Gas Plant Goes Electric
- Category: Feature
- Published on 01 June 2013
- Written by Carter Haydu
Dawson Creek facility gets on the grid, sells offsets to province
Perhaps the best sound at the Dawson Creek gas plant is the sound of silence.
“One of the unwritten items we gain off of this plant is noise. This plant is extremely quiet. It runs very quiet and it’s great for our staff and contractors,” says Al Roberts, vice-president of production with ARC Resources Ltd.
Going Horizontal In A Hurry
- Category: Feature
- Published on 30 May 2013
- Written by Godfrey Budd
Numerous technological improvements slash drilling times in the Horn River Basin
When Nexen Inc. began drilling horizontal wells in the Horn River Basin, the rig made hole at an average rate of 100 metres a day, and it took almost six weeks from spud-in to rig-release to make total depth (TD) at about 3,700 metres. That was barely four years ago.
Faster, Cheaper Fracs
- Category: Feature
- Published on 27 May 2013
- Written by Godfrey Budd
World'’s biggest continuous multistage fracture program completed in record time
Nexen Inc.’s early drilling pads in the Horn River Basin of northeastern British Columbia had less than a half dozen wells. But in the winter of 2011 the operator drilled 18 wells on a pad. So, when it came to doing the completion on these wells last summer, economies of scale kicked in, enabling various efficiencies. That is not to say the company was not already pursuing ways to boost completions’ efficiencies and cut costs. In the Horn River, operators can expect to spend around 65 per cent of the total cost of a well on the completion, says Kevin Lypkie, an engineer and completions lead for Nexen’s Dilly Creek operations in the Horn River.
Proppant Progress
- Category: Feature
- Published on 01 May 2013
- Written by Godfrey Budd
New players and strategic partnerships, more research and niche products are adding pizzazz to one-obscure sector
The proppant sector has been on its double-digit-per-annum growth curve for a while now, and the pace shows little sign of slowing, despite what some see as the risk of a glut in the wake of a swarm of new entrants. With the widespread application of substantial fracturing treatments for shale gas and tight oil completions and, according to some estimates, proppants often accounting for up to five per cent of the cost of a well, this hitherto somewhat obscure sector could soon acquire some heft within the industry as a whole.
