Statoil awards Ferus CO2 service contract for Bakken test well
STAVANGER, Norway -- Statoil has awarded a major carbon dioxide (CO2) supply and service contract to Denver-based Ferus LP, a provider of energized fluids (liquid CO2 and liquid nitrogen) to the North American oil and gas industry.
The liquid CO2 will be used in a test well to evaluate the potential production uplift and partially replace water in a large multi-stage hydraulic fracturing operation in a horizontal oil well.
In addition to CO2 supply, Ferus, specialists in the off-road movement of industrial gases, will provide transportation, logistics, storage, and on-site supervision. The service agreement also includes the deployment of a membrane technology that separates the CO2 from the produced gas to reduce the extent of flaring.
This CO2 stimulation test is one of several projects under Powering Collaboration—the joint technology program between Statoil and GE, which is aimed at accelerating the development of sustainable energy solutions.
The use of CO2 as an energized fluid is common in the Western Canadian Sedimentary basin, but this will be the first major application of liquid CO2 to displace slickwater during the hydraulic fracturing process in the Bakken.
“Ferus is pleased to partner with a progressive and environmentally conscious company like Statoil to introduce CO2-based energized fracturing into the Bakken,” said Murray Reynolds, director of Technical Services at Ferus.
In collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin (Joint Industry Project on hydraulic fracturing), Ferus and Statoil have demonstrated through numerous technical studies on North American reservoirs the potential for CO2 to enhance well productivity, while significantly reducing fresh water usage.
The proposed CO2-assisted stimulation design has been further tailored for the Bakken formation to optimize the production uplift.
This contract represents the second major partnership between Statoil and the Ferus Group of Companies in the Bakken.
In September 2014, Statoil, GE and Ferus Natural Gas Fuels LP (Ferus NGF) announced the commercial expansion of a pilot project to capture flare gas and use it to power Statoil’s oil and gas operations in North Dakota. The Ferus NGF-GE joint venture solution is helping Statoil and other E&P companies greatly reduce flaring and monetize previously wasted gas by capturing it and using it to economically fuel their own operations.
