Things have reached a legislative dead-end for opponents of the dunes sagebrush lizard’s endangered species listing.

“I’m not encouraged by where we are right now,” U.S. Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Midland) said.

He said he and area representatives submitted a letter Nov. 1 urging the Appropriations Committee to adopt an amendment bringing a temporary halt to the listing process. But that may not come to pass.

“It’s an uphill battle,” Conaway said.

There is support for an amendment, but it is unlikely that the committee will have an opportunity to vote on it, Conaway said.  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s final decision on the lizard is scheduled to be announced Dec. 14.

The letter, written by Conaway, and U.S. Representatives Steve Pearce (R-Hobbs), Francisco Canseco (R-San Antonio) and Randy Neugebauer (R-Lubbock), advised the Committee that a yearlong pause in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s regulatory action would allow additional scientific research to be conducted on the lizard.

Further research would prove that the listing is not warranted, Ben Shepperd of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association said in an email.

“The PBPA maintains the position that the listing of the (dunes sagebrush lizard) is not warranted due to a complete lack of any evidence of endangerment,” Shepperd said in an email.

The lizard has been a candidate for endangered species status since 2001, according to Odessa American records.

In the past, U.S. Fish and Wildlife said federal protection for the lizard was warranted, but its situation was precluded by species with a more urgent endangerment concern.

Then environmental group WildEarth Guardians stated that no animals had received protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2007 and informed U.S. Fish and Wildlife that they would sue the government for failing to enforce the Act, with the sagebrush lizard’s proposed listing coming subsequently.

While the extra year may not come to pass, Conaway encouraged West Texans to continue their own efforts at getting the issue out there.

For now, those in Washington D.C. are simply waiting for U. S. Fish and Wildlife’s verdict.

“We’ve run out of options at a legislative standpoint,” Conaway said.

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Midland – Hydraulic fracturing is a process that’s been under a lot of scrutiny here recently. But it’s been around for decades. The fact is that without it, oil wouldn’t be produced. All of this had me wanting to learn more. I followed Henry Resources and Pro-Petro to learn how the process works and to clear up any misunderstandings.

I started this series last week with the first step in the fracing process. It all begins in the office, where a team of geologists and engineers closely examine a log that’s obtained after the well has been drilled. They work together to identify intervals within the wellbore that they believe to be hydrocarbon productive. This is where they’ll set the perforations so the well can be fraced. Once these locations have been identified and their design is finalized, the frac job can begin.

For Henry Resources, a typical frac job lasts two days and begins with the frac crew setting up the equipment on location. Once everything is rigged up, tested, and ready to go, it’s time to turn the engineers’ red ink marks on the log into actual perforations.

They begin with the first stage which is the deepest in the well, and in this case, around 11,000 feet underground.

“There’s 40 explosive devices individually placed inside that steel container and then that fire shoots through the steel container into the casing and out into the formation,” says George Miles, Henry Resources frac specialist.

Next, it’s time to stimulate or “frac” stage one. But before the hydraulic fracturing process can begin, the crew concocts the perfect cocktail using a small amount of chemicals, a defined volume of water, and a very specific type of sand, which varies according to the depth of the stage.

“We pump the water from over there (frac pit near location) into the tanks on location,” says Miles.

Water is then pulled out of the tanks into a hydration unit where it’s mixed with gel.  After that, the gelled water is mixed with some chemicals and sand in the blender.

“That truck (the blender) pushes the mixture into the high pressure units (also known as the pump trucks).The high pressure units then pump it down the well,” says Miles. And by high pressure, he means 30 barrels a minute. That’s 1,260 gallons every 60 seconds.

The speed, resultant pressure and gel-like formula help to fracture the formation, propagate the fracture away from the wellbore and connect any natural fractures that may exist.

The next task is keeping the fractures open.

“What you got going on here is the sand-laden phase where we start introducing the proppant into the fluid that’s going down the hole and what that does is help propagate the formation. Helps it stay propped open after we stimulate the well,” says Adam Munoz, Pro-Petro District Technical Mgr.

In the end, “the gel will break from the sand (and) return to a water phase. The sand will stay in place and allow that porosity to increase from the wellbore all the way out to the tip of the frac,” says Miles.

This allows the oil, gas, and water to flow freely to the wellbore where it can be pumped to the surface.

Keep in mind, all of that is only stage one.

At this point, a bridge plug is set between the zone that is now complete and the entire process repeats itself until each stage is fraced. For Henry Resources, it’s usually anywhere from nine to eleven stages.

When all the zones are complete, the frac crew rigs down and leaves and a pulling unit is brought in. It’s main purpose is to drill out all of the bridge plugs that were used during the frac and install the tubing, rods, and pump needed for production.

After this, a flow line is used to connect the well-head to the appropriate tank battery so the oil, gas, and water can be separated, stored, and eventually sold or disposed.

