What does a hydraulic fracture mean?

In hydraulic fracturing, people often use the term “fracking” to inject high-pressure liquid into a rock formation that holds oil or gas to make cracks. This pressure usually leads to better flows, which helps oil and gas companies make more money by drilling in places where wells generally have low flows.

How to Understand Hydraulic Fracturing

When you do hydraulic fracturing, you pump fuel into a wellbore to create enough pressure to crack complex rock layers and make them bigger. The fluid put into the well was a mix of water, chemicals, and small pieces of sand or pottery.

High-pressure water and chemicals crack and open the rock. The solid pieces, called proppants, stay in place and keep the cracks open to help more liquids or gases flow out of the well.

Overview of Hydraulic Fracturing History and Common Applications

There was an early effort in 1947 in the Hugoton gas field in Kansas to get natural gas out of limestone rock using hydraulic fracturing. One petroleum engineer often used hydraulic fracturing to get more oil and gas from wells. Cracks can happen naturally in rocks, but this process can widen both natural and artificial cracks.

Different types of oil and gas plays can be more profitable with the help of technologies like hydraulic fracturing. In North America, tight oil and gas reserves are often found in shale formations like the Bakken, Eagle Ford, Niobrara, and Pierre formations. Companies typically use horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to maximize the extraction of these resources.

The hydraulic fracturing controversy in politics and the environment

Some environmental issues that come up with hydraulic fracking are methane fumes that pollute the air, contaminated waterways, and the chance of causing earthquakes. Many people disagree on how to weigh the risks and benefits of the technology because of where to put the wastewater from the digging process.

It is typical for the backpressure from the rock formation to push the mix of water and chemicals back to the top through the wellbore after drilling companies put fluids into the well. After that, the fluids can be recovered or saved to be thrown away later. Companies that do drilling take steps to ensure that their wells don’t leak fracking fluids or petroleum liquids into the water sources in the area.

On the other hand, spills and holding tanks that aren’t strong enough worry environmental groups about pollution. The new link between some businesses dumping wastewater in deep wells and a higher risk of earthquakes in Oklahoma is clear. The fracking method also causes methane gas to leak, which is another problem.

Some places have strict rules about hydraulic fracturing because of these worries. For example, France, Vermont, and New York outlawed the method altogether.

Conclusion

• One way to get oil and gas from deep underground solid rock layers is through hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.”
• Fracking pushes liquids into rock layers under a lot of pressure, causing cracks and crevices to appear.
• These holes and cracks release the oil, which is then brought to the top for refining.
• Concerns about the climate and the chance of contaminating the water table or causing earthquakes make fracking a controversial way to get oil.