Jun 10, 2019
RocketFrac Services Ltd. (“RocketFrac”), a privately-held company developing an environmentally safe, proprietary fracing tool using solid rocket fuel, is pleased to announce that the Honourable Ronald R. Spoehel, former Presidentially-Appointed and U.S. Senate confirmed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has been elected to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Mr. Spoehel has over 35 years experience in the energy and technology sectors, including serving as an executive officer in various general management positions and on the Boards of public and private companies in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, and Europe. Following NASA, Mr. Spoehel founded and is Managing Partner of Windrock Capital and presently serves on the Boards of publicly-traded Profire Energy, STG Group, and Millennial Esports. Among various companies with worldwide operations, he has served in general management and/or on the Board of ICF Kaiser Engineers, Acer Group, Harris Corporation, Optinel Systems, ManTech, and ICx Technologies. Previously he was in investment banking at Bank of America and Shearson Lehman, and in program management at Hughes Aircraft. He is an honours graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his BS in Economics and MBA in Finance from the Wharton School and MSE from the Moore School of Electrical Engineering.
“Our team at RocketFrac is extremely excited to have Ron join the Board and especially step into the lead role of Chair”, said Annelise Freeman, CEO of RocketFrac. “Since we first engaged Ron in initial discussions he has shown an extremely thoughtful and diligent interest in our team, in the development of our technology, and in the opportunities our technology will bring as an alternative to hydraulic fracing”.
“I am pleased to join RocketFrac and its talented team who have already made tremendous progress in their proprietary development of an environmentally safe fracing technology. I am quite confident in Annelise, my fellow Board Members Jack Reeve and Skip Stone, and the RocketFrac team’s ability to build and commercialize this transformative technology for the oil and gas industry,” said Mr. Spoehel, RocketFrac Chairman.
About RocketFrac Services Ltd. (“RocketFrac”):
RocketFrac Services Ltd., a private Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is developing a proprietary new fracing tool, PSI-KICKTM, propelled by a customized blend of solid rocket fuel which will improve oil and gas well productivity. Environmentally safe, completely waterless, and optimizing well production efficiencies, PSI-KICKTM addresses some of the most pressing problems facing the oil and gas industry today while delivering sustainable and economic value for oil and gas producers and their stakeholders.
SOURCE RocketFrac Services Ltd. CALGARY, June 20, 2017 /CNW/ –
For further information: Annelise Freeman, President and CEO, Tel: (403) 471-7631, Email: afreeman@rocketfrac.com, www.rocketfracservices.com
Related Links
www.rocketfracservices.com
Jun 5, 2019
A startup company in Canada is developing a tool that may help operators realize savings in resources and manpower in their fracturing operations. The PSI-CLONE tool from RocketFrac Services uses a proprietary solid rocket fuel mixture as a propellant fracturing mechanism which eliminates the need for significant water volumes. When loaded into the tool, deployed down a well, and ignited, the propellant releases high-pressure gas and creates enough pressure to produce fractures at targeted sites along the wellbore.
The PSI-Clone tool can be reloaded with additional blocks of solid rocket fuel propellant. Source: RocketFrac Services.
The PSI-CLONE tool, which holds the propellant, is reusable. Once the propellant has burned out completely, the tool can be reloaded with another block of fuel. The company states that the system requires a single coiled tubing unit, as opposed to the multiple pumper trucks and water tanks used for hydraulic fracturing, and requires three to five onsite personnel.
The ability of propellant fracturing to rapidly generate high pressures allows for tailorability, which is not available with hydraulic fracturing because of the physical limits on the water pumping rate.
Propellant fracturing can be designed to anticipate the
existing stress field and produce the desired fracture pattern.
Source: RocketFrac Services.
Propellant fracturing is not a new concept. Sandia National Laboratories began researching the topic in the 1980s, and more than 600 wells have been stimulated using some variation of this technology. Annelise Freeman, CEO of RocketFrac, said that the main difference between PSI-CLONE and other propellant fracturing methods is the burn time of the fuel and the presence of elements that allow for sealing the wellbore against the pressure generated by the solid propellant. Current technology cannot confine the rapid pressure rise rates generated by propellant fracturing within a target zone for treatment durations of more than 300 to 500 milliseconds.
Freeman said the PSI-CLONE technology’s ability to isolate a selected target zone and prevent gas from escaping along the wellbore allows for greater penetration into the formation and extended fracture growth. According to RocketFrac, a pressure event duration may last between 1 and 20 seconds at 20,000 psi and produce four to eight radial fractures. Tools can also be strung together to simultaneously treat multiple zones.
“Traditional propellant fracturing has been off-the-shelf propellant that you can purchase, hang down the well on a wireline, ignite, and it would get some really great results with no casing damage. What it did not have was the ability to seal which is critical to sustain longer burn times, and when we’re talking about long lateral horizontals, inadequate sealing allows the gas to escape along the wellbore. What this means is you don’t put as much pressure on the formation, so you don’t create the long fractures required,” Freeman said.
Because it does not use any liquid beyond the drilling fluid on-site, Freeman said PSI-CLONE would eliminate the need for facilities and vehicles for water treatment and disposal. She said solid rocket propellant is stable, safe to handle, and easier to transport than flowback water. With no size or lateral restrictions in borehole length, the tool would be small enough to be transported in a single truck, and because it does not require water or proppant, the system does not require much time for assembly.
“You could actually put this rocket fuel in the back of your car and put it on the road,” Freeman said. “It won’t go off without an ignition force. It is absolutely benign. As a solid, if you drop it, you can just pick it up. I’ve handled it with my bare hands. It is very, very safe.”
