Energy in Depth

Hydraulic Fracturing Helping to Bring Hope to Arkansas … And Louisiana, Pennsylvania

Hope, Arkansas is the hometown of William Jefferson Clinton, our nation’s 42^nd president. And while Little Rock may be the state’s capital, and largest city, the Natural State’s former governor Mike Huckabee also hails from the southwestern town of Hope.

But because of the tightly-regulated 60-year old energy stimulation technology called hydraulic fracturing – which has been safely used to enhance oil and natural gas production in the United States more than 1.1 million times without every impacted groundwater – there’s much more hope, genuine economic opportunity and job growth potentials flowing into Arkansas, and other regions of the country.

A quick history lesson, compliments of Southwestern Energy: “Southwestern Energy Company discovered the economic viability of the Fayetteville Shale and was the first company to drill and successfully produce its natural gas.”

This discovery, enabled by fracture stimulation coupled with advanced horizontal drilling technologies, “continues to help boost the economy,” says Arkansas’ Channel 11-THV. This from their recent story on the responsible development of the Fayetteville Shale:

Kathy Deck, an economist with the University of Arkansas, even says the Fayetteville Shale play provided a much-needed shot in the arm for the state when it needed it most. She says that while the shale has not developed as quickly as projected, the recession has had a lot to do with that, and that — going forward — the shale will continue to be an important part of the state’s economy.

The Arkansas Business Journal reports that this environmentally-sound development has been “A ‘Shot in the Arm’ to Economy”:

“You have to say, especially in Arkansas, the Fayetteville Shale Play provided a much-needed shot in the arm for the state when it needed it most,” said Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business & Economic Research at the UA’s Sam M. Walton College of Business, which has twice attempted to project the shale play’s impact.

And despite the sluggishness that the national economy continues to experience, similar benefits are being experienced in other shale gas-producing states and regions of the country. In northwest Louisiana, where the development of the Haynesville Shale continues to safely hum along, KTBS-TV reports that the “Mansfield Economy Booms; Construction On Every Corner.” This from their story on this economic growth, which is a direct result of homegrown energy production:

Construction crews in Mansfield are hard at work with two new restaurants, two new hotels and a new bank.

Shelby Spurlock of Claiborne Parish says the Haynesville Shale is the reason she decided to open Cafe 171 in Mansfield. “It’s an ant bed of activity and we just wanted to come and join it,” said Spurlock while getting ready for Thursday’s grand opening.

City Alderman Troy Terrell says the Haynesville Shale has given Mansfield one of the biggest economic boosts in the state. “In the next two years, Mansfield won’t even look the same, ” said Terrell while standing at one of many construction sites.

Terrell says the economic boom has lead to several new roads. The city recently spent 10-million dollars on a new sewer and water system. City leaders say the new system will bring even more businesses and jobs.

Who said we don’t build things in American anymore? But wait, the news gets better.

While this days of service in the U.S. Congress are counting down, true to form, Sen. Arlen Specter is not mailing it in. Specter, a Pennsylvania Democrat-turned Republican-turned-Democrat, understands that the responsible development of the Commonwealth’s Marcellus Shale reserves is a true game-changer for the region’s economy, its workforce, and for our nation’s energy security. The Williamsport Sun-Gazette reports this yesterday:

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Philadelphia, sees great economic potential for the local area from the Marcellus Shale and believes the gas industry can help ensure drilling does not adversely impact the environment.

Natural gas, he noted, represents a bridge between fossil fuels and renewable energy resources.

“If we find a way to free ourselves from OPEC oil, that would be great,” he said. “It will be an economic opportunity for Williamsport.”

Speaking of the local area, workforce training programs continue to spud across Pennsylvania, helping to equip men and women from the region with the tools, skill sets, and know-how they will need to contribute to the responsible development of the Marcellus Shale’s abundant, clean-burning natural gas reserves. This from yesterday’s Scranton Times-Tribune:

With the hope of landing a high-paying, stable job in the burgeoning natural gas industry, 24 men embarked Monday on their first industry course at Lackawanna College in New Milford.

