Rob: A significant portion of our state is covered in what's called the Woodford
shale, a formation of rock containing natural gas that, until recently, was
too difficult to breach; but, high oil prices, combined with new
technology, is what one Oklahoma company is betting on with a new
sixty-five million dollar facility, in Shawnee.
Our Alisa Hines covers Oklahoma's oil and gas industry,
and joins me now.
Alisa: Well, Vanguard Stimulation Services is a company that helps its
customers retrieve natural gas from unconventional sources,
like the Woodford shale.
And it's that business model that has the company preparing to build this
multi-million dollar facility on land that was
once a favorite spot for Governor Brad Henry.
Governor Brad Henry: This is literally my stomping grounds.
We used to quail hunt right out here.
Alisa: On land soon to be the site of a company that could innovate energy
exploration in Oklahoma.
With the turn of a shovel, state and local officials broke ground for a company
that hopes to open up new energy reservoirs in Oklahoma's Woodford shale.
John Ely: We see a tremendous opportunity, not only now, but in the
present because it's a very pervasive formation that's all over Oklahoma,
and we're really excited about getting in a centralized location, and
these people have been wonderful.
Alisa: John Ely is CEO of Vanguard, and says the company plans to be fully
operational, by early summer.
Ely: This is obviously an exciting time in my life and my career.
Alisa: Creating a new industry, Shawnee mayor, Chuck Mills, says, will
bring new technology, and new jobs, to the area.
Chuck Mills: We've had a lot of business growth here,
but nothing to this level.
So it's important that we're going to be able to provide wealth building
jobs for community members, citizens of Shawnee, and it's just a
great, exciting opportunity.
Alisa: An opportunity, that, in its first year, is projected to have a
revenue of over thirty million dollars, and could grow to over two hundred
million, by year five.
Governor Henry: What's good for Vanguard is good for Shawnee,
and for Oklahoma.
So we're going to make sure, that you guys prosper.
We're going to make sure, that you continue to grow, and expand.
Alisa: Vanguard says they plan on hiring locally, training people at Gordon
Cooper Technology Center, and recruiting engineers from the local colleges.
Mills: This is the largest thing to happen for our community, estimated
sixty-five million dollar investment.
Alisa: Helping to grow Shawnee, and Oklahoma, by employing over 350 people,
within the next five years.
Alisa: Now the state of Oklahoma is also helping the company by building an
access road, and private industry is building railroad spurs to their
location, which is extremely important for Vanguard to do business.
Rob: So Alisa, this will certainly have a huge economic impact
on the Shawnee area.
But, is there actually a bigger story here, that if Vanguard is successful in
tapping gas in the Woodford shale, could this actually hold the key to
our state's energy future?
Alisa: Good question.
It's estimated that Oklahoma's Woodford shale may hold four trillion
cubic feet of gas.
But, as we mentioned earlier, the Woodford shale is an unconventional
source of natural gas, which just means that it's not the first choice of
oil and gas producers, because the challenge is to release the oil and gas
from rock as impermeable as concrete.
To do this, it has to be fractured, which can be costly.
Rob: Okay, for those, like me, who may not know exactly what fracturing
is, go ahead and explain it to us in layman's terms.
Alisa: Simply put, hydraulic fracturing, which is what Vanguard
does, is a technique where fluids and a proppant, such as sand, are forced
into the shale to enlarge or create fractures and keep them open, so that
the trapped oil and gas can be pushed upward and retrieved.
Oklahoma's Chesapeake Energy has been successful in doing this in the
Texas Barnett shale and now we're seeing it become
more productive here in Oklahoma.
Rob: And, I guess, with recent oil trading in the one hundred dollar a
barrel range, it certainly makes sense to go after these areas that were once
maybe too costly to extract from.
Alisa: And that's what Vanguard's counting on.
Rob: All right, thank you, Alisa.