Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips, addressed hydraulic fracturing at the Bartlesville Forum Series on Tuesday. MIKE SIMONS / Tulsa World
BARTLESVILLE - As the CEO of ConocoPhillips, the largest independent oil company in the nation, Ryan Lance was happy to address the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing - or "fracking" - but mostly the pros.
At a forum in Bartlesville on Tuesday, Lance said he was with Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., recently when the contention came up that hydraulic fracturing is somehow demonic and shouldn't be done.
"What he doesn't know is they have been fracking in New York in conventional vertical wells for 50 years," Lance said. "I've never heard of a fatality or death or any problem due on any part of fracturing, but I know we will kill 15,000 people a year due to coal emissions. So I think we have to get realistic about what we're doing."
Hydraulic fracturing is a common technique used in today's horizontal wells that breaks up rock formations to create pathways so that oil and gas can flow into the well.
Lance said the most important part of making it safe is making sure that the well is constructed so that the fluid doesn't come up into the aquifers.
"It's all about the construction," he said. "It's not about the material being placed down in the rock because it's primarily water and sand."
Lance said the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are common detergents used to keep the well bore slippery and to reduce the scale that can form.
Some want to avoid the burning of hydrocarbons and favor the use of renewable wind, solar and some forms of nuclear energies. Lance said he likes to refer to hydraulic fracturing as the bridge to that renewable future.
"I think natural gas, the gift we've received over the last four to five years from unconventional opportunities in North America, has really given us an opportunity to drive energy prices down pretty dramatically," Lance said. "We're talking about manufacturing companies in the U.S. We're talking about all the add-ons that come with cheap energy prices."
ConocoPhillips spun off Phillips 66 in 2012 to focus independently on exploration and production. Phillips 66 focuses on refining, chemicals and midstream pipelines and storage.
ConocoPhillips is projecting a 3 percent to 5 percent annual growth in production, to 1.9 million from 1.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2017.
ConocoPhillips produces oil all over the world, including the deep waters of Malaysia, Libya, Canada and Australia, and is exploring in Poland and Colombia.
Lance said there is an opportunity for the U.S. to be energy self-sufficient by the 2020 decade.
"Over five years ago, we were thinking that we were pretty scarce of resources and worried about where the supply was going to come from to feed the demand that was growing in the world today," Lance said. "And today we see a lot more supply, a lot more opportunity, whether unconventional in North America or around the world or some of the deep-water provinces or some other opportunities, unconventional or conventional globally, against the backdrop of the demand situation that's a little bit tenuous today."
ConocoPhillips operates in 30 countries and has about 16,900 employees, according to its 2012 annual report. Lance said it employs 1,800 workers in Bartlesville. Phillips 66 employs about 2,000 in Bartlesville, where it's the city's largest employer.
"This is a place we call home," he said. "It's an important part of our company. What happens in Bartlesville is a key part of what happens with our company."
The CEO of Houston-based ConocoPhillips, formerly part of Bartlesville-based Phillips Petroleum Co., has spoken in Bartlesville annually since the Phillips' merger with Conoco Inc. in 2002. The CEO of Phillips 66, Greg Garland, also has carried on the tradition.
Susan Hylton 918-581-8381
susan.hylton@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: CEO touts 'fracking' pros
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