Larry Milliken, the course instructor, spent his career working in the industry all over the country from exploration and mineral development to working as an oil and gas “land man.” “(Lackawanna College) set up this program to help people from this area find a career in the natural gas industry,” Mr. Milliken said. “It’s a diverse background of people and ages coming into this class.”

Joshua Houck, 26, of Great Bend, said his curiosity about the natural gas industry motivated him to take the class. “I’m going to try to get a good job afterward,” he said.

Al Bisner, 28, of New Milford, said he returned to the Susquehanna County area after serving in the Army. Mr. Bisner has spent his working career self-employed in the plumbing and heating field but decided he could make more money working for the gas industry. He said he is worried about the rural area becoming more like a “big city” but figured natural gas development is here to stay and wanted “to get in on the ground floor.”

Toward the end of the first session, Mr. Milliken said to the class, “You, your kids and even their kids will be able to make careers in the natural gas industry.”

Think of that: careers – not jobs – in the natural gas industry. You see, our industry is committed to being good neighbors, citizens, partners, friends and ultimately stewards of the environment.

But despite hydraulic fracturing’s long and clear record of environmental safety, some remain fully committed to stopping the use of this technology, and therefore the benefits that it’s making possible for America, especially in small, rural communities where economic opportunity is desperately needed. But supporters of responsible domestic energy production continue to speak out. This from Norwich, NY’s Evening Sun:

Greene businessman Enzo Olivieri warns that a moratorium on natural gas drilling in New York would kill everyone’s hopes for new jobs, and the anti-drillers pushing for it will ultimately succeed because they have deeper pockets.

“That’s what it all boils down to. They, who for the most part come from downstate, have more money than we do up here, so they’re more powerful,” he said.

Olivieri’s exasperation was recently relayed in a phone call to The Evening Sun after the New York State Senate voted Aug. 3 to impose a nine-month moratorium on the controversial high water volume horizontal drilling technique, called hydraulic fracturing. The restaurant owner and real estate developer said he fears that the promise of economic recovery in the area and throughout upstate New York may now simply “wash downstate along with the region’s water.”

Referring to New York City-based protesters who want to ban drilling, he said, “They are the first to use our resources, our water and our crops, and not pay the adequate amount for it. Now they want to take our jobs away?”

Read All About It: The Facts About Hydraulic Fracturing’s Record of Safety Continue to Mount

The positive and overwhelming economic and energy security benefits enabled by hydraulic fracturing – a tightly regulated 60-year old energy stimulation technology – continue to be realized across the nation. These benefits – affordable supplies of reliable homegrown energy and thousands of good-paying jobs – are a reality in major energy-producing states, particularly North Dakota and Texas.

And while New York was the birthplace of natural gas production, a de facto ban on Marcellus Shale production through the use of 21^st century horizontal drilling technology continues to deny landowners their right to responsibly develop privately-owned, clean-burning, job-creating resources.

Facts are stubborn things, as they say. So for your edification, here are a few about fracturing.

In a Fort Worth Business Press column today, Bruce Vincent, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of American (IPAA) and president of Swift Energy, underscores the critical role that fracture stimulation has played, and continues to play, in safely producing homegrown, job-creating energy oil and natural gas resources over the past 60 years. Here are key excerpts from Vincent’s column, which speaks directly to the devastating consequences that bills like the FRAC Act would introduce to American consumers:

This process is tightly regulated by energy-producing states, and is subject to a host of federal laws and regulations as well. In fact, federal law mandates that these fluids – which as stated, are made up of more than 99.5 percent water and sand – be disclosed at every single well-site. Many states even provide these lists online.

In commercial use since 1949, hydraulic fracturing has been – and continues to be – the linchpin to American oil and natural gas production. With surgical-like precision, using high-pressure fluids made up of more than 99.5 percent water and sand, with a small percentage of everyday additives used to kill bacteria and reduce wellbore friction, fracturing stimulates oil and gas production thousands of feet below ground, allowing increased amounts of energy to be produced.

But is it safe, and what steps do producers take to ensure groundwater protection? The short answer: yes, and many.

Unfortunately, some members of Congress believe that they know better than Texas, and that Washington bureaucrats ought to regulate fracturing, rather than individual energy-producing states who understand the geology best and have amassed an impressive track record of overseeing this critical technology. These advocates say their legislation is about disclosure of fracturing fluids. At its core, though, these efforts are aimed at stopping fracturing altogether, which would significantly blunt the positive economic growth and job creation in Texas, as well as in other energy-producing states, and ultimately, increase the cost of energy for America.

