Tag: high volume hydraulic fracturing

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Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – September 2016

Each month respectmyplanet.org (RMP) recaps oil & gas activity in the Michigan Basin right here in our Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly (MOGM) magazine.  RMP is a Michigan based 501(c)3 non-profit organization.  If you want to know what’s going on with oil & gas development in Michigan, you should follow this publication each month by liking us on facebook or following @respectmyplanet on Twitter so you don’t miss a publication.

Antrim Shale
This is a screen shot from Bill Harrison’s paper linked in this article about the location of three of the “J-style” Antrim wells targeting the Upper Devonian Lachine, Paxton, and Norwood layers of the Antrim Shale.  Delta Oil’s ACOWS targeting the same formation with multiple horizontal drainholes are closer to the county line of Montmorency & Alpena Counties.  Click image to enlarge on your screen.

In September, we  saw some interesting activity in the Michigan Basin that we will keep our eyes on as it unfolds.  Delta Oil out of Oak Brook, Illinois filed numerous ACOWS to drill multiple horizontals off of their State Avery D1-32 well (PN45601) & off of their State Albert A4-1 well (PN53617).   The ACOWS calls for a horizontal drainhole (HD) targeting the Upper Devonian Lachine formation.  The other ACOWS calls for an HD targeting the Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – September 2016”

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Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – August 2016

Each month respectmyplanet (RMP) recaps the past 30 days of oil & gas activity in the Michigan Basin. We cover new applications & permits to drill oil, gas, disposal, and storage wells and anything else hydrocarbon related. We recap oil & gas activity that happens in Michigan and publish this Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly (MOGM) magazine right here at the end of each month. You can follow us on Twitter by clicking here, or like us on facebook by clicking here and you won’t miss a publication. Our publications are free and always will be. Have a tip for us about a leaking tank or a spill near your house? Or, are you curious about something oil & gas related you see that you want us to dig into? Let us know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this article.

Michigan oil & gas has awoken from its 2016 slumber with August being a very Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – August 2016”

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Michigan Oil & Gas Production Report January – December 2015

2015 Michigan petroleum production numbers are approximately 98% reported as of today. RMP has always focused on the numbers as they are often greater than adjectives.   Opinions are overrated.  People want to hear the numbers and then decide for themselves.   This is RMP’s fifth year studying, parsing, organizing, compiling, and reporting numbers related to Michigan petroleum production. The information RMP publishes will always be free access to the public. RMP has always followed three fundamental tenets as a research and reporting philosophy:

  • It’s all about the rock. Always respect the geology.
  • Follow the money. Money talks.
  • Follow the wastewater. Waste means inefficiency and problems. Inefficiency and problems mean additional costs. With regard to costs, see point #2.

Following the money has proven to be difficult because of the voluminous and Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Production Report January – December 2015”

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Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – January 2016

The big story this month is the location of the Ensign #161 drilling rig.   The lat/lon of Ensign #161 on the date of this post’s publication is 40.4293, -104.604 which is not a Michigan lat/lon.   You can see a map of Ensign #161 along with 10 other active Ensign rigs in the same area of Colorado by clicking on this link (depending on when you read this, the location may have changed). With Ensign #161’s location in Greeley, Colorado, which is just north of Denver and just SE of Fort Collins, you might wonder: why is Ensign #161’s Colorado location the big story in Michigan in January of 2016?

The answer is that Marathon just Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – January 2016”

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Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – December 2015

marathon oil hvhf beaver creek

The December issue of RMP’s Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly (MOGM) marks our 12th edition, our first full year of publications, and the final edition for 2015. The story for 2015 was this: oil & gas exploration in Michigan is at its slowest ever. It was the all-time slowest year in Michigan’s oil & gas exploration history beating the record set in 1931 for lowest permitting & drilling activity.   While the predictions RMP made last year were spot on target for Michigan in 2015, some unexpected things happened also.

