What is fracking?

Oil prices have been in the negative territory for two years in a row. The oil market has been in a situation of over-supply and low demand. This tug of war in prices between the Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) nations and the US shale gas companies started when the Opec countries wanted to gain market share. In order to do this, they started producing more so that the shale produces go out of business.

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process ofdrilling and injecting fluid into the ground at a high pressure in order to fracture shale rocks to release natural gas inside. There are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the US. 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 (90 per cent), sand (9.5 per cent) and additives (0.5 per cent) 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 the environment and boost well efficiency. As for natural gas, the United States is the leading producer in the world, according to the U.S.

Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA estimates total U.S. gas production from 2012 to 2040 will increase 56 per cent, with natural gas from shale the leading contributor. The shale gas share of total U.S. production will increase from 40 per cent in 2012 to 53 per cent in 2040, EIA projects. Simply put, fracking is the engine in the U.S. energy revolution, according to what-is-fracking.com.