More than 1,500 miles away from Ft. Worth, in bucolic Syracuse, NY, folks are also talking about fracturing’s long and clear record of environmental safety and effectiveness. In yesterday’s Syracuse Post-Standard, Alfred Station, NY-native Chris Kulander – who holds a Ph.D. in geophysics with a focus on petroleum seismology – write this about fracture stimulation, and the benefits this proven technology stands to help generate through responsibly developing New York’s portion of the Marcellus Shale:

No evidence directly connects injection of fracking fluid into shale with aquifer contamination. In 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a study finding no confirmed instances of drinking water contamination by fracking fluids in the ground. This finding is not surprising, as fracking fluid is pumped through heavy steel pipe surrounded by a concrete liner to formations thousands of feet below aquifers.

Fracking has made production from the Marcellus Shale possible and created thousands of jobs.

An unfortunate push exists in New York to ban all fracking, purportedly until the technology can be “proven” safe, and to require federal oversight of fracking.

While a responsive state regulatory framework and vigorous, impartial enforcement of those regulations are necessary, draconian measures such as rolling moratoriums or federal oversight of fracking are not. New York is well able to regulate fracking while at the same time allowing development of natural gas and enjoying the jobs and revenue it brings.

True American Hero: On Birthday, HF Operator Saves Woman’s Life, Rescues Dog From Burning House

American heroes walk among us in our communities and neighborhoods each and every day. They put others selflessly before themselves, rarely seeking the credit or recognition they rightfully deserve for their graceful acts of goodness and service to others.

Hundreds of thousands of hard-working men and women across the nation work dutifully each day to safely produce and deliver homegrown oil and natural gas reserves to American consumers in the form of affordable, stable and reliable energy needed to grow our economy and to strengthen our nation.

These are rig-hands, roustabouts, and hydraulic fracturing experts — they’re our friends, family members and neighbors. And because of a selfless act of bravery this week, we can add one more classification to that list: citizen first responder, and American hero.

After completing a day’s work in Pennsylvania’s portion of the Marcellus Shale earlier this week, Billy Watts — a Cudd Energy Services employee — was on his way home to New York when he noticed a house that “was burning like crazy.” And while Mr. Watts may be fairly new to the area, he’s as good a neighbor as one could ask for. The Elmira Star-Gazette reports this under the headline “Newcomer to Elmira area helps rescue woman, pet from house fire”:

Billy Watts, who turned 37 Monday, was driving home on South Broadway from Troy at about 6 p.m. when he saw black smoke in the air. Watts, a hydrofracturing operator for Cudd Energy Services in Pennsylvania, pulled over and helped a volunteer firefighter at the scene before any fire trucks arrived.

A gas industry worker who recently moved to Wellsburg from Oklahoma got an unusual opportunity on his birthday Monday: the chance to save a life.

The pair went down the hill toward the burning home at 2726 South Broadway and saw a woman who looked to be in her 70s, Watts said.

“She was bent over the fence and couldn’t get out, couldn’t breathe.” A dog was with her, he said. Watts and the firefighter helped the woman and dog get away from the house. … Watts said he breathed in some smoke and felt congested from it, but otherwise he was fine. “It’s important for people to stop and try to help out,” Watts said, noting that other bystanders came by.

Sure, Mr. Watts recently moved to New York’s southern tier from Oklahoma to help safely and responsibly deliver clean-burning, job-creating natural gas from the Mighty Marcellus. But this selfless act of heroism underscores how committed our industry is to being good neighbors and partners. We should all take pause in Mr. Watts’ statement about this incident: “It’s important for people to stop and try to help out.”

Shale Goes Global

State Dept. forum seeks to export promise and potential of shale gas to markets around the world – but will Administration apply same lessons, encouragement here at home?

Col. Edwin Drake is widely credited with developing the world’s first commercial oil well in Titusville, Pennsylvania in 1859. But here’s something you might not have known about the guy: He wasn’t actually a colonel.

