Drew Poeckes PE

Director of Engineering

West Dakota Water LLC
Hydraulic Fracturing 

 Hydraulic Fracturing – Pressurized injection of fluids 

made up of water, chemical and a “propping agent” 

 The pressure exceeds the strength of the formation 

rock and opens fractures for oil and gas to flow from

 Typical Fracturing Fluid Makeup:

 1% Chemicals

 99% Water and propping agent

 Average Water Use Per Well in Shale Formations

 3-5 Million Gallons or 
Water from Source to Well

 Sources

 Water Wells, Lakes, Rivers, Streams

 Transportation 

 Trucking

 Use existing road system to bring water from source directly to 

well site

 Pipeline

 main transmission pipeline brings water from source to 

distribution pipelines

 distribution pipelines bring water directly to well site

 permanent, temporary, or combination
Operation Costs - Trucking

 Trucking (assume 20 mile trip to source)

 Average cost $120/hour 

 Average payload capacity 120/bbls

 Average cycle time 2.5 hours

$120/hour x 2.5 hours / 120 bbls/truck =

$2.5 per bbls
Infrastructure Costs - Trucking

Roadway Design

 AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and 

Transportation Officials)

 Roadway Design

 ESAL -Equivalent Single Axle Loads 

 1 ESAL = 18000 lb Axel with dual tires

 Average Water Truck uses 2.87* ESALs (80k lb Tractor Trailer)

*Upper Great Plains Institute Transportation Study
Infrastructure Costs – Trucking

Hidden Cost

 Reconstruction Costs of a 750,000 ESAL Roadway = $1.25 

Million/Mile (North Dakota DOT)

$1,250,000 per mile / 750,000 ESALs = $1.67/ESAL/Mile

 Water Truck Costs on Public Infrastructure

2.87 ESALs per Truck X $1.67/ESAL/Mile = $4.80/Mile

Or

$0.04/BBls/Mile

 Oil companies end up paying these cost through 

production and extraction taxes

*Upper Great Plains Institute Transportation Study
Overall Costs Trucking

 Assume 20 mile trip to source water

 Infrastructure Cost - 20 mile x $0.04/bbls/mile =

$0.80/bbls

 Operation Costs - $120/hour x 2.5 hours / 120 bbls/truck =

$2.50 per bbls

Total Cost $3.30/bbls
Additional factors to consider

 Inefficient way to move water

 Local Relations

 Environmental (Dust)

 Destructive to Infrastructure

 Safety impact on local road travel
Environmental (Dust)- Trucking
Destructive to Infrastructure- Trucking

 750,000 ESAL a typical two lane state highway

 Average County or Township road in the Bakken

Oilfield is 25,000 ESALs

 25,000 / 2.87 = 8700 water trucks ~ 10 Fracks

 Load Equivalency Factors ~ Overloaded Trucks

 Can Increase the ESAL usage by up to 20 times

 Older Township Roads destroyed in 1 week

 Farm to Market Roads not good for public relations

*Upper Great Plains Institute Transportation Study
Safety Concerns – Trucking

 Increased traffic on narrow Farm to Market Roads

 Trends from truck owner operator paid $/Hr to $/BBLS 

Delivered

 Incentive:

 Drive Faster

 Work Longer

 Run overloaded

 Since oil activity in Bakken Started traffic fatalities up 

50%

Infrastructure Costs – Pipeline

•Southwest Pipeline 

•Built in Southwest North Dakota

•Network of Transmission and 

Distribution Pipelines 

•Capitol Repayment Costs =

$0.03/bbls

•Operation and Maintenance Costs=

$0.05/bbls

•Overall Cost = 

$0.08/bbls

•Not exactly a “fair” Comparison

•Capitol Repayment Costs can be 

higher for a pipeline system to 

service fracturing needs
Infrastructure Costs – Pipeline

Capitol Cost for Frack Water Pipeline

 Assume a 10 mile transport 25 bbls/min

10” Cl. 200 PVC, G.J. 52800 LF $ 17.00 $ 897,600

Booster Pump 1 $ 300,000.00 $ 300,000.00 

Right of Way 10 MI $ 32,000.00 $ 320,000.00 

TOTAL COST ESTIMATE $ 1,517,600.00 
Infrastructure Costs – Pipeline
Infrastructure Costs – Pipeline

Capitol Cost for Frack Water Pipeline

 One Well with 10 miles of Pipeline

$1,517,600 / 80,000 bbls well frack = 

$18.97/bbls Capitol Repayment Cost

 1280 Acre Spacing Unit yields 20 wells in the 10 miles

$1,517,600 / 80,000bbls wells / 20 wells =

$ 0.95/bbls Capitol Repayment Cost

 320 Acre Spacing Unit yields 80 wells in the 10 miles

$1,517,600 / 80,000bbls wells / 80 wells =

$ 0.23/bbls Capitol Repayment Cost

 Potential for refracturing the formation in the future

 Also can consider additional formation to be fractured ex- Three Forks 

Formation beneath the Bakken in ND
Surface Water Transfer

 Temporary Pipeline Used to transport water for 

Hydraulic Fracturing

 Pumped using diesel powered pumps from a water source

 Water flows through temporary surface pipelines

 Aluminum Irrigation Pipe

 HDPE fusable pipe

 Lay flat roll hose

 Booster Pumps used as need depending on terrain

 Pumped to Frack Tanks or Poseidon Tanks
Surface Water Transfer
Surface Water Transfer
Surface Water Transfer
Surface Water Transfer
Storage Options

 Frack Tanks 500 BBLS

 Temporary surface storage tanks

 10k – 40k BBLS

 Fresh Water Pits

 As large as you need (local permits apply)

 Lined or Unlined

 Can use natural topography (Dams)
Storage Requirements

 All depends supply deliver capacity (BBLS/Min) and down hole 

capacity requirements

 Basic Equation Frack Requirements

 Inflow X Length Frack (Min) – Total Frack Need (BBLS)

 Frack size = 100k BBLS

 Pipeline Inflow = 20 BBLS/Min

 Length Frack = 2.5 days or 3600 Min

20 (bbls/min) X 3600 (min) – 100k (bbls) = 28k BBLS Storage

 Probably should have a more for a buffer
Water Transportation Concerns

Trucking Water Piping Water

 Inefficient way to move 

water

 Local Relations

 Environmental (Dust)

 Destructive to Infrastructure

 Safety impact on local road 

travel

 Takes years to build 

Infrastructure

 Right of Way Acquisition 

 High upfront project cost