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Jan 19, 2024

Liberty Oilfield launches alternative fuel and power unit

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Liberty Oilfield Services' Tier 4 Dual Fuel Fleet is shown. Liberty has launched has launched Liberty Power Innovations to provide alternative fuel and power solutions, including CNG, which is used by the Dual Fuel Fleet.

Liberty Oilfield Services' Tier 4 Dual Fuel Fleet is shown. Liberty has launched has launched Liberty Power Innovations to provide alternative fuel and power solutions, including CNG, which is used by the Dual Fuel Fleet.

Producing energy requires energy to power the equipment that drills or brings up crude and natural gas. But the sources of that power are being scrutinized alongside the companies that utilize them.

For years, "the industry has been fueled by diesel," Ron Gusek, president of Liberty Oilfield Services, told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview. "The next generation was dual-fuel fleets and the latest iteration is equipment 100% powered by natural gas, either to generate electricity or directly driving the pumps with gas engines."

His company has just launched Liberty Power Innovations (LPI), an integrated alternative fuel and power solutions provider for remote applications. In announcing LPI, the company also announced the acquisition of Siren Energy, a Permian-focused integrated natural gas compression and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery business.

"A reliable fuel source is a critical part of the transition, and Siren is a component of this, as a supply of natural gas to fleets and to help our customers transition to natural gas," he said. "We’ve hired a team to help build that transition and they will help speed our transition. They’ve done a great job growing the company into a premier provider of CNG and have a great Permian Basin footprint."

Siren brings to Liberty 16 Mmcf per day of natural gas compression capacity at two expandable Permian sites and transportation, logistics and pressure reduction services. Siren currently delivers fuel to customers in both drilling and completions, and its logistics system is designed to deliver CNG, renewable natural gas or hydrogen to remote locations.

Gusek said the Permian Basin is Liberty's largest basin for its fracturing, wireline and sand services and LPI will provide a steady supply of fuel to its fleets, "particularly as we move to natural gas."

He noted that the company typically moves 100,000 truckloads of sand a year so "we’re good at logistics. We bring that expertise to our fracturing, wireline and sand units. We can also provide natural gas to other operators, drillers and frac fleets and eventually outside oil and gas."

There are two main drivers of the shift from diesel and dual-fuel to natural gas, according to Gusek. One is economics – diesel has gotten quite expensive amid the runup in oil prices so turning to natural gas has its benefits, he said. "At the widest point, the savings are $20 million for a single frac fleet," he said.

Second is the focus on ESG – Environment, Social and Governance – that has become an important part of the world, he said. As Permian Basin producers move to produce lower-carbon or zero-carbon oil and natural gas, he said turning to natural gas is a good step.

Part of what's evolving is mobile power generation, he said. Liberty's suite of digiTechnologies utilize natural gas to remotely generate electricity and power next generation digiFleet services. The trailer-mounted digiFrac fleets have 2.5 megawatt capability, he said.

He sees these mobile fleets in service outside the oil industry, with their ability to plug into the power grid using natural gas. That could help power, for example hospitals and first responders when the grid is down, such as in hurricanes or tornadoes.

Liberty's first electric fleet is already in the field, working in the Permian Basin, with the next two fleets following later this quarter or early in the third quarter.

"We’ve laid out a steady plan to upgrade the vast majority of our fleet in the next five to seven years," Gusek said. "It will take a few years to get done but they’ll eventually be converted."

There could be infrastructure beyond standard natural gas, he said. That infrastructure could handle more renewable natural gas, and moving hydrogen is a possibility. He noted the trailer used to move CNG would be the same one to move hydrogen.

"There are possibilities as sources evolve," he said. "We stay abreast of technology and what our customers need. It's moving very quickly. We began using dual-fuel fleets a decade ago and saw modest growth. Ultimately it started to pick up around 2019 or so and since we’ve come out of COVID, there's been real interest in the transition to natural gas."