As we reported back in February 2013, much North American shale gas is flared off. The by-product of more valuable liquids production is uneconomical to produce, especially in more remote locations such as the Bakken where flaring lights up the night sky. Recent developments in micro gas gathering technology are set to change this situation. Houston-based Well Power is to deploy a test unit of the Micro-Refinery Unit (MRU) later this year. MRUs are deployed at the wellhead to process natural gas into liquid fuels and clean power. Well Power operates the MRU in Texas under license from Calgary based ME Resource Corp. and is currently negotiating for extensions of the deal to other States. More from Well Power and ME Resource.
Blaise Energy of Bismark, North Dakota already has technology that can compress well head gas for use in electricity generation or as truck fuel. One major Bakken operator is using five Blaise natural gas powered generators to provide one megawatt of power to the operator’s CNG compressor. Using CNG as a fuel at the well site reduces diesel costs and site emissions. The unit automatically adjusts power output to demand load. The system can scale to over a million cubic feet per day, more than the largest of the 3,000 Bakken flares currently burning. Almost 30% of North Dakota’s gas production is currently flared despite the fact that half of the flared gas comes from sites that are connected to a gathering system. More from Blaise.
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