As I mentioned in a previous post on Hydrofracking and what it means to our country and it's energy demands, I will post the entire report over the next several days as it is lengthy and very complete.
If you ever had any questions on Fracking and what the impact will be on all aspects of our lives now and for generations to come, this report will answer those questions.
The potential of this new innovative method of extracting fossil resources from deep under ground will allow the United States to become energy independent by the end of the decade.
HYDROFRACKING:
What it is, and what it means to the USA Darrell K. Mattheis 10-10-2013
Introduction:
I have followed the progress
of hydraulic fracturing in the oil and gas business for going on 20 years now,
but it was not until the preparation of this presentation that I came to
understand the enormity of the economic impact that hydrofracturing has had on
the US, and world economy.
In virtually every sector of the US economy,
hydrofracking has lead to a
manufacturing renaissance.
From the energy industry to steel, chemicals,
shipbuilding and rails, to heavy
manufacturing and agriculture, the advent of inexpensive natural gas and large
amounts of domestically produced oil, has
given the US economy a "kick-start" not seen since the end of the
Second World War.
Hydraulic Fracturing (Hydrofracking or just "fracking") is an old technique that has long
been known to increase the production of liquids and gases from geologic
formations both shallow and deep.
However, it is only since the late 1940s, as a result of the combination of horizontal drilling
technology, combined with hydraulic fracturing, that shale gas exploitation started
to became more common.
Experimentation and research by many companies, contributed to the development of
"fracking" technology, but work done by George P. Mitchell of
Mitchell Energy, in the 80s and 90s made fracking economically attractive, and
wide spread.
Hydrofracking is particularly associated with the
production of natural gas and oil
from "tight" rock formations such as hard shales. But, Hydrofracking has also been used to
increase the flow of water from water bearing rock formations, and is the foundation of "Enhanced Geothermal
Energy Production."
Petroleum engineers have long known that enormous
deposits of natural gas and oil
existed in deep shale formations, but for many years the technology to tap
those deep resources did not exist.
Once the technology necessary to tap the reservoirs of
high methane concentration (25-40%)
became known in the industry, natural gas went from being a scarce resource, to
a current glut, and a growing export product of the US.
In the year 2000, shale gas represented just 1% of
American natural gas production, and
today it is 30% and rising.
Natural gas is a clean-burning fuel, reducing by
one-third the amount carbon that its
combustion releases, (compared to coal),
it is easy to transport in
pipelines, and in home furnaces, it's efficiency can be as high as 96%.
The extraction of natural gas from shale formations,
such as the Barnett in Texas, the Marcelleus in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and New York have created millions of good paying jobs, and
billions of tax dollars have flowed into the coffers of hard pressed states
such as Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
At the same time that the use of hydrofracking to
harvest vast amounts of natural gas
has been growing, so has the political & ideological opposition.
Hydraulic fracturing has a long record of safe
operation, both for oil field workers
and the environment, but that has not deterred its detractors.
In this
presentation we are going to look at how hydro-fracturing works,
We will examine
the technology that makes it possible.
We will review
the basis of opposition to Hydraulic Fracturing.
Finally we will take a look at the economic impact of
natural gas from tight shale, and
non-orthodox geological formations, on the US, and the world.
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