Several of the ideas I and other VIC member have submitted are energy companies utilizing hydraulic fracturing methods.  As many members also likely know, the practice has come under fire, some deserved, much not, for environmental reasons. One criticism is the amount of water used in the fraccing process and the pollutants that the waste water often contains. This water must be either disposed of, and permanently lost, via deep disposal wells, or trucked off for expensive treating. Some can be recycled. In drought-stricken areas, water is quite valuable. Efforts are being made to address all these issues.

One potentially disruptive technology in this field is GASFRAC. (GFS.ca; GSFVF in US)  Instead of using water as the fraccing fluid, and to carry proppants etc into the cracks, GASFRAC uses Liquefied Petroleum Gas (mostly propane). The LPG is used to conduct the fraccing and then most is collected at the surface as a low-density liquid. The remaining LPG comes out as a gas.

This game-changing technology has several crucial advantages:

 *It eliminates the need for acquiring water in water-short areas.

*There is no permanently-lost water via disposal wells or waste-water treatment costs or controversies.

*It leaves all the nasty stuff (chemicals, natural salts and radioactivity) down in the hole.

*Unlike with water-based fracs, all the fluid exits the well. Water-based fracs leave a large volume of water behind, hindering the performance of the well or damaging the formation. Unlike water, LPG occurs naturally in wells and thus will not damage formations.

GFS, under the direction of founder Dwight Loree, has brought the technology to the cusp of hard-to-achieve industry acceptance. They recently signed a long term contract with Husky Energy to use their system. GFS completed 191 treatments in Q3/11 vs 137 in Q3/10. They have completed 34 treatments, for 15 different US customers, across a variety of formations in the US in their quest to expand into the large US market.

GFS’s recently reported Q3/11 results beat expectations, but the really exciting development was the appointment of Zeke Zeringue as President and CEO.  Mr. Loree did a great job envisioning the GASFRAC concept and refining (and continuing to refine) the process.  Mr. Zeringue is now the ideal person to lead the company toward its goal of industry-wide acceptance and implementation. Mr. Zeringue had a 28-year career with Halliburton, including serving as President of Halliburton Energy Services Group. Since leaving Halliburton in 1997, he has been involved with smaller oil field service companies, including Shamrock Abandonment Services, Phoenix Offshore Solutions, eNersection.com, Inc. and its successor Wellogix, Inc., Orbis Oil and Gas, and Input/Output, Inc. (now ION Geophysical).  I believe Mr. Zeringue’s US industry contacts and experience are just what GASFRAC needs at this point.  The US market for GASFRAC is huge and does not suffer the seasonality of Canadian drilling. The shift to a US-centric business model will drive GASFRAC’s growth and acceptance.

Additionally, GASFRAC is getting a lot of notice from many disparate groups.  Below are some links to articles about GFS. They range from a trade journal to a local newspaper to an environmental group to a NYT blog:

http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/a-fracking-method-with-fewe-water-woes/

http://www.albertaoilmagazine.com/2011/10/pressure-cooker/

http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2011/oct/26/quicksilver-fracking-without-water-wolf-mountain/

New Waterless Fracking Method Avoids Pollution Problems, But Drillers Slow to Embrace It
Little-noticed drilling technique uses propane gel, not water, to release natural gas. Higher cost, lack of data and industry habit stand in the way.
By Anthony Brino, InsideClimate News and Brian Nearing, Albany Times-Union
Nov 6, No More Tainted Water with New Fracking Method
http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20111104/gasfrac-propane-natural-gas-drilling-hydraulic-fracturing-fracking-drinking-water-marcellus-shale-new-york

While the technology upon which GASFRAC is based is proven in my opinion, there are still some issues that need to be addressed over time. Total recovery of LPG is one, as this will lower the costs of using it. But, these kinds of incremental improvements, while important, are secondary to the fact that GFS has shown that fraccing with LPG not only works, but is often superior. And fraccing with LPG addresses many concerns that have been raised with conventional water-based fraccing. As GFS gains a larger toehold and acceptance in the US market, I would expect that one of the large service companies will likely acquire them.