Environmentalists have voiced concern that fraccing chemicals may contaminate groundwater. But Dusterhoft says that, before wells are fracced, the formations are securely sealed away from potential fresh-water reservoirs.

Use of chemicals is also limited in the unconventional wells in northeastern B.C. “We only use a polymer as a friction reducer, and maybe something to stabilize the clays. Mostly we just run water and sand,” Dusterhoft says.

Fraccing’s goal is to create a web of flow channels. When the technique is completely successful, he says, all of the fractures connect with each other to provide maximum production, he says. “We like to say we can ‘farm’ the reservoir.”

Huge fraccing jobs in northeastern B.C. require vast logistical support. Each well can require 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes of fine-grained sand. Parades of trucks deliver vast harvests of ancient sand mined from fossil beaches, often from quarries in Saskatchewan. Such a project may require a 40-member crew, operating 20 or more hydraulic compression systems mounted on large fraccing trucks.

High volumes of water are also used. A typical job requires a large water storage pit in addition to a string of high-volume steel tanks. The amount of water being used in these jobs has contributed to the developing seasonal shift in the fraccing business. “Now the industry is drilling during winter freeze-up, as we always have, but fraccing in the summer. All the bigger operators are trending in that direction,” Dusterhoft reports.

Water is easier to handle in warmer weather. In the longer term, the changing work pattern will require upgrading to all-weather roads to Horn River and Montney. Until those improvements are completed, service companies have to leave equipment in the area during freeze-up.

The shift to unconventional gas occurred much more quickly than anyone expected, Dusterhoft says. Among numerous implications of the switch, an old barometer of industry health –the sheer number of wells drilled – is becoming obsolete.

The production change, while increasing oilfield work, is contributing to a reduction in the total number of Canadian wells being drilled. In 2008, nearly 40 per cent of the wells involved horizontal or directional drilling – twice the level of 10 years ago. For the first time, FirstEnergy Capital said in a recent research note, the number of horizontal wells across reservoirs will soon match the number directionally drilled at angles. Greater proportions of industry spending on wells are going into completion services like fraccing.

Unconventional gas operations are not cheap. Drilling costs are in the range of $5 million to $7 million per well at Horn River, and $4 million to $5 million at Montney. Fraccing costs are estimated to be $2 million to $3 million per well.

But the production profiles for these wells make them worth their costs. Each may produce 7.5 million cubic feet of gas per day in their first year. Production declines rapidly but typically levels off at around two million cubic feet per day then stays steady for years. When gas prices improve, the new wells will be cash registers.

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