RocketFrac is still in the early stages of development. The company incorporated in February and is currently looking to test both the sealing mechanism and the solid rocket fuel to see how it performs in different formations. It is currently working with a rocket fuel manufacturer to design and supply a formulation customized for the petroleum industry. Freeman said the company is looking to use PSI-CLONE in test wells by January or February 2018.
Stephen Whitfield, Senior Staff Writer | 26 September 2017
May 25, 2019
RocketFrac Services Ltd. (“RocketFrac”), a privately held company developing a next generation propellant-based fracing tool based out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is pleased to announce the successful closing of an oversubscribed initial round of financing. The initial offering of $1 million was well received and oversubscribed, resulting in a total raise of $3.1 million.
“We are very excited about the overwhelming response to this initial round of financing,” said Annelise Freeman, President and CEO of RocketFrac and a Professional Geologist with over 25 years of oil and gas experience. “We are developing one of the most exciting breakthrough technologies to impact the oil and gas fracing industry in decades and we appreciate the support our new shareholders have shown RocketFrac. We are confident that our fracing process will rapidly become a valuable alternative, perhaps even the preferred choice, for oil and gas exploration and development companies around the globe”.
RocketFrac was established to create a next generation, and substantially disruptive, propellant-based fracing tool that will increase the permeability of rock formations and improve overall well performance at a lower cost, and all without the use of water. Propelled by a customized blend of solid rocket fuel the enhanced system will generate a clean controlled burn that delivers superior well productivity. Solid rocket fuel is safe to transport, requires no special handling, and has no potential for spills and costly cleanups.
RocketFrac has been collaborating with Orbital ATK Inc., an internationally renowned aerospace and defense manufacturer, to design a next generation fracing tool that will add horizontal fracturing capabilities to Orbital ATK’s current and proven Gen I solid rocket propellant well fracing system. This predecessor technology has been applied to more than 600 vertical wells to date, resulting in production increases averaging 225%. RocketFrac’s Gen II version of the technology, the PSI-KICKTM tool (pronounced “psychic”), will be fully functional in both vertical and horizontal well applications and will be a powerful enhancement of Orbital ATK’s proven Gen I technology.
Effective for on and offshore applications in both vertical and horizontal wellbores, with no size or lateral restrictions in borehole length, RocketFrac’s PSI-KICKTM tool will be compact enough to be transported by a single truck, and since it does not require water or proppant, the system can be quickly and easily assembled on-site in even the most remote and arid locations.
Currently RocketFrac and Orbital ATK are collaborating to complete the development of the Gen II technology by taking the PSI-KICKTM tool from concept to deployment and refining the solid rocket-fuel technology. Final design and build of the PSI-KICKTM tool will be completed in Calgary and the system will be extensively tested over the next 12 to 18 months.
“With consumption of oil and gas continuing to grow globally and more countries looking to secure a reliable source of domestic energy, RocketFrac is positioned to become a major player in more cost-effective, environmentally-responsible fracing systems” stated Freeman. “RocketFrac’s system will ultimately provide the oil and gas industry with a safe, affordable, and much greener alternative to hydraulic fracturing and at the same time improve overall well productivity.”
About RocketFrac Services Ltd. (“RocketFrac”):
RocketFrac Services Ltd., a private Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, is developing a fracing tool propelled by a customized blend of solid rocket fuel which not only improves well productivity but addresses some of the most pressing problems facing the oil and gas industry today. Environmentally safe and completely waterless, RocketFrac’s technology maximizes fracing efficiencies, and delivers sustainability and economic value for oil and gas producers and their stakeholders. RocketFrac holds a licensing agreement with Orbital ATK for advancement of their break-through, patent pending tool for well stimulation, as well as the associated propellant technology. The license agreement covers thirteen countries, including Canada and the United States.
About Orbital ATK (“OA”):
As a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, Orbital ATK designs, builds and delivers space, defense and aviation-related systems to customers around the world, both as a prime contractor and as a merchant supplier. Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, OA employs approximately 12,500 people in 18 states across the U.S. and several international locations. OA trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OA with a US $5.7 billion market cap.
SOURCE RocketFrac Services Ltd.
CALGARY, May 1, 2017 /CNW/ –
Jul 8, 2018
Annelise Freeman has over 25 years of experience in oil and gas exploration, development and operations. Annelise was formerly President and CEO of RocketFrac and previously was part-time faculty at Mount Royal University teaching undergraduate courses in petroleum geology. Earlier, she served as Chief Geologist at a small public exploration company where she worked both in office and in the field. She trained for many years in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin before branching out to include areas of expertise in South Australia and the Northern Territory of Australia. Her area of expertise is the development of tight oil and gas properties and complex reservoir geology.
Jul 8, 2018
Mr. Stone is a Managing Director and Principal of Investment Banking at Register Financial Associates, Inc. Skip has been a successful wealth manager for 25 years. Prior to Register, Skip enjoyed a fifteen-year career at Morgan Stanley, being named to Atlanta Magazine’s list of Best Personal Wealth Managers for seven consecutive years, and serving as the regional Financial Advisor Currency Advocate. Skip holds a Bachelors of Arts Degrees in Economics and English Literature, Cum Laude and received his MBA in Finance from Georgia State University, Magna Cum Laude. Skip was politically active on Denison’s campus, serving as class Co-Governor for three years, Chairman of the Judicial Board, and Class Senator. Along with Disney CEO Michael Eisner and US Senator Richard Lugar, Skip served as Co-Chairman of the Capital Campaign for Denison. Upon graduation, Skip worked on the Hill as the Deputy Chief of Staff for US Senator Wyche Fowler.