And with that, production can finally begin.

We’ll continue this special series next Friday by addressing some of the hotter topics associated with hydraulic fracturing. For example, a lot of concerns have been raised over the chemicals that are used, and some even say they fear their water supply is being contaminated. We’ll talk through all of these issues and more and kill a lot of rumors next Thursday at 10pm on Big 2 News.

This is the first of four reports that take a look at the hydraulic fracturing process, how it works, and how local companies are doing it in a safe and environmentally friendly way. Join Mycah Glover Thursday nights at 10pm for each report. To view part 1, click on the video.

Midland – It was a big day for West Texas as the oil, gas, and agriculture industries continue to fight the listing of the Dunes Sagebrush lizard. Senator John Cornyn set up a meeting with U.S Fish and Wildlife. Director Dan Ashe traveled to Midland to hear from West Texans concerned about the possible listing. Although the meeting was closed to the public and the media, Big 2 caught up with several people, including Fish and Wildlife, to find out what was said and to get the latest information as we near the listing deadline of December 14.

“We had about 15 different stakeholders ranging from oil and gas operators to ag interest, farm bureau, local and county officials, all of which expressed deep concern about the proposed listing of the sand dune lizard,” says Ben Sheppard, PBPA president.

While economics are not taken into consideration when it comes to putting a species on the Endangered Species List, U.S. Fish and Wildlife says it’s important they hear these concerns. “The number one job of the administration right now and the number one concern of the whole country, Congress, the President’s office, is jobs. And we work for the administration, so we certainly are not going to do anything to threaten jobs and that’s never been our goal,” says Charna Lefton,  U.S. Fish & Wildlife spokesperson.

But the final decision will come down to science, and that was the main concern at today’s meeting.  Sheppard says, “Their science is erroneous and conflicts itself in many cases.”

“I think there was a major concern that the quality of science, the actual hard core experimental design and quality of the science was insufficient to a decision that has that much economic impact on this region and New Mexico,” says Dr. Robert Baker, TTU biological scientist.

Although Fish and Wildlife received two new scientific studies today, according to Dr. Baker, it would take years to determine whether or not drilling would impact the lizard’s habitat. “It’s a five year study or four year. It needs some multi-year thing that involves variables in rain and variables in environmental factors as well. That experimental design has not been done and is hard to do.”

Sheppard says the two studies that were submitted today refute claims that were made in the federal register. He thinks when Fish and Wildlife review this new science, the only decision they’ll have to make is to keep the lizard off the list.

Although we weren’t able to attend today’s meeting, we are working to get an audio link so you will be able to hear exactly what was said. When we receive that, we’ll post it on http://www.permianbasin360.com.

Senator Cornyn released the following statement:

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Monahans – The West Texas economy is booming thanks to the oil and gas industry. In most booms, the main concern is that the price of crude will plummet. But those concerns have been pushed aside and fears over the possible listing of the sand dune lizard have taken center stage.

Today, the fight to keep the lizard off the endangered species list was taken to Monahans. The chamber of commerce hosted a summit with state, national and local leaders to discuss the issue.

Monahans has experienced more growth this year than they have in the past 25. It’s due to the increase in drilling thanks to continued advances in drilling technology. With more growth expected in Monahans, they’re fighting with everything they have to make sure a tiny lizard doesn’t stop their town from having a big future.

“We see several thousand jobs in the next few years in Monahans, Texas because this is kind of the center. The boom you’re talking about now, which is the fracking of the shale out here…Monahans is the center. So we’re ground zero out here,” says David Cutbirth, Mayor of Monahans.

That means that they have a lot to lose. Nathan Sawyer, president of the Monahans Chamber of Commerce says, “73 percent of the economy in Ward County is based to oil and gas and something like the dunes sagebrush lizard being listed could greatly effect the viability of this community.”

So today, the chamber hosted this summit to help Monahans residents understand exactly what is at stake.

“I’m worried for my job, my family, my neighbors. Our entire industry… everybody that lives out here will be effected by it. It’s worse than a drought,” says Richard Erwin, Monahans resident.

Unfortunately for people like Richard, the battle is far from over. Rep. Tryon Lewis says, “It will be a major battle. There are a lot of extremist environmental groups that want to use the Endangered Species Act to stop oil and gas drilling.”

Rep. Lewis says says it won’t be won without the help of West Texans. That’s why events like this are so important. Ben Sheppard, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, agrees. “I think this is a fabulous example of what local communities can do and what they need to do when faced with such regulations from Washington, D.C..”

And Erwin is one of many West Texans ready for battle. “They need to go back home from wherever they came from ”

The Andrews Chamber of Commerce has also been proactive in fighting the listing of the lizard. They’ve started an online petition.  If they get enough signatures, the issue will be up for review by policy experts in Washington. They need 5,000 signatures by October 28 to make that happen. If you would like to sign that petition, you can click on the following link.