What does an oilfield company need with a wind turbine?

[Nanoda]

</Kirk>
Last week I posted this photo of the view from where I work. What made me take it in the first place was the sudden appearance of a 5 story tall, skid mounted wind turbine. (Gratuitous night shot.)

My question is: What's it doing here? Nisku is all oilfield-related industry, mostly drilling/service rig construction, pipe rentals, and so forth. The turbine in question occupies a recently cleared section of a local junkyard, is mounted on what looks to be a fairly standard oilfield skid, and is really weird. My boss thinks the turbine drives a shaft via a right-angle gearbox for generation at the bottom. (This would make sense as you could stick a big diesel down there for backup).

Nobody I asked so far knows what it's for, and the only reference I find to wind turbines in the oil industry are some ideas of refitting old offshore derricks in to windfarms. Is it getting to the point where dragging something like this out to a lease is cheaper than the diesel it would otherwise take to resupply?

[Si Amigo]

Perhaps they don't know what they are doing and are just experimenting with it in a low key location. Do they have tax write offs Up There?

[Furious_Marmot]

There appears to be a tank at the bottom, so your boss might be right about their being a supplemental diesel.
Just a WAG, but it's probably a cost saving thing. It's not just that the diesel fuel itself is expensive-the guy to drive the truck out there needs to be paid. I don't know anything about drilling in Canada, but labor is quite tight, and subsequently expensive here, not to mention the limited number of trucks and road permits. Are the wellsites fairly remote in your area? If so, there's an awful lot of man-hours to be saved.

Also, if this turbine is supposed to provide power at a rig, as opposed to a pump or such, it could also be a space saving measure. There are already lots of things competing for space on the pad, so it's possible that the turbine would have a smaller footprint than however many tanks it replaces, saving money and time on site construction and remediation.

[Shamozzle]

Wow, I just want to point out that I drove past this very wind turbine no less than 10 minutes ago. Small world. I'm in Nusku taking a 10K pressure control class.

I too looked at that turbine and said, "Hmmm, that's wierd."

[Bob55]

Here's an article on small nuclear reactors that a company in New Mexico is producing. Supposedly they can power a small community for years with no maintenance and moving parts:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80...orld-villages/

The thing is, when I read the article last week it said this:

Hyperion’s chief executive, John Deal, says the company already has more than 100 firm orders, largely from the oil and electricity industries, but says the company is also targeting developing countries and isolated communities.

And I wondered the same thing as you - why would oil companies be buying small nuclear reactors?

[kferr]

Originally Posted by Bob55

Here's an article on small nuclear reactors that a company in New Mexico is producing. Supposedly they can power a small community for years with no maintenance and moving parts:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80...orld-villages/

The thing is, when I read the article last week it said this:


And I wondered the same thing as you - why would oil companies be buying small nuclear reactors?

The big question is is there anything that could make a Greenpeacer's head explode faster than the idea of a nuclear powered oil well?

[LSLGuy]

With a windmill on top for camoflage!! :-)

[Iamametalrobot]

Originally Posted by Bob55

And I wondered the same thing as you - why would oil companies be buying small nuclear reactors?

Small nuclear reactors make sense to run oil wells and related facilities in isolated areas - for example, the high arctic. They would also make an excellent heat source for extracting oil from oil shales - more environmentally friendly than burning the oil shale itself to create the heat necessary.

[Furious_Marmot]

Originally Posted by Iamametalrobot

Small nuclear reactors make sense to run oil wells and related facilities in isolated areas - for example, the high arctic. They would also make an excellent heat source for extracting oil from oil shales - more environmentally friendly than burning the oil shale itself to create the heat necessary.

Also, some projects like dewatering and waterfloods require fairly large amounts of electricity. Even semi-remote areas like farming/ranching regions, where there is existing electric service, can be problematic. I know of a few projects where everything has to wait on the local utilities to beef up the grid.

But, you're right, the PR implications of atomic powered oil would be enormously negative.

[jayjay]

I really hope I'm not the only one hearing the thread title in William Shatner's voice...

"What does...an OILfield company...need with a...WIND turbine?!"

[KneadToKnow]

Originally Posted by jayjay

I really hope I'm not the only one hearing the thread title in William Shatner's voice...

You're not.

[Nanoda]

It could be an experiment; I'm just surprised there aren't lots of logos on it. It was my WAG that they'd have a backup diesel at the bottom; might just be grinding wheat in there for all I know.

Wellsites can be pretty much anywhere, but AFAIK they aren't generally set up for much more than a few weeks at a time, which would make a turbine impractical IMHO. Perhaps I'm totally wrong on that.

Shamozzle Huh! What a coincidence. I imagine you were on 5th street headed south to the sea of hotels? If so, I'll just unrecommend Pluto's Steakhouse & Chinese Food restaurant from your menu. 'Cause they're as good at either as you'd imagine.


I'd heard of nuclear plants being used to separate oil, but IIRC they wanted the heat directly... generating electricity via wind to be turned in to heat seems pretty inefficient when they've got a load of gas nearby.

[An Gadaí]

Maybe they've realised something about oil that the rest of us haven't.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Or perhaps they're trying to figure out how to get a monopoly on air.

[CutterJohn]

Just because you have easy access to oil doesn't mean you have easy access to power. Coupled with the huge incentives governments are giving out for wind power, they obviously see it as a viable way to provide some supplemental power and reduce costs.

[Shamozzle]

Originally Posted by Nanoda

Shamozzle Huh! What a coincidence. I imagine you were on 5th street headed south to the sea of hotels? If so, I'll just unrecommend Pluto's Steakhouse & Chinese Food restaurant from your menu. 'Cause they're as good at either as you'd imagine.

I'm working just off 8th Street. And yes, I'm residing in the sea of hotels near Calgary Trail. And I'll heed your warning, thanks. I did eat lunch at Airways, with its ceiling-to-floor, wall-wall-to-wall checker-plate bathroom and urinal trough, that was interesting....