Energy & Entrepreneurs #113                                                              

Energy Education

by Raymond J. Keating

As an economist and parent, I often find myself frustrated in terms of the energy-related education for children and teens. Given what's often presented in the classroom and on television, periodic de-programming efforts have to be undertaken in our household.

The American Petroleum Institute offers an "Energy in the Classroom" section on its website that offers some valuable information. For example:

• Educators can find grade-appropriate lesson plans and other classroom materials and activities at www.classroom-energy.org/ . (The interactive drilling games are a fun diversion!) "Energy and Society program kits can be ordered by teachers at www.plt.org/cms/pages/21_44_19.html .
• For Boy Scouts, there's help with the Energy Merit Badge at www.classroom-energy.org/merit_badge/index.html . A straightforward point here should be noted by all: "By almost any comparison, the standard of living for most Americans is above the world's standard - from our economic prosperity, from the way we live and play, and from the clean air, water and environment we enjoy to the overall health and safety of our nation. This quality of life can be attributed to many factors, including an abundance of natural resources. Among the most important are oil and natural gas."
• And the interactive "Adventures in Energy" section - at www.adventuresinenergy.org/ -- can benefit children and adults. Consider, for example, the following information from the "Advanced Drilling Techniques" section:

Horizontal Drilling - Horizontal drilling starts with a vertical well that turns horizontal within the reservoir rock in order to expose more open hole to the oil. These horizontal "legs" can be over a mile long; the longer the exposure length, the more oil and natural gas is drained and the faster it can flow. More oil and natural gas can be produced with fewer wells and less surface disturbance. However, the technology only can be employed in certain locations.

Multilateral Drilling - Sometimes oil and natural gas reserves are located in separate layers underground. Multilateral drilling allows producers to branch out from the main well to tap reserves at different depths. This dramatically increases production from a single well and reduces the number of wells drilled on the surface

Extended Reach Drilling - Extended Reach Drilling - Extended reach drills allow producers to reach deposits that are great distances away from the drilling rig. This can help producers tap oil and natural gas deposits under surface areas where a vertical well cannot be drilled, such as under developed or environmentally sensitive areas. Wells can now reach out over 5 miles from the surface location. Offshore, the use of extended reach drilling allows producers to reach accumulations far from offshore platforms, minimizing the number of platforms needed to produce all the oil and gas. Onshore, dozens of wells can be drilled from a single location, reducing surface impacts.

Complex Path Drilling - Complex well paths can have multiple twists and turns to try to hit multiple accumulations from a single well location. Using this technology can be more cost effective and produce less waste and surface impacts than drilling multiple wells.

Other informative sections focus on exploring, different drilling rigs, refining, pipelines, tankers, and much more.

All of this is important for all people to understand in terms of how we get our energy resources, the impact of that development, and the implications for public policies. And it's all well-grounded in industry, economic and environmental reality.

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Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council.