Like many of you, I had heard the term hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", several times before I actually knew it's meaning. This process, which has sparked much media popularity in recent years, involves drilling thousands of feet below the earth's surface and pumping millions of gallons of a blended mix of water, sand or other proppant, and chemical additives at extreme pressures into a well causing fissures, or cracks, in rock formations. These fissures, held open by the sand or other proppant, allow for the flow of oil and natural gas hence, an increase in production. Along with the natural gas that flows out, the internal pressure of the rock formation causes other fluids to return to the surface as well. "Flowback", the term used to refer to this fluid, contains the injected chemicals of the original mix plus naturally occurring materials and is stored in on site tanks before it is treated, disposed, or recycled. For all of you visual learners, here is a diagram that adequately sums up the process, courtesy of ProPublica.
So, before delving into the politics and regulations that surround the issue, it is important to know the history of this revolutionary technology. Developed in the 1940s, this process was initially intended to stimulate production from oil reservoirs that were declining in productivity. As
of recently though, the process, combined with other new technologies like horizontal drilling, has
become a way to access and develop domestic unconventional oil and gas
reserves in shale deposits. These reserves are considered "unconventional" given that the gas is dispersed throughout the rock as opposed to all condensed in one underground location. The first experimental well to be hydraulically fractured was in Hugoton field located in southwestern Kansas and the first commercial fracturing treatment occurred in 1949 in Stephens County, Oklahoma by Halliburton, Co.
Experimental well in Hugoton Field, Kansas (1947). Courtesy of the Society of Petroleum Engineers
Since 1989, the number of onshore gas wells in the United States has gone from approximately 260,000 wells to 493,100 in 2009. Given this increase and according to the Petroleum Association of America, 90% of new natural gas wells in the US now depend on this process for resource production. As a result, approximately 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas has been produced for American consumers in the past six decades. That is a lot of natural gas and consequently, a large dependance and even larger demand on this technology.
Given the increase in hydraulic fracturing's popularity through recent years there has been a growing need and demand for regulation. Regulation issues that surround the topic include: water regulation, disclosure laws, and long lasting environmental and public safety effects. The economic benefits that surround the industry are unquestionable. Undoubtedly, the process is a lucrative one yet there is high uncertainty that surrounds fracking regarding environmental and health effects. This uncertainty has created much skepticism in public opinion and has allowed for highly polarized rhetoric surrounding the issue although at times the facts are not always presented.
The issue stands highly divided. Both advocates for and against the process are headstrong in their views. Personally standing somewhere in the middle of the debate, I urge you to join me on exploring both sides of the story. Through this blog, I intend to display the known facts on either side of the argument so that together we can come to an informed opinion on this revolutionary process that I believe is not going anywhere anytime soon.
So, before delving into the politics and regulations that surround the issue, it is important to know the history of this revolutionary technology. Developed in the 1940s, this process was initially intended to stimulate production from oil reservoirs that were declining in productivity. As of recently though, the process, combined with other new technologies like horizontal drilling, has become a way to access and develop domestic unconventional oil and gas reserves in shale deposits. These reserves are considered "unconventional" given that the gas is dispersed throughout the rock as opposed to all condensed in one underground location. The first experimental well to be hydraulically fractured was in Hugoton field located in southwestern Kansas and the first commercial fracturing treatment occurred in 1949 in Stephens County, Oklahoma by Halliburton, Co.
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| Experimental well in Hugoton Field, Kansas (1947). Courtesy of the Society of Petroleum Engineers |
Given the increase in hydraulic fracturing's popularity through recent years there has been a growing need and demand for regulation. Regulation issues that surround the topic include: water regulation, disclosure laws, and long lasting environmental and public safety effects. The economic benefits that surround the industry are unquestionable. Undoubtedly, the process is a lucrative one yet there is high uncertainty that surrounds fracking regarding environmental and health effects. This uncertainty has created much skepticism in public opinion and has allowed for highly polarized rhetoric surrounding the issue although at times the facts are not always presented.
The issue stands highly divided. Both advocates for and against the process are headstrong in their views. Personally standing somewhere in the middle of the debate, I urge you to join me on exploring both sides of the story. Through this blog, I intend to display the known facts on either side of the argument so that together we can come to an informed opinion on this revolutionary process that I believe is not going anywhere anytime soon.
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