in fraudulent claims that better times are just around the corner.
Our energy sector is a mess from top to bottom, starved of capital, expertise and management. It is simply not going to be able to solve the nation's energy problems any time soon, no matter how strident your claims of untapped riches that are just about to be exploited by those who cannot even properly manage existing resources.
Sorry, but that is the reality, Sir.
You don't just see Pakistan's glass half empty, you see it as completely empty with no hope of filling it.
There's nothing more toxic for a nation than the kind of cynicism you regularly express.
In spite of all of its problems, Pakistanis have accomplished a lot in the last 66 years.
Pakistan is a resilient nation with an upwardly mobile population.
Haq's Musings: Upwardly Mobile Pakistan on 66th Independence Day