Half-way around the world, Saudi Arabia’s 2015 actions to increase their own crude oil production to stave off US shale production have had a deep cutting effect on American oil & gas producers across the nation as well as right here at home.  As long as we rely on crude oil as an energy source, the King of Saudi Arabia can significantly impact a large segment of our energy economy which effects our national security and causes Americans to lose jobs.  Switching from internal combustion engines to fuel cells would fundamentally change the balance of world power as it relates to energy.  America can end its reliance on Saudi Arabia & other OPEC countries by responsibly migrating away from crude oil as an energy source. We have seen American oil producing companies lose major percentages of their net financial worth and layoff tens of thousands of American workers in 2015 because of Saudi actions.

chesapeake stock value drops 70 percent in 2015
Chesapeake has lost nearly 70% of its value in 2015. More evidence with hard numbers that supports what RMP has been saying all along about the oil & gas bust because of actions taken in Saudi Arabia to hurt American companies.

Another large scale international event related to oil & gas that will impact Michigan happened this December when President Obama Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – December 2015”

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Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – October 2015

michigan oil & gas

The featured image above (Photo Credit: Neo), is of the flare stack at the Milford Sand & Gravel 1-32 well.  West Bay Exploration filed a petition with the Assistant Supervisor of Wells for an exception to Michigan No Flare Order Provisions of Special Order No. 3-71 to flare up to 100,000 scf of natural gas a day from the flare stack shown in the featured image of our October MOGM.  Harold Fitch, the Assistant Supervisor of Wells, signed the Notice of Hearing for this petition on October 9, 2015.  The gas flared at the Sand & Gravel pit comes from two other wells also:  the Kensington Metroparks 1-31 and the Kensington Metroparks 2-32.  The flowlines from the Kensington Metropark wells flow across Kent Lake over to the Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – October 2015”

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Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – May 2015

In the May edition of the Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly (MOGM) we see something relatively new in the Michigan Basin: hydraulic fracturing with carbon dioxide (CO2).   The nomenclature itself sounds funny because CO2 is not water and therefore the word hydraulic seems out of place.   RMP has recently acquired the Record of Well Completion for the State Sherman & Forshee & Cooper 1-33A well in Sherman Township Michigan in Osceola county.   The well was fracture stimulated with 51 tons of liquid CO2 and 10,500# of ceramic proppant in December of 2014.   The initial flowback production from the Prarie Du Chien formation was 120 BOPD and 1.5 MMCFD of natural gas.   In our February MOGM edition we were watching a company called GasFrac who is fracing using hydrocarbons.  Fracing using CO2 is similar in that both methods are waterless. Click here to open a new tab in your browser to see the State Sherman & Forshee & Cooper 1-33A well on our interactive map.

The State Sherman & Forshee & Cooper 1-33A well is south of Cadillac and just north of Rose Lake. Follow this URL to see the well on our interactive map: http://www.respectmyplanet.org/public_html/site/pru_number/?pru=17795
The State Sherman & Forshee & Cooper 1-33A well is south of Cadillac and just north of Rose Lake. Copy & paste this URL into your browser to see the well on our interactive map: http://www.respectmyplanet.org/public_html/site/pru_number/?pru=17795

If you’ve been paying attention to the clues over the past couple years, it is not surprising to hear of a Michigan well being fracture stimulated using CO2.   In 2012 we heard our first clue about CO2 when Governor Rick Snyder said “I am asking the Legislature to enact a law that will grant carbon dioxide pipelines the same legal standing as other Continue reading “Michigan Oil & Gas Monthly – May 2015”

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Analysis of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality High Volume Hydraulically Fractured Well Completions and Applications

High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing in Michigan

Please read this paper to learn more about High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing in Michigan.  This document is hosted by Friends of the Au Gres-Rifle Watershed.

ANALYSIS OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY HIGH VOLUME HYDRAULICALLY FRACTURED WELL COMPLETIONS AND APPLICATIONS