sustainability - SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

Sustainability 2011 , 3 , 2080-2104; doi:10.3390/su3112080

sustainability

ISSN 2071-1050

http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability

Article

The EROI of Conventional Canadian Natural Gas Production

Jon Freise

Principal Engineer, 3501 Cedar Ave So, Minneapolis, MN 55407, USA;

E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-612-377-0753; Fax: +1-612-377-0753

Received: 23 June 2011; in revised version: 1 August 2011 / Accepted: 5 August 2011 /

Published: 3 November 2011

Abstract: Canada was the world’s third largest natural gas producer in 2008, with 98% of

its gas being produced by conventional, tight gas, and coal bed methane wells in Western

Canada. Natural gas production in Western Canada peaked in 2001 and remained nearly

flat until 2006 despite more than quadrupling the drilling rate. Canada seems to be one of

many counter examples to the idea that oil and gas production can rise with sufficient

investment. This study calculated the Energy Return on Energy Invested and Net Energy of

conventional natural gas and oil production in Western Canada by a variety of methods to

explore the energy dynamics of the peaking process. All these methods show a downward

trend in EROI during the last decade. Natural gas EROI fell from 38:1 in 1993 to 15:1 at

the peak of drilling in 2005. The drilling intensity for natural gas was so high that net

energy delivered to society peaked in 2000–2002, while production did not peak until

2006. The industry consumed all the extra energy it delivered to maintain the high drilling
      effort. The inability of a region to increase net energy may be the best definition of peak
      production. This increase in energy consumption reduces the total energy provided to
      society and acts as a contracting pressure on the overall economy as the industry consumes
      greater quantities of labor, steel, concrete and fuel. It appears that energy production from
      conventional oil and gas in Western Canada has peaked and entered permanent decline.

Keywords: EROI; energy return on investment; net energy; Western Canada

1. Introduction

At the start of the 21st century we have a lot of pressing questions about our future energy supply:

Can the world maintain its oil production plateau? Can natural gas production grow to replace coal and

OPEN ACCESS

Reprinted fromSustainability. Cite as: Freise, J. The EROI of Conventional Canadian Natural Gas
Production.Sustainability 2011 , 3 , 2080-2104; doi:10.3390/su3112080.

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