Reading a Well Flare

  This is Hilcorp's Mahoning Buckner well in Lawrence county, Pa, Sunday night. They first day they started flaring, Friday, it was pretty weak. It got a little stronger Saturday, and by Sunday night it seemed fairly strong. The next day, Monday, the flame was out and the flare stack was disassembled. Seems kind of quick. Does this give any indication about the strength of this well?

  The only other well I've seen flared, Shell's Little Beaver Patterson, seemed to go on much longer.

 

                                                                                                              Thanks Much  -  Z

   

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Permalink Reply by Brian Powers on February 16, 2015 at 10:00pm

Z-

Without having more well construction info and data, it's difficult to give an opinion as to the quality of the well. The fact that it was just flared for a couple of days tells me that it probably is dry enough gas to turn production into the pipeline.

In my experience flaring wells, the stronger wells unloaded the wellbore and lateral fluids faster and were ready to produce dry gas to the flow line faster, while the weaker wells or wells with more fluid to recover took many days, sometimes weeks to clean up. My personal record was a single lateral, 5000 ft. length, five inch diameter bore completed in an open-hole naturally fractured limestone reservoir. 160,000 barrels of fluid was lost while drilling and completing this well (no stimulation was performed initially); and it was flowed and flared for 30 days before it dried up enough to produce to the production facilities.

The well probably did not produce enough gas/liquids to pay the cost to drill and complete it, but that sometimes happens in the business.

Brian

Permalink Reply by Zeb on February 17, 2015 at 2:45pm

  Thanks Brian, I was hoping that you'd be one the people to respond to this.

  

   When you write about the gas probably being dry enough to be put into the pipeline, you're referencing the absence of development fluids, not natural gas liquids. Is this correct?

Permalink Reply by Brian Powers on February 19, 2015 at 10:17am

Zeb -

Thanks for your kind words. What I meant by dry gas is product with a high gas to liquids ratio. When a well is kicked off to flare, the first thing that arrives to surface is the well fluid, followed by the gas used to initiate lift, like nitrogen, hopefully followed by formation gas. The near wellbore fluid, or fluid in the propped fractures near the wellbore, is often initially produced in slugs. White flare smoke that looks like steam is often water (that can extinguish flare pilots); bright orange flames with black smoke is often oil or condensate.

Fluid slugs are very detrimental to compression and processing facilities and the wells are often cleaned up enough to give the operator confidence that mostly dry gas will be produced without further fluid slugs. Pipeline drips and inlet separators are used to remove any liquid slugs that may occur after the well is turned into production. Fluid that gradually accumulates in the tubing while under production will eventually "load-up" the well and will reduce or prevent flow.

Brian

Permalink Reply by Zeb on February 19, 2015 at 11:02pm

 Brian - Thanks for the second effort at clarifying this. I'll view the quick flaring sequence with guarded optimism.

                                                                    - Z

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on February 20, 2015 at 1:16am
What do you say about a well flare that's been continuously burning for a year and a half ?

Read about in posts / replies at the Trumbull County pages.

Here's a link to the thread : http://gomarcellusshale.com/group/trumbullcountyoh/forum/topics/bee...

As I understand it there's been no production just the burning off.

Folks (including myself) can't make sense of it.
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on February 20, 2015 at 7:28am
Trying to Jesse (staying warm) - pretty cold out there these days - has been for awhile.

Haven't gone anywhere Jesse - just been doing more reading than writing - looking for things to pick up speed up here in the north.

Any ideas on the perpetual flaring of wells in Trumbull ?

How can that possibly make sense ?

Landowner Lessors have got to be upset watching their dollars being burned off for such a long time don't you also agree ?

Any ideas on it ?
Permalink Reply by deer spotter on February 20, 2015 at 8:00am

Could be a gas quality issue where a pipeline company will not take the gas. I have seen conventional wells take several months to clean up the gas stream after a nitrogen frac. Over a year seems like a long time.

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on February 20, 2015 at 8:49am
As I understand, this well was a plain vanilla hydro-frac' (if we can characterize any frac job as such) and of course I agree about the 18 month flare being 'a long time' for sure.

Would like to know what's really going on.

Maybe they've run into a deep underqround water source that contributes to contamination of the natural gas on an intermittent basis / periodically ?

How likely / common would that scenario be ?

White flare smoke would seem to me to indicate water.

Black flare smoke would seem to me to indicate oil.

No smoke would seem to me to indicate plain old natural gas.

Only my intuition' can you confirm I'm on track ?
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on February 20, 2015 at 2:41pm
One fellow at the Trumbull post says the flare burns deep orange in color with little or no smoke.

Maybe indicative of liquids / codensate (as a guess) ?

If so rich or lean I wonder ?
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on February 20, 2015 at 1:36pm
Link won't open Jesse.

Getting message that the browser I'm using isn't supported (using Internet Explorer).

I find that odd.
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on February 20, 2015 at 5:54pm
Thanks for copying and posting your referenced article Jesse.

Pretty much of an eye-opener and, based on it's content, it appears that I'm not the only one who sees the wasted resource.

I have to say however it really amplifies and illustrates (to me anyway) the lack of co-operation / communication between counterparts within the industry and government.

It seems to me that domestic energy independence at our fingertips would trump all the differences / disagreement but in actuality / practice it boils down to that it does not.

Pitiful set of circumstances if you ask me.
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on February 21, 2015 at 5:20am
Makes a fellow wonder what the Master Plan is ?

Throw the gas away until there's a shortage of supply again and the price goes up ?

That doesn't sound like a very smart thing to do does it ?

So do I believe I'm the only person in the country to consider it all ?

Hope not - rather I hope there are folks in authority that also see it and move to straighten it out (and not keep taking it out of the landowner's / lessor's pockets).

Build the infrastructure already and get the show on the road.

Forget OPEC and their market - instead fix our own domestic marketplace and economy.

IMHO.

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