Ramification of Current and Future Production, Resource Utilization, and Land-Use change in the Ohio Utica Shale Basin
Oral Presentation
Prepared by T. Auch1, C. McClaugherty2, C. Gallemore3, D. Berghoff4, R. Jurjus5, E. Genshock6
1 - The FracTracker Alliance, Cleveland State University, 2460 Fairmount Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH, 44118, United States
2 - University of Mount Union, Bracy 211, 1972 Clark Avenue, Alliance, OH, 44601, United States
3 - Northeastern Illinois University, BBH 344C, 5500 North St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
4 - The Ohio State University, 129 Denney Hall, 164 W. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH, 43210, United States
5 - Denison University, 100 West College Street, Granville, OH, 43023, United States
6 - University of Mount Union, 1972 Clark Avenue, Alliance, OH, 44601, United States
Contact Information: auch@fractracker.org; 802-343-6771
ABSTRACT
The Ohio Utica Shale play has received significant attention as a job creator and nontrivial contributor to US "energy independence". However, significant environmental externalities such as watershed resilience and land-use/land-cover have received far less attention. We compiled production data for 570 Utica wells, water and resource utilization data for 780 wells, and high-resolution aerial imagery for a three county area to quantify the current state of resource utilization and pipeline/well-pad Limit Of Disturbance (LOD) build out. Ohio’s Utica wells are using 4,291 tons of silica sand, 6.3 million gallons (MGs) of water, and 32,034 tons of materials per lateral, with water and sand demand increasing by 238,000-317,000 gallons and 86 tons per lateral per quarter, respectively. These wells generate approximately 608 tons of drill cuttings and have averaged 438,259 gallons of brine to date. Ohio’s producing Utica laterals have generated 658,891 gallons of oil (±120%), 538,975 MCF Natural Gas (±94%), and 438,259 gallons of brine (±84%) per lateral over an average of 247 days (±77%) between 2011 and Q3-2014. Ohio’s producing Utica wells are experiencing oil and gas production declines of 84% between year 1 and 2 with 27% and 10% declines thereafter, respectively. This means nearly 99% of Ohio’s Utica shale laterals are operating under a net water deficit (i.e., Water Used-Water Vapor Produced) of 4.89 MGs with a total water deficit of 2.43 billion gallons (BGs) to date. Thus, Ohio’s Utica laterals take more than 14 quarters to generate the water vapor equivalent of 42% of the water required per lateral. Furthermore, the industry is currently requiring 32-38 gallons of freshwater per gallon of oil produced vs 14-20 gallons in 2011 and 2012. Our high resolution imagery study area encompassed 183 square miles and included 122 well pads. Mean well pad are is 1.35 ha and mean LOD is 2.8 ha, with approx. 60%of pipelines mapped there are 490 km of direct buried lines with a mean width of 13 meters and 15 km of bored pipelines generally under roads, wetlands and low order streams. These data suggest increasing watershed stresses with the Muskingum River watershed being the primary concern as it has already seen industry water withdrawals equivalent to 4.9-7.8% of “available water” or 11-18% of residential water usage.
Oral Presentation
Prepared by T. Auch1, C. McClaugherty2, C. Gallemore3, D. Berghoff4, R. Jurjus5, E. Genshock6
1 - The FracTracker Alliance, Cleveland State University, 2460 Fairmount Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH, 44118, United States
2 - University of Mount Union, Bracy 211, 1972 Clark Avenue, Alliance, OH, 44601, United States
3 - Northeastern Illinois University, BBH 344C, 5500 North St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, IL, 60625, United States
4 - The Ohio State University, 129 Denney Hall, 164 W. 17th Ave., Columbus, OH, 43210, United States
5 - Denison University, 100 West College Street, Granville, OH, 43023, United States
6 - University of Mount Union, 1972 Clark Avenue, Alliance, OH, 44601, United States
Contact Information: auch@fractracker.org; 802-343-6771
ABSTRACT
The Ohio Utica Shale play has received significant attention as a job creator and nontrivial contributor to US "energy independence". However, significant environmental externalities such as watershed resilience and land-use/land-cover have received far less attention. We compiled production data for 570 Utica wells, water and resource utilization data for 780 wells, and high-resolution aerial imagery for a three county area to quantify the current state of resource utilization and pipeline/well-pad Limit Of Disturbance (LOD) build out. Ohio’s Utica wells are using 4,291 tons of silica sand, 6.3 million gallons (MGs) of water, and 32,034 tons of materials per lateral, with water and sand demand increasing by 238,000-317,000 gallons and 86 tons per lateral per quarter, respectively. These wells generate approximately 608 tons of drill cuttings and have averaged 438,259 gallons of brine to date. Ohio’s producing Utica laterals have generated 658,891 gallons of oil (±120%), 538,975 MCF Natural Gas (±94%), and 438,259 gallons of brine (±84%) per lateral over an average of 247 days (±77%) between 2011 and Q3-2014. Ohio’s producing Utica wells are experiencing oil and gas production declines of 84% between year 1 and 2 with 27% and 10% declines thereafter, respectively. This means nearly 99% of Ohio’s Utica shale laterals are operating under a net water deficit (i.e., Water Used-Water Vapor Produced) of 4.89 MGs with a total water deficit of 2.43 billion gallons (BGs) to date. Thus, Ohio’s Utica laterals take more than 14 quarters to generate the water vapor equivalent of 42% of the water required per lateral. Furthermore, the industry is currently requiring 32-38 gallons of freshwater per gallon of oil produced vs 14-20 gallons in 2011 and 2012. Our high resolution imagery study area encompassed 183 square miles and included 122 well pads. Mean well pad are is 1.35 ha and mean LOD is 2.8 ha, with approx. 60%of pipelines mapped there are 490 km of direct buried lines with a mean width of 13 meters and 15 km of bored pipelines generally under roads, wetlands and low order streams. These data suggest increasing watershed stresses with the Muskingum River watershed being the primary concern as it has already seen industry water withdrawals equivalent to 4.9-7.8% of “available water” or 11-18% of residential water usage.
