(June 24, 2014 – WSJ) Oil From U.S. Fracking Is More Volatile Than Expected (By: Alison Sider and Nicole Friedman)
High Gas Content Extends Beyond North Dakota's Bakken Shale to Colorado and Texas
Millions of barrels of crude oil flowing from shale formations around the country—not just North Dakota—are full of volatile gases that make it tricky to transport and to process into fuel.
Oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale field has already been identified as combustible by investigators looking into explosions that followed train derailments in the past year.
But high gas levels also are affecting oil pumped from the Niobrara Shale in Colorado and the Eagle Ford Shale and Permian Basin in Texas, energy executives and experts say.
Even the refineries reaping big profits from the new oil, which is known as ultralight, are starting to complain about how hard it is to handle with existing equipment. Some of what is being pumped isn't even crude, but condensate: gas trapped underground that becomes a liquid on the surface.
The federal government says 96% of the growth in production since 2011 is of light and ultralight oil and that is where growth will continue.
The huge volume of this gassy new oil has created a glut, pushing prices to $10 or more below the level of traditional crude. Energy companies think they could get higher prices by sending the new oil abroad, which explains some of the push to lift a U.S. ban on exporting crude. Federal officials recently gave two companies permission to export condensate under certain circumstances.
This new crude can act like a popped bottle of Champagne, says Sandy Fielden, an analyst with consulting firm RBN Energy. "If it's very light, it froths over the top" of refinery units, he says. Many refiners "can't manage that in their existing equipment."
Valero Energy Corp. VLO -8.41% says two refineries in Texas and Oklahoma received batches of unexpectedly gassy oil and had to slow fuel production to deal with it. The company is investing more than half a billion dollars to add special equipment at several plants so it can process more light oil.
See the full story here: http://online.wsj.com/articles/oil-from-u-s-fracking-is-more-volatile-th...
