At an onshore oil drilling site, it’s not uncommon to operate around the clock and throughout the year. Fueling the mobile generators that keep oil production high can be a costly business expense. Diesel fuel, even at today’s relatively low rates, plus delivery can add up to a significant fuel cost. Wellhead natural gas, on the other hand, is a free fuel source when extracted as part of the oil drilling process. Harnessing natural gas to operate a natural gas generator results in dramatically lower operating costs and is a greener solution compared to other ways of disposing by-product gas. Let’s look at the various reasons that operating a natural gas generator to power oil production makes business sense.
The obvious advantage of a natural gas generator is fuel savings. There is no comparison between a free fuel source and one that has ranged in price per gallon from $2 to nearly $3 in the last 12 months. When you do the math, the cost savings are staggering. In a onemonth time span, a diesel generator operating 24/7 in an oilfield can consume upwards of $20,000 in fuel costs. During the course of a year, that adds up to more than $240,000 in fuel costs to operate a diesel generator, while the fuel cost of a natural gas generator is $0.