“Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination [...] many problems ascribed to hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs.” Quoted from the University of Texas at Austin press release.
The National Ground Water Association has published a position paper titled: “Hydraulic Fracturing: Meeting the Nation’s Energy Needs While Protecting Groundwater Resources.”
A new regulation will require drillers in Texas to report the chemicals in their hydraulic fracturing fluid and the amount of water used to frack each well.
An article published by the Oil and Gas Journal shows that methane was ubiquitous in shallow groundwater prior to oil and gas drilling in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania.
Instead of digging trenches or drilling a vertical well to install a geothermal system, some contractors will drill horizontal wells. This allows installation without digging trenches and the wells can travel under buildings, parking lots, athletic fields and more.
Someone must have blamed the Virginiaearthquake of August 23 on hydraulic fracturing. An extensive article in the Daily Press explains why that is impossible.
Many property owners are very surprised when the royalties that they receive from a natural gas well on their property decline sharply. They are learning about production decline curves.
Jadela Oil recently used 5000 barrels of liquid propane and butane to frack a horizontal well in Maverick County, Texas. When gas is used for fracking it can be recovered and sold or recycled instead of being a disposal problem.
An article on the Oregon Public Broadcasting website describes the proposed use of fluid injection as part of an enhanced geothermal system that will utilize wells drilled on the flank of Newberry Crater. The U.S. Department of Energy is putting $22 million into the project. USGS has a recently installed seismic array that will monitor earthquakes produced by the injection.
EPA has issued a draft report titled: Investigation of Ground WaterContamination near Pavillion, Wyoming. From the conclusions: “Using this approach, the explanation best fitting the data for the deep monitoring wells is that constituents associated with hydraulic fracturing have been released into the Wind River drinking water aquifer at depths above the current production zone.”
Reuters.com has an article that describes how a Canadian company is using a propane gel instead of water when fracking a natural gas well. It eliminates the need for water disposal.
An article on TheCityWire.com website reports on a presentation given by Mike Yeager, an executive with BHP Billiton. He explains why the company was attracted to invest in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas.
In a NewsOK.com article, Larry Nichols, of Devon Energy says that hydraulic fracturing for natural gas and oil is receiving too much blame for contaminating ground water and causing earthquakes.
An article on the Star-Telegram.com website explores declining production from the Barnett Shale of Texas – the rock unit that supported the first important use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
Early results from a University of Texas at Austin study of hydraulic fracturing and groundwater contamination suggest that there is no direct link between the fracturing and contamination. Problems of contamination are instead related to other parts of the drilling and well management process such as leaking casings, failed cement jobs and above-ground spills.
This article on recent earthquakes in Oklahoma includes ideas of what might be causing them from geologists at Purdue University Northwestern University and the Oklahoma Geological Survey. There is no strong evidence that they are being caused by hydraulic fracturing in the Woodford Shale or other rock units.
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