Article in Midland newspaper today about frac'ing with butane instead of water. Anyone heard of this, or know more about it? Is this the new trend? Sure would help the water shortage, and reduce well expenses.
We have heard that some has been done in Canada.
Butane / propane frac'ing has been around for several years. Gas Frac is the main company doing this now (www.gasfrac.com). Originally popular in Canada and making inroads in US now.
Technically may not reduce well expenses that much since the propane / butane being used to replace water for frac'ing is much more expensive than the water. But post frac flowback allows operator to get some of the "frac fluid" back as a recoverable commodity that can be captured and sold.
This sort of frac'ing is not for all formations and issues from a one to one comparison of effecitiveness.
I know if is very effective for formations that contain water sensitive clays that can create formation damage due to clay swelling tied to water imbibition. This ths Blackbrush's primary use of this technique in S Tx (as per article) with their applications in the San Miguel sand.
Haven't heard many results on this technique in the Eagle Ford. And as of about a year ago, Gas Frac had only done a few wells in the Permian Basin/
EOG has said it will not use water on secondary recovery operations in the Eagle Ford and has been testing propane for that purpose with what they say are promising results. But it is sticking with water for the initial fracs. If the technology keeps improving, we could see a lot more gas fracking.
Thanks so much for the replies. Hope this becomes more common so the farmers and ranchers don't suffer more from the shrinking aquifers.