Here’s something else: According to Chinese and Polish historians, Drake didn’t actually drill the first oil well either. In Poland, that honor rests with Ignacy ?ukasiewicz, who described his discovery in 1854 as the advent of a “new branch of industry which shall bear plentiful fruit.” Of course, from China’s perspective, both Drake and ?ukasiewicz arrived on the scene about 1,500 years too late. In their record books, 4^th century monks are credited with developing the first-ever oil well, employing cutting-edge technology in the form of bamboo shoots to produce the oil needed to heat water from which deposits of salt could be distilled. Turns out even back then Chinese food had plenty of salt.

But while friendly disagreements may persist when it comes to assigning credit and location for the discovery of oil, when it comes to the discovery of clean-burning natural gas from shale, no ambiguity exists: We found it. And much more important: We invested the time, talent and resources in developing the technologies needed to make its production possible. The upshot? A veritable shale gas “revolution” taking place right here, right now, all across America — with hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in state, local and federal revenue currently being generated in its wake.

Not yet, anyway. But an event organized by the U.S. Department of State earlier this week sought to begin the process of changing all that. Presided over by David Goldwyn, State’s coordinator for International Energy Affairs, the two-day Global Shale Gas Initiative Conference held in Washington on Monday and Tuesday brought together representatives from 20 countries (including the United States) to share news, views and technical insights related to the business of producing natural gas from shale. What interest does the State Department have in promoting a phenomenon like that? Mr. Goldwyn took on this question directly in his opening remarks:

[O]ur motivation as the State Department to engage on this issue should be clear for foreign policy and energy security reasons. Countries around the world need diversity of energy supply. There are countries with millions of people – in fact, tens and some hundreds of millions of people – without access to electricity services. They need a feedstock and they need it for base load energy. …So it’s understandable that they want to develop shale gas, but we have, in our country, an umbrella of laws and regulations that makes sure this is done safely and efficiently.

But just as no two shale plays are exactly the same, no one nation holds the exclusive rights to producing abundant resources from shale that underlies its land. Just about everybody’s got the stuff, geologists tell us. But not everyone has access to the best and most innovative technologies needed to convert the opportunity of shale into the reality of a stronger economy, a cleaner environment, and a higher standard of living for all who call that country home.

Of course, this conference didn’t exactly come out of left field; according to the White House, the president and his administration continue to be actively involved in spreading the good news of shale gas far and near, even using it as a tool of diplomatic engagement in promoting a clean, sustainable and growth-oriented energy future for some of our closest and most important trading allies across the globe. Back in November, the White House described its efforts to export the promise and potential of shale to our friends in China in the following way:

[The] Shale Gas Initiative will allow the U.S. and China to use experience gained in the United States to assess China’s shale gas potential, promote environmentally-sustainable development of shale gas resources, conduct joint technical studies to accelerate development of shale gas resources in China, and promote shale gas investment in China through the U.S.-China Oil and Gas Industry Forum, study tours, and workshops.

According to Reuters, the Chinese have been more than happy to accept our insight and technical advice in this space, with the country just last week launching a national shale gas research center and announcing a series of goals that include: 1) finding one trillion cubic meters of shale gas, 2) building 15-30 billion cubic meters of production capacity, and 3) ultimately using shale to meet as much as 12 percent of China’s total natural gas demand by 2020. Don’t think they can get there? Smart money says not to bet against them. According to reports, China’s total shale gas potential may soon be measured in quadrillions of cubic feet, not trillions. All they need is the technology and infrastructure to bring these resources to market.

Same goes for our friends in Poland, who view the prospect of shale gas development as a national security imperative more than anything else. You see, as it currently stands, a large portion of the natural gas upon which the Polish economy depends is piped in each day from Russia – and it doesn’t take a Ph.D. candidate in European history to understand the tensions and uncertainties inherent in that arrangement.

Earlier this month, the first-ever application of hydraulic fracturing technology was introduced at the Markowola-1 exploratory well in Kozienice, Poland. How much natural gas will they find? No one can say for certain. But according to one report from Wood Mackenzie, the Polish people may have more than 47 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas trapped in shale deposits beneath their feet – or nearly half the entire proven natural gas reserves in Europe. Who’s laughing now, right Poland?

