RE: PREDATORS OWN JOURNEY19 Oct 2024 09:06
Educate ya self Av/AKA Pete B.. In flareless or green completions the gas that comes to the surface is separated from fluids and solids using a series of heavy-duty separators (sometimes referred to as “flowback units”). The water is discharged to tanks to be reused, the sand is sent to a reserve pit, and the gas is either cycled back through the well bore, or sent to a pipeline to be sold rather than vented or flared.
Benefits
According to the EPA, benefits of this system include: the elimination or reduction in venting or flaring of natural gas; sale of the gas and condensate provides the operator with an immediate revenue stream; there is a reduction in solid waste and water pollution; and the system enables safer operating practices. Green completions also reduce methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas.
An analysis of green completions by Goldman Sachs and NRDC found that an investment of $8,700 to $33,000 per well led to a methane capture rate of 7,000 to 23,000 Mcf/well with a profit of $28,000 to $90,000 per well and a payout in < 0.5 – 1 year. EPA says payout could take as few as 60 days.
An alternative to sending the gas to the pipeline is to send it to a flare tank. Flare tanks capture and more fully combust the waste gases. The tanks can be carried from site to site. This practice avoids the costs associated with excavating and reclaiming flare pits, and avoids the potential liability associated with cleaning up soils contaminated by flaring.
Regulation
In 2012, EPA issued a final rule on for New Source Performance Standards and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. The rule requires green completions at new wells 'drilled principally for production of natural gas,' exempting those drilled for oil. The rule does not apply to existing wells.
At the time of the rulemaking EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said that 50% of wells used green completions.
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