For decades, hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—has relied heavily on water and sand to crack underground rock and release oil and gas. Fracking is safe, proven, and reliable, and in collaboration with horizontal drilling, has resulted in the huge growth in hydro carbon production in the US and Canada.
But fresh water is a scarce resource particularly in arid settings, and in many places under stress because of climate change. Disposal of used water is a technical challenge and costly. The sand resource, or proppant, is both costly to mine and heavy to ship. The mechanical process of forcing water and sand under pressure down the wells and into the rock generates a substantial carbon footprint.
Enter
RocketFrac, a Calgary-based
innovator using solid
rocket fuel to crack the status quo.
Unlike conventional fracking,
RocketFrac’s technology
eliminates the need for
water and
sand, which dramatically
lowers carbon emissions and site disturbance. This self-propping, solid-fuel-based technique also opens up economically
stranded assets, including abandoned or underperforming wells, with potential applications in
water-stressed regions like California and the Middle East. It’s an innovation that could redefine the economics and environmental impact of oil extraction.
In this episode I speak with
Pavan Elapavuluri, Chief Technology Officer at
RocketFrac, to hear firsthand about the origin of RocketFrac’s
solution, the
physics behind the
technology, its
regulatory journey, and the
digital tools they’re using to model outcomes and rank well candidates. From
carbon offsets to offshore potential, this episode is an
explosive look at what could be the next big leap in oilfield operations.
And yes, those puns are all intended!
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👤 About the Guest
Pavan Elapavuluri is the Chief Technology Officer at RocketFrac Services Ltd. With a Ph.D. in Geophysics from the University of Calgary and prior experience at Schlumberger in both Houston and the UK, Pavan brings deep domain expertise to the development of cutting-edge oilfield technology. He leads RocketFrac’s mission to reduce fracking’s environmental footprint using propellant-based fracturing. Originally from India, Pavan is passionate about digital transformation in energy and commercializing sustainable innovations.