I have a Return to Written Question 27-17(5), asked by Mr. Bromley on March 10, 2015, regarding horizontally fractured wells in the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Bromley's questions are with respect to each horizontally fractured well in the NWT to date. I can confirm that to date there have been two horizontally fractured wells in the NWT: Mirror Lake P-20 and Dodo Canyon E-76. Both were exploratory wells drilled by ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp. in the Sahtu region near Norman Wells. Both wells were authorized by the National Energy Board prior to devolution on April 1, 2014, and both now fall within the jurisdiction of the Government of the Northwest Territories regulator of oil and gas operations.
My objective is to be as open and transparent as possible about the regulation of oil and gas operations in the NWT. However, some of the information that Mr. Bromley has requested is currently privileged under Section 91 of the Petroleum Resources Act and cannot be disclosed until the statutory privilege period is over.
In addition, some of the information requested does not fall within the regulatory responsibilities of the regulator under the Oil and Gas Operations Act. However, in an attempt to be helpful, I have provided alternative sources of information where possible.
Mr. Bromley asked the following questions:
a) What was the source of the water used and how
much was consumed?
The volume of water used for the horizontal hydraulic fracturing process was 7,676.1 cubic metres for the Mirror Lake P-20 well and 6,317.35 cubic metres for the Dodo Canyon E-76 well. These volumes may include fresh water, produced water and/or recycled water.
This information is publicly available on the FracFocus.ca website. I am pleased to report that on April 7, 2015, the office of the regulator of oil and gas operations signed an agreement with the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission for the use of FracFocus.ca. This office will post information about any future hydraulic fracturing activities within its jurisdiction on FracFocus.ca when it has the consent of an operator to do so.
Under the Oil and Gas Operations Act and its predecessor legislation, the Canada Oil and Gas Operations Act, the regulator does not regulate the source of water used for horizontal hydraulic fracturing. However, information on this and other questions related to water use for these wells as well as for associated access roads, camps, et cetera, can be found on the Sahtu Land and Water Board or the Sahtu Board online public registry at www.slwb.com, water licence number 813L1-004.
b) What was the quantity of greenhouse gases
emissions due to flaring, and how many days did flaring occur?
The information requested is currently subject to the privilege provision at Section 91 of the Petroleum Resources Act, and the regulator is therefore unable to disclose it for a period of two years from each well's termination date.
The privilege period for the Dodo Canyon E-76 well expires on January 23, 2016, and the privilege period for the Mirror Lake P-20 well expires on February 23, 2016.
c) What was the amount and composition of each
additive used during fracking, and how is the flow of unrecovered produced water tracked underground?
Information on the amount and composition of each additive used during the horizontal hydraulic fracturing of the two wells in question is publicly available on the FracFocus.ca website. Information is provided on the trade name of the hydraulic fracturing fluid, the supplier, and the ingredients of the fluid, including, for each ingredient, the chemical abstract service number, the maximum concentration, in percentage by mass, of the ingredient in the additive and the maximum concentration, in percentage by mass, of the ingredient in the hydraulic fracturing fluid.
The same information is available on the Sahtu board online public registry as a requirement of the water licence associated with the two wells.
A Surface and Groundwater Monitoring Plan was approved by the Sahtu board under water licence S12L1-005, also held by ConocoPhillips, and will be reviewed annually by the board and reviewers, including government authorities responsible for fish and water resource protection.
The Sahtu board concluded that this monitoring program will identify any changes to groundwater and surface water quality caused by land use activities associated with the ConocoPhillips program.
d) How much produced water has been recovered
to date, what chemicals are in the recovered water, how is it being transported and disposed of, and what NWT communities does it travel through?
Under the Oil and Gas Operations Act and its predecessor legislation, the regulator does not regulate the transportation and out-of-territory disposal of wastewater associated with horizontal hydraulic fracturing. However, the water licence issued by the Sahtu board requires annual reporting of the monthly and annual quantities of each and all wastes produced associated with the wells in question, including flowback fluid, drill waste and produced water. These reports are available on the Sahtu board's online public registry.
The flowback fluid would be expected to contain the same chemical compounds found in the hydraulic fracturing fluid as well as chemical compounds from the rock formation in which the well was drilled.
The water licence requires that all drill waste solids and fluids be stabilized and removed for disposal to an approved waste disposal facility outside of the NWT and that all produced water and flowback be deposited at an approved waste disposal facility outside of the Northwest Territories.
e) What monitoring of methane gas leakage from
the well pipe stems was carried out and what has been the amount of methane leakage that occurred during and following the fracking operations?
Methane gas leakage from the wells, as distinct from gas flared with approval of the National Energy Board, the regulator at the time the wells were drilled and completed using horizontal hydraulic fracturing, is regulated under Sections 56 and 57 of the Oil and Gas Drilling and Production Regulations. Those sections place ongoing legal obligations on operators to leave wells in a condition that prevents leakage and to ensure that the well is monitored and inspected to maintain its continued integrity and to prevent pollution.
In addition, a leak may be reportable as a "spill" in the NWT. Operators are required to report spills through the Northwest Territories - Nunavut spill reporting line. Information on spills is publicly available through the hazardous materials spill database on the website of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The land use permit issued by the Sahtu board for these wells, Number S13A-001, requires that all such spills be reported as described above and that
a detailed report on each spill be submitted to the Sahtu board within 30 days of the incident.
Furthermore, the annual report required by the Sahtu board under the water licence for these wells must include a list of unauthorized discharges. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.