Fracking

A distinction can be made between low-volume hydraulic fracturing used to stimulate high-permeability reservoirs, which may consume typically 20,000 to 80,000 US gallons (76,000 to 300,000 l; 17,000 to 67,000 imp gal) of fluid per well, with high-volume hydraulic fracturing, used in the [|completion] of tight gas and shale gas wells; high-volume hydraulic fracturing can use as much as 2 to 3 million US gallons (7.6 to 11 Ml) of fluid per well. [|[2]] This latter practice has come under scrutiny internationally, with some countries suspending or even banning it. The first frac job was performed in 1947, though the current fracking technique was first used in the late 1990s in the [|Barnett Shale] in Texas. [|[1]][|[3]] The energy from the injection of a highly-pressurized [|fracking fluid] creates new channels in the rock which can increase the extraction rates and ultimate recovery of [|fossil fuels]. According to the [|International Energy Agency], the global use of [|natural gas] will rise by more than 50% compared to 2010 levels, and account for over 25% of world energy demand in 2035. [|[4]] Proponents of fracking point to the vast amounts of formerly inaccessible [|hydrocarbons] the process can extract. However, there remain large uncertainties in the amount of gas reserves that can be accessed in this way. [|[5]]
 * H**ydraulic fracturing is the propagation of fractures in a rock layer caused by the presence of a pressurized fluid. Some hydraulic fractures form naturally, as in the case of veins or dikes, and are a means by which gas and petroleum from source rocks may migrate to reservoir rocks. Induced hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking, commonly known as fracking, is a technique used to release petroleum, natural gas (including [|shale gas], [|tight gas]and [|coal seam gas]), or other substances for extraction.This type of fracturing creates fractures from a [|wellbore]drilled into reservoir rock formations.

Hazards
Detractors point to potential [|environmental] impacts, including contamination of [|ground water], risks to [|air quality] , the migration of gases and hydraulic fracturing chemicals to the surface, surface contamination from spills and flowback and the [|health effects] of these. [|[6]] State and federal regulatory agencies and the industry are working to address these concerns. [|[7]] The EPA is conducting a study, set to be released for peer review at the end of 2012, of hydraulic fracturing's impact on drinking water and ground water resources.

Effective water management techniques provide solutions to these problems. Water has long been part of oil and gas drilling operations, but drilling companies don’t have to use fresh water for well operations. In Australia, they are required to recycle the water used to extract unconventional gas. In the United States, companies are increasingly looking beyond freshwater supplies, using abandoned mine water, water from stormwater control basins, municipal treatment plant effluent and their own recycled water. Industrial effluent, including power-plant cooling water, offers additional approaches to reduce freshwater withdrawals

Benefits
There are potentially huge profits for the oil and gas sector, with some of that flowing into government coffers. Towns and communities could also experience a boom in jobs. Shale gas is an abundant energy source and a way to reduce our collective carbon footprint. Fossil fuels today dominate the U.S. energy-consumption portfolio, but the percentage of power generated from natural gas in the United States is expected to nearly double to 40 percent during the next 25 years. The United States and other nations seek to strengthen security by becoming more energy independent. Economics favor regions with growing markets and ample energy supplies. And the risks of hydraulic fracturing are under study. All good.

Hydraulic fracturing is a process used in nine out of 10 natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release the gas. Scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface.