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 Rocky
Mountain
Region
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Natural Gas Dominates
Thinking in the Rockies
Not surprisingly considering the size of
natural gas resources in the Rockies, natural gas dominates
thinking there. One factor that influences the economic
scenario for natural gas is getting the gas to market. The
Rockies Express Pipeline (REX), which is operated by Kinder
Morgan, will enable 1.8 Bcfd of Rockies gas to compete with
traditional Gulf, Midcontinent and Canadian supplies for
markets in the Upper Midwest and Northeast. It will
transform the dynamics of traditional pipeline flow
patterns, price differentials and supplier/customer
relationships. REX is being developed in stages. Phase I
from |
This year's "Rocky Mountain Natural Gas
Strategy Conference and Investment Forum," recently
presented by the Colorado Oil & Gas Association, focused on
"Natural Gas and Climate Change." About 1,700 people
attended the conference. Since natural gas produces 29% less
CO2 per BTU than oil, and 44% less than coal, natural gas is
relevant to climate change issues.
Caspar Amman of the National Center for
Atmospheric Research (NCAR,
www.ncar.ucar.edu), discussed their
climate model, which has been verified using historical data
such as the Little Ice Age in the Middle Ages. This model
predicts a 4 degree rise in |
take action. Offering an opposing view about not taking
action, Dag Nummedal, Director of the Colorado Energy
Research Institute (CERI) cited the Stern Review on the
Economic Consequences of Climate changes. This report
estimates that the minimum cost of doing nothing is 5
percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year, while the
cost of action would be 1 percent of GDP per year. However
much one might debate climate change, there is general
consensus that the public believes climate change is real
and politicians are taking action on that perception. |
Reprinted with permission. |
Workshop Topics
To Look Forward To
(check calendar on
www.pttc.org
for scheduling)
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Petra Basics
(Colorado)
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Putting It
All Together, Optimizing Fracture Design (Colorado)
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Seismic
Imaging of Carbonate Reservoirs & Seals, Exploration and
Production Applications (Colorado)
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Crash Course
in Log Analysis (Colorado)
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Successfully
Awakening Mature Oil Fields, A Process for Reversing
Field Production Decline (Colorado)
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Stratigraphy
of the Denver Basin (Colorado)
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Bakken Core
workshop (Colorado)
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Completions
for Geologists (Colorado)
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Geotech
Training Course (Colorado)
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Applied
Hydrodynamics (Montana)
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Horizontal
Well Design (Montana)
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EOR
Screening Criteria (Montana)
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Preserving
the Integrity of Wellbores (Colorado)
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western Wyoming to the Cheyenne hub was
completed in February 2007. Phase II from the Cheyenne hub
to Missouri is expected to be operational by January 2008,
with Phase III from Missouri into Ohio being expected to be
operational by 2009.
REX is high pressure, operating at the
maximum allowable 1,480 psi, compared to most interstate
pipelines that operate at less than 1,000 psi. The variable
charges for moving gas, the variable commodity rate and the
fuel charge, in REX's FERC-approved tariff are less than on
competing pipeline systems. This advantage compared to other
pipeline systems will ultimately influence how gas flows
throughout much of the U.S. Whatever transpires, end result
will be a rise in Rockies gas prices relative to other
producing basins.
Note: Information about REX excerpted from
"REX Set To Transform Traditional Flow Patterns, Supply
Deck," by Porter Bennett in The American Oil & Gas Reporter,
October 2007, pp. 52-66. To develop a more thorough
understanding of REX's impact, readers are encouraged to
read this article. |
the earth's temperature by the end of the
century. Ray Thomasson, a former Shell executive and past
president of AAPG, presented a contrasting viewpoint. He
stated that the earth's temperature had only risen by 0.65
degrees over the past 100 years, and that data had been
distorted because more weather stations were now located in
hotter urban areas. He also commented that temperatures at
the South Pole were cooling and that the earth's climate was
probably self regulating. Bob Reynolds of the Denver Museum
of Nature and Science provided a geological perspective on
the situation, explaining that there was no ice at either
pole for much of the earth's history.
Art Green, former Chief Geoscientist at
Exxon Mobil and a member of the AAPG panel to study climate
change, said that the earth's temperature had only increased
by 0.7 degrees over the past 100 years.
The different perspectives highlight that
uncertainty exists. Green noted that uncertainty does not
necessarily mean we should |
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