The Largo Canyon Oil and Gas Field

Oil and gas come out of the ground from the numerous wells in the area. Some of it is actually pumped with "pumpjack" well heads, but most of it, around here, comes out under its own pressure. Oil wells may just fill tanks near them. Gas is sent to the compressor station via a pipeline, and in a few places oil may also flow through pipeline. The wells are mostly owned by one set of companies, like Caulkins, Meridian and Unocal, while the transportation of the materials is done by other companies such as Williams, El Paso, and Giant. Of course many of these companies are subsidaries of one or two megacompanies like Burlington Northern and Dupont. The people that ultimately own these things are the people that everyone seems to have conspiracy theories about or that run for president of the United States, but, hey, this isn't a political endorsement!
 

Gas flows out of the wells at various fluctuating pressures. On each well is a recorder that measures the pressure and volume. They used to be recorded on a little circular chart, but the newer wells record their data digitally. The circular charts are good for 31 days and have to be collected every month. The digital recordings, in contrast are collected every 30 seconds and transmitted by a combination of radio, microwave signals, and internet-like lines to the transmission company. The wells are controlled via computer from either their offices or on laptops from inside the workers trucks. The gas company trucks you see driving around out here have better internet connections than any of the rest of us. Yes, I AM jealous!!!!!

This network of communication devices is something to be proud of! When the gas transmission companies changed over to this automated system of high-speed connections, they were able to change the whole way they were doing business. The actual number of gas company employees was reduced to a mere fraction of their former numbers. The old oil camps were no longer needed so they were disbanded and moved off of the leased BLM lands. The big companies started out-sourcing elements of the process spawing a new industry of petroleum production support companies. Now, there are actually more people working in the oil-fields, but they are working for a lot more companies.

Compressor stations are built where several piplelines come together. There are small compressors and major compressors along the line. A small one is up on the mesa above us at Lowrey, while there are three large compressors here in the Largo canyon: Lindrith (El Paso), Dogie Station (Williams), and Largo (El Paso). The big ones are really noisy and at first you hate them, but then it gets to where you don't even notice the hum, unless like my former neighbors, the compressor is right next to your house and you can't just ignore it. It seems like the compressors wouldn't be allowed to emit so many decibels! Maybe someday they will let me build a strawbale fence around the Largo plant to contain the noise. So why are these compressors so important? They take all the gas flowing in willy-nilly at various pressures and combine it into one pipeline at high-pressure.

Heat and coldness are big issues in the transmission process as the gas is compressed and decompressed. The gas starts out at some kind of moderate temperature down there at 6,500 ft or so, but because it decompresses as the pressure pushes it out of the ground, it gets really cold. The outflowing pipes ice up. There has to be heaters on the well heads. In contrast, the most noticible feature of the compressor station, besides the noise, is the big fans. These are neccessary to get rid of the heat generated by compressing the gas. The gas would be so hot, were it not cooled, that it would melt the lining of the pipe. In the winter, the ambiently cold metal pipes cause water to condense on them and ice to form within. If they were not cleaned, they would soon choke off with ice. To clean them they use a pig.

Well, no matter what kind of conspiracy theory you like, you can't think that this process involves any kind of animal mistreatment, because the "pig" is just a big metal ball they roll through the pipe. The pressure of the gas actually moves it over level ground and uphill, but in this country, I imagine it gathers a bit of speed on its way off the mesa. To slow the rolling ice-smashing pig down at the end of it's run, they have a "pig-catcher" near the compressor station. Out here they have to use the pig about once a week in the winter. Someday, I would like to go listen at the pipeline as it goes by. I wonder if it squeals?

Let's talk about the pressure in those pipelines. It probably varies according to how fast it is being drawn off at the end by the ultimate consumers (maybe people heating their hot-tubs in Southern California), but it is enough that, should one break, crack, etc. the pipe would flail around like the end of a fast-flowing garden hose, tearing itself out of the ground and smashing everything near it. Really stupid people have been known to shoot the pipe or open valves to see what happens. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the escaping highly explosive gas could cause big, really big, problems.

The school is near a pond on public lands, so we are constantly reminded of how much water it takes to drill a well or clean a well out. When they are getting ready for one of these processes, the trucks will be pumping from the pond day and night. It is not uncommon for the pond water level to drop three feet when they are hauling water for a well. They use the water in the drilling process to carry the mud and grit out of the hole, pumping the muddy stuff in and out of an artificial plastic lined pond. They also clean the wells out when they get clogged up and are not producing much gas. They pump sand, water, and liquid nitrogen down the hole and by explosive means, they open new fractures in the bottom of the well to get more gas. Amazingly, back in the 1960's some knuckle-heads decided to try setting off a nuclear explosion at the bottom of a well about 30 miles away, called Gas Buggy, to see what that would do to gas production. I hope none of that stuff is leaking through cracks towards my water well!!!! Well, the normal non-nuclear process of cleaning them out involves getting the water and sand back out. They just let the sand, water and natural gas all flow out into a pond. The gas burns on top of the water for a few days in gigantic leaping flames. It is quite a sight!

There is always ground water coming up with the gas and oil. The liquid petroleum companies like Giant have to test the water content of each batch of oil they take from the tanks. This water content affects the value of the oil so the percentage of water is measured quite scientifically, with the oil trucks carrying a whole chemical lab kit on board. The water in this oil is removed at the refinery, where the oil is refined to various petroleum products like gasoline, grease, and oil. The natural gas has to be separated from both any oil or water. At the Largo Compressor station, the pig-catcher sits next to what they call a "cigar". This device is used to separate the oil, gas, and water. The natural gas then is ready to make its way across the country in the big network of pipelines. You can go to your stove, turn it on, and make a cup of tea over a nice clean blue flame. Hey, that might be gas from Largo Canyon!

Well, that's the tour, folks! Hope you enjoyed it.