The search
for a politically correct means of fracking shales continues with an
announcement from Autris of a ‘green’ nitrogen fracking solution
delivered from its wholly-owned NitroHeat
subsidiary. The ‘dual action mega pressure’ nitrogen solution,
MaxFrack-N2, is a self-contained unit that produces up to 170,000
liters per hour of pure nitrogen at up to 5000psi. By our reckoning, at
that pressure, Nitrogen should be in a supercritical fluid phase which
one can imagine should create a fair amount of stress at the rock face.
Autris CEO Derek Naidoo boldly forecasts fracking revenue in excess of
‘$100M over the next 5 years.’ More from NitroHeat.
Things aren’t going so well for Calgary-based Gasfrac,
purveyor of propane-based fracking technology. Gasfrac has obtained
approval from the Alberta bankruptcy court for the sale of
substantially all of its assets to Step Energy Services.
Interestingly, propane fracking is back in the news in France (where
hydraulic fracking has been banned) where it is perceived as a possible
route to ‘environmentally friendly’ fracking. More from Step.