Rock Products

MAY 2015

Rock Products is the aggregates industry's leading source for market analysis and technology solutions, delivering critical content focusing on aggregates-processing equipment; operational efficiencies; management best practices; comprehensive market

Issue link: https://rock.epubxp.com/i/511782

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 62 of 111

www.rockproducts.com Frac Sand Insider May 2015 | 61 Domestic Frac Sand tional oil and gas reservoirs contained in several major sedimentary shale basins in the United States [U.S. Energy Information Admin- istration (EIA), 2014]. Formations or basins, shown in Figure 2, in- clude the Anadarko Basin in Oklahoma and Texas, the Bakken/ Three Forks Basin in eastern Montana and North Dakota, the Bar- nett Formation in the Fort Worth Basin, the Eagle Ford and Wood- bine Formations in the East Texas Basin, and the Appalachia Basin in the northeastern part of the United States (see Figure 2). Most of the production from these formations is in the form of gas rather than oil because methane molecules and those of natural gas liq- uids are smaller than crude oil molecules and are therefore more responsive to fracking when moving through fne-grained sedimen- tary rock such as shale (Ratner and Tiemann, 2014; Tucker, 2013). As shown in Figure 3, daily U.S. gas and oil production from unconventional sources in 1980 amounted to about 1.1 million bar- rels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) per day. This was about 6 percent of the country's daily MMBOE production. By 2010, the percentage of oil and gas from unconventional reservoirs increased to about 8 MMBOE per day, or nearly 46 percent of daily oil and gas pro- duction [International Energy Agency (IEA, 2012; 2012a)]. Much of the increase can be attributed to horizontal drilling accompanied by fracking. In 2013, oil produced from unconventional shale deposits represented 2.3 million barrels per day or 35 percent of domestic crude oil production (EIA, 2013; 2014; 2014a). The EIA reported that natural gas production from shales in the United States repre- sented 10.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) [292 billion cubic meters (Bcm)] or 41 percent of total U.S. reported production of about 25.3 Tcf (716 Bcm) and an additional 5 TCF (142 Bcm) recovered from low porosity-permeability deposits (tight gas) (EIA, 2014). In 2012, up to 95 percent of wells drilled in the United States were hydraulically fractured and more than 43 percent of the country's oil and 67 - lus Shale in the Northeastern part of the United States. It depicts two examples - are drilled to depths for the movement of oil and up the well. is modifed from a provided as a courtesy of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, 2014. 2. Generalized fow map of the major oil and plays located in unconventional reservoirs that consume frac sand and the approximate locations of major sources that supply frac sand in the conterminous United States. Million metric tons consumed shown in parentheses. The Woodbine Formation also includes the Formation in the East Texas Basin. Estimates are for the last three quarters of 2013 and 1st quarter of 2014. Solid, dashed, and dotted lines indicate directions of supply fow. Estimates and fows are subject to revision. Base map and consumption data provided courtesy of PacWest, 2014.

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Rock Products - MAY 2015