The story, of course, goes on and on from there: South Africa’s got lots of shale potential; so too does Sweden, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Morocco, Pakistan, India and Armenia – just to name a few. But while the depths and temperatures and technical requirements will vary from play to play to play – one thing will always remain constant: the continued need to use cutting-edge fracturing technology to tap into resources that would be too deep, too diffuse and too difficult to get at otherwise.

As was made clear in Washington this week, the U.S. government understands this reality – at least in an international context. Left to be determined is whether it will apply these same lessons to shale gas exploration here in the United States. Let’s promote shale gas globally, but let’s act locally on it as well. That was the message delivered by the State Department in Washington this week. Any chance the good folks over at EPA heard it?

A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words – And Hundreds of Thousands of Jobs

The responsible development of clean-burning natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation – enabled by hydraulic fracture stimulation technologies, coupled with advancements in horizontal drilling – continues to be an boon throughout much of Appalachia, where small, rural communities and towns have not experienced genuine, lasting economic growth and prosperity for quite some time. But that’s all changing now thanks to these technologies, which can safely and effectively reach the Marcellus’ abundant, homegrown, job-creating natural gas reserves.

And while some continue to oppose this environmentally-proven and tightly regulated development, and the tens of thousands of good-paying jobs this production is helping to create at a time when economic opportunity is dire, it’s clear that folks throughout the Rust Belt agree that this is a good thing, and that it can – and must – be done responsibly.

Energy production companies, including Chesapeake Energy, continue to hire throughout the region, holding forums for those interested in joining our fight for a more secure energy future and more stable energy prices for American families, seniors and consumers.

Under the headline “Hundreds Want Gas Drilling Jobs,” the Wheeling Intelligencer reports that “For neighbors Shawn Long and Eric Westbrook of Middlebourne, who arrived before 10 a.m. and waited more than an hour to get through the door, the chance for new employment in the Ohio Valley is welcome.”

One attendee at the recent Chesapeake Energy open house said that “This is a great opportunity for around here,” adding that “this (the gas industry) is one of the only things around here. It’s a good thing they (Chesapeake) are here.” Another individual seeking employment noted that “It’s this or the coal mine. I’ve got two kids and a wife I have to take care of,” add that “Any new full-time employment in this area is great.”

We report, you decide — as they say.

Just The Facts: University of Pitt. Prof. Sets the Record Straight on Hydraulic Fracturing

Just The Facts: University of Pitt. Prof. Sets the Record Straight on Hydraulic Fracturing
Positive benefits created by fracture stimulation technology continue to pour in from coast to coast

In an interview with KDKA radio’s Mike Pintet, Professor Radisav Vidic of the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, sets the record straight on hydraulic fracturing – the 60 year-old energy stimulation technology that has been safely used to produced domestic oil and gas over 1.1 million times. Dr. Vidic, who holds a Ph.D. in environmental engineering, underscores hydraulic fracturing’s tight regulations and long and clear record of environmental safety.

On Hydraulic Fracturing’s Clear, Long Record of Protecting Groundwater: “There hasn’t been any proven case”

• “There hasn’t been any proven case that shows that the hydraulic fracturing itself causes contamination to groundwater. First of all, the well casing — the way it’s designed to be used — there’s multiple barriers there through the aquifer so there’s really no communication between the material that’s injected into the well and a groundwater aquifer. … This water is injected at a 8,000 feet depth so the chances of this water coming up all the way to the surface is very small simply.”

On Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Disclosure: “Go on the DEP’s website”

• “You can go on the DEP website, and there is a list chemicals that are being used in hydro fracturing operation. This list contains a total of I think about 78 chemicals. But you have to understand not all of them are used on every well, every time. This is a list of all the chemicals that are ever being used in the hydrofracturing operation. A subset of those chemicals are used on each well depending on which company is doing it and what is their technology, and approach to hydro fracturing the well. The industry is required to disclose this information, and the DEP has a list of all the chemicals that are being used for hydro fracturing operations.”

On GasLand Claims About Flaming Faucets: “It’s not caused by drilling”

• “It’s not caused by the drilling, it’s caused by the methane that’s coming from some place.”

