A Mysterious Patch Of Light Shows Up In The North Dakota Dark
If one could get the gas from the flare towers to a combined cycle natural gas reactor for under 0.9 cents per cubic foot, or, about $170 per well per annum, there could be room for a small profit ($900k/year less operating costs). Note that I assumed you're paying the well owner market price for the natural gas they're presently flaring off, a conservative assumption.Gas flared per annum (MM cubic feet) = 150 [1];
100 cubic ft gas in MWh	= 0.0302 [2];
»Natural gas flared (MWh) = 45,300Plant efficiency = 61% [3];
»Available energy (MWh) per annum = 27,633North Dakota electricity price (kWh) = $0.0681 [4];
Value of available energy ($ million) = $1.882 [5];
»Value per cubic foot gas = $0.0125Market price of gas ($/MMBTU) = 3.48 [6];
BTU/cubic foot natural gas = 1020 [7];
»Market cost of gas ($ million) = $0.532Excess value of gas in fields = $1.349;
»Excess value per cubic foot gas = $0.0090Number of wells = 8,000 [8];
Mean gas per annum per well (cubic ft.) = 18,750;	
»Expected excess value per well per annum = $168.67[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5073583[2] http://www.convertunits.com/from/hundred+cubic+foot+of+natur...[3] http://gigaom.com/2011/05/25/ge-to-crank-up-gas-power-plants...[4] http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/state-regs/pdf/Nor...[5] Expected revenues per annum if you burnt all the gas flaredin Bakken & Three Forks in a combined cycle reactor[6] http://www.bloomberg.com/energy/[7] http://www.onlineconversion.com/forum/forum_1038451235.htm[8] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020370750457701...