Halliburton sees field use for natural gas

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HOUSTON, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Halliburton said it expects it could expand a new engine system so pumping equipment for natural gas can use on-site reserves for fuel, an executive said.

Halliburton said it has responded to an industry request made by the chairman of energy company Apache Corp., G. Steven Farris, to develop with Caterpillar an engine system that's used for fracturing treatments powered by a mixture of natural gas and diesel.

The company explained that it's incorporated the technology for 12 pumps with a combined capacity of 24,000 horsepower, making it the largest dual-fuel project of its kind in the oil and gas industry.

"We anticipate that in the not-so-distant future, these dynamic gas blending engines can be easily retrofitted to efficiently burn available on-site conditioned field gas, thereby saving operators additional fuel transport costs," said Marc Edwards, a vice president of Halliburton's Completion and Production Division, in a statement.

Caterpillar adapted its proprietary engines to power the Halliburton pumps. Apache, for its part, said it was deploying the system to work sites near Oklahoma City.