The Energy Information Administration ( 2016 )

Shale is found in many colors but those that are very dark or black contain oil and gas. Conventional drillers look for pools of oil and gas above shale rock. “The oil and natural gas migrated out of the shale and upwards through the sediment mass because of their low density. The oil and gas were often trapped within the pore spaces of an overlying rock unit such as sandstone. These types of oil and gas deposits are known as "conventional reservoirs" because the fluids can easily flow through the pores of the rock and into the extraction well”. (Geology.com King) Conventional drilling into shale has declined because those conventional supplies are disappearing and drilling companies have known this for quite some time. They also know that more oil and gas can be extracted. Geology.com’s Hobart King provides this insight. “Although drilling can extract large amounts of oil and natural gas from the reservoir rock, much of it remains trapped within the shale. This oil and gas is very difficult to remove because it is trapped within tiny pore spaces or adsorbed onto clay mineral particles that make-up the shale. In the late 1990s natural gas drilling companies developed new methods for liberating oil and natural gas that is trapped within the tiny pore spaces of shale. This discovery was significant because it unlocked some of the largest natural gas deposits in the world” (King Geology.com). The site goes on to provide this outlook for fracking oil

With the age of constant industrial and technological growth has come the necessity for not only cost effective and efficient methods for industry, but also the need for obtaining fuel for the machines that make the modern world possible. Oil has become as precious a commodity as gold, if not more so; its attainments constantly driving the world's largest businesses and governments across the world into action. Naturally, a "quick-fix" solution to this problem is constantly sought after by oil companies wishing to provide oil on a massive scale. One of these drilling methods is known as induced hydraulic fracturing (also known as fracking).

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is not an environmentally sound method of acquiring cleaner, cheaper energy. Fracking is a practice that is being used in order to collect natural gas from deep within the earth’s layers of shale rock. Fracking is the process in which water, sand, and chemicals are forced with immense pressure, approximately ten to fifteen thousand pounds per square inch, into the shale rock through a drilled out shaft. This pressure causes the natural gas to be released from the shale rock.

With shale natural gas now on the horizon in the United States of America, many supporters of the horizontal hydraulic fracturing industry are looking at the economic benefits of fracking shale. The current horizontal drilling abilities provided “23.608 quadrillion Btu [of just shale natural gas alone] in 2011” (Hassett and Mathur 2014). This number in terms of energy production marked the “USA [as] the second largest natural gas producer” (Hassett and Mathur 2014) as of the year 2011. Since 2011, the production of natural gas in the United States has been raised even higher as more and more states lift their moratoriums on fracking and new natural gas hotspots are discovered.

Exactly how much oil remains undiscovered off U.S. shores? The Department of the Interior estimates that there are 68 billion barrels of oil still undiscovered in areas where offshore drilling continued to be allowed under the drilling ban, and another 18 billion in the areas that had become off-limits. Oil companies and other proponents of offshore drilling, however, say that the Interior Department's estimate is most likely low because it does not take recent technological advances in oil location and extraction into

Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in shale rock (especially in the Eagle Ford shale) where the rock is fractured at different stages of the wellbore to increase surface area and permeability throughout the rock. This technique is accomplished by pumping

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as fracking, is a process used to extract natural gas or oil, in which fractures in rocks below the earth's surface are opened and widened by injecting chemicals and liquids at high pressure. Fracking is a heavily discussed topic in print media. Communities across America and the globe are affected by this industrial process. Media articles describe the benefits to some, such as lower home fuel costs, and the detriment to others such as declining home values.

First, to understand hydraulic fracturing one must know the process. Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is done by pumping large quantities of fluids at high pressure down a wellbore and into the targeted rock formation. Hydraulic fracturing fluid commonly consists of water, and chemical additives that open and enlarge fractures within the rock formation. These fractures can extend several hundred feet away from the wellbore. In summary, hydraulic fracturing is a complicated process.

Hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking” is a reservoir stimulation technique. In other words, it can be defined as a process of deeply drilling down into the Earth and injecting high-pressurized water mixture, which contains water, sand and other chemicals into the ground. After having been pumped into the ground, the fracking fluid creates cracks in deep-rock formations, allowing oil and gas to flow out of the well. The phrase “gas shale” refers to natural gas that is extracted from deep hard rock formations by using fracking. The shale gas production nowadays involves six steps: seismic exploration, pad construction, vertical and horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, sustained production and waste disposal. It is obvious that

Hydraulic Fracturing, also known as fracking, is not a novel concept. The hope of being able to access fossil fuels trapped inside layers of shale deep beneath the Earth’s surface was achieved by the process of fracking, developed in 1903 (energyindepth.com). Over the last century, hydraulic fracturing has become an efficient and environmentally friendly way to access the natural gas needed to meet the United States’ high demands. With the condition of the environment rapidly deteriorating, the process of hydraulic fracturing is being questioned. Fracking has made the natural gas trapped within the shale deposits below the earth’s surface accessible with new techniques, all while generating jobs, stimulation the economy, and safely

The term hydraulic fracturing (AKA- fracking) is a common term used in today’s media in reference to the oil industry. But what is hydraulic fracturing or fracking? hydraulic fracturing defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “as a process used to maximize the extraction of underground resources; including oil, natural gas, geothermal energy, and even water (EPA, 2014). Simply put fluid and a mix of material and chemicals are pumped into an already drilled well at high pressure to extract the desired resource (i.e. natural gas) trapped within a solid such as shale rock, we will look at this process and the elements used in it latter in this paper.

Fracking is the process of using hydraulic pressure to shoot sand and water deep into the earth to retrieve natural gas through wells. When a well is drilled, a steel pipe is inserted and secured with cement. Next, drilling continues through the water table and another steel pipe is placed and cemented in. The drill is turned horizontally a few hundred feet above the shale and the remainder of the drilling extends on for miles. Charged detonators are inserted and slickwater is forced in after detonation. The shale cracks and the gas is extracted. (Rinaldi 394). There are claims of water contamination and even earthquakes that are caused by this ever-growing industry. Fracking provides well-paying jobs, has boosted the economy, and may help

Fracking is shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, a type of drilling that has been used commercially for 65 years. Today, the combination of advanced hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, employing cutting-edge technologies, is mostly responsible for surging U.S. oil and natural gas production. Hydraulic fracturing involves safely tapping shale and other tight-rock formations by drilling a mile or more below the surface before gradually turning horizontal and continuing several thousand feet more. Thus, a single surface site can accommodate a number of wells. Once the well is drilled, cased and cemented, small perforations are made in the horizontal portion of the well pipe, through which a typical mixture of water , sand and additives is pumped at high pressure to create micro-fractures in the rock that are held open by the grains of sand. Additives play a number of roles, including helping to reduce friction (thereby reducing the amount of pumping pressure from diesel-powered sources, which reduces air emissions) and prevent pipe corrosion, which in turn help protect

Hydraulic Fracking “Hydro-fracking” is a controversial technique on extracting oil and shale gas from the Earth’s surface. This technique was developed in the late 1940’s to access fossil energy by drilling down the Earth. The process of Hydrofracking is explicit due to the controversial manner in which it is done. Vertical well bores are drilled thousands of metres into the earth, through sediment layers, the water table, and shale rock formations in order to reach the oil and gas. The drilling is then angled horizontally, where a cement casing is installed and will serve as a pipe for the large volumes of water, fracking fluid, chemicals and sand needed to fracture the rock and shale. In some cases, prior to the injection of fluids, small explosions are used to open up the rock layers. The fractures allow the gas and oil to be removed from the formerly impermeable rock. The breaking of the resistant rock may result in minor Earthquakes. Due to the

“Fracking” refers to hydraulic or hydro fracturing of rock formations to stimulate and extract natural gas and oil. The process involves drilling down through sedimentary rocks for thousands of feet, then sideways for miles, pumping millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure to open fractures in the rocks, allowing gas and oil to flow. This relatively new technology is also being used for resource exploration by geothermal developers. Prior to fracking, it was too expensive to exploit “shale gas”, but it is now being viewed as a way for the United States (US) to become independent from foreign oil. Fracking also brings a host of new public health and environmental concerns; drilling chemicals and fracking fluids are highly toxic and include known carcinogens.