A joint venture of GE and Ferus Natural Gas Fuels (Ferus NGF), along with Statoil, announced the planned expansion of a pilot project to capture flare gas and use it to power up to six of Statoil’s drill rigs and one frac fleet in North Dakota. The expansion is the first step by Statoil to move into full commercial adoption of the GE and Ferus NGF joint venture’s Last Mile™ Fueling Solution (Last Mile), which is expected to reduce emissions and provide cost-savings and logistics solutions for the company’s Bakken oilfield operations.

Statoil’s Last Mile pilot project has been in place for approximately eight months near Watford City, North Dakota. During this time, it has been capturing natural gas that would otherwise be flared, and has used it instead to assist power for its oil and gas operations. The company anticipates this new commercial expansion will increase its flare gas capture to between 3 and up to 5 million standard cubic feet per day (scfd) by the end of 2014, equating to GHG emissions reductions of between 120,000 and up to 200,000 metric tons per year, or the equivalent of removing between 25,000 up to 45,000 cars from the road.

Tags: Ferus Natural Gas Fuels, GE Oil & Gas, Statoil