Apache Corp. says it can cut its hydraulic fracturing fuel costs by 70 percent by using field gas instead of diesel to power the engines driving the big pumps, and it told oilfield service giants Halliburton and Schlumberger to figure out a way to do it. They did, Apache's Mike Bahorich told the Oil & Gas Journal. "In 2012, the industry will have used more than 700 million gallons of diesel to pump sand and water during fracture stimulation. That’s $2.38 billion spent on diesel at a recent average of $3.40/gallon," the magazine said. The report says the three companies have tested a dual-fuel kit successfully several times. The story is here. Halliburton put out a news release on the project, and a link is here.
In December, we carried a report about using liquefied natural gas to fuel frac pumps on a job in the Eagle Ford Shale. That item can be found here.
-- Jim Fuquay