What are others saying about domestic oil and natural gas production enabled by hydraulic fracturing? We’re glad you asked.

• Without fracture stimulation, ND’s economic boon wouldn’t be happening: “Hydraulic fracturing — or frac’ing — also is used for natural gas, and it’s controversial. The fluid is mostly water, but it also contains about one-half percent chemicals. Despite industry assurances, environmental groups worry frac’ing is polluting groundwater, and they want more regulation. Some even want an outright ban. But without this technology, the boom in North Dakota wouldn’t be happening.” (NRP, 8/18/10)
• Hydraulic fracturing helping to create hundreds of jobs in rural Pa.: “New York State lawmakers made a grand show of Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale gas drilling procedures last week. They held our state up as an example of what not to do in a recession and inferred the state is selling its environment out so that it can generate the economy the gas drilling brings. To our friends to the north we would say that sword holds a double edge. … This past week the Sun-Gazette reported on the rapid growth of the cement mixing Halliburton plant off Route 405 in Clinton Township, where ground was broken a year ago. By year’s end there will be about 100 jobs, and there are projections that the plant will eventually employ 400 people. Plants with 400 jobs especially new ones aren’t plentiful in our region. (Williamsport Sun-Gazette Editorial, 8/15/10)
• Shale drilling could become an economic gusher for Michigan: “The $1.2 billion-a-year oil and gas industry is a modest player in Michigan’s economy, but the situation could change because the shale-rich Great Lakes State could be sitting atop the next in-demand natural resource, experts said. Advances in technology and $3-a-gallon gasoline have made deep-seated shale oil more accessible and desirable, they said. … The industry’s fortunes took a turn for the better when the state sold $178 million in leasing fees in a single auction in May. That equaled the total amount of money the state has collected in leasing fees since the 1920s, a telltale sign that interest in shale drilling is heating up. (Detroit News, 8/18/10)
• Roustabouts wanted as companies rush to drill for gas: “Workers looking for jobs in the region’s booming natural gas industry may try their hand as a “roustabouts” — general laborers who work physically grueling 12-hour shifts for 14 consecutive days in all kinds of weather to build and remove drilling pads and assist production. “It’s demanding labor, working long stretches without days off. You have to be ready to do quality work and do it a long time. Once they start production, they don’t stop,” said Richard Guenther, an employee relations specialist with Chesapeake Energy Corp. in Mt. Morris, Greene County. Pay can range from $10 to $20 an hour, plus overtime. (Tribune-Review, 8/18/10)
• 1 million wells have been fractured without a single case of documented harm to groundwater: “Water is mixed with sand and some chemicals and then pumped at high pressure into the well bore to shatter the Bakken shale formation, which can be as hard as a driveway. The “fracking” creates fissures that free up trapped oil and natural gas to flow up to the well bore. … Increasingly refined hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling techniques have doubled Montana’s oil-and-gas production, Richmond said. In the United States, approximately 35,000 wells are “fracked” each year and 1 million wells have been developed without documented harm to groundwater, he said. … Oil in the Bakken lies well below groundwater supplies. (Billings Gazette, 8/14/10)
• Marcellus Shale’s economic impact is growing: “Marcellus Shale drilling is still in its infancy in West Virginia, but the industry is already contributing millions of dollars to the state’s economy. It may be awhile before the gas industry’s economic impact rivals that of coal in West Virginia. Mike Shaver, clad in a hard hat and muddy boots, surveys a gas drilling rig on a site in Upshur County. As a crew drills towards the Marcellus Shale, a pipe pumps water and dirt out of the hole in the earth and into a huge pit of muddy, rock-filled water. Shaver looks at the water, trying to determine how much farther the drill has to go before reaching shale gas. (Huntington Herald Dispatch, 8/14/10)
• Fracturing enabling a “transformative opportunity”, says. fmr. Gov. Ridge: “Former Gov. Tom Ridge this afternoon called Marcellus Shale gas production a “transformative opportunity” for Pennsylvania during an appearance Downtown in his new role as a strategic adviser to an industry group. Still dressed in the jeans and checkered shirt that he wore to inspect production operations in Washington County earlier in the day, Mr. Ridge hailed the industry’s economic potential but also stressed the need to manage environmental concerns. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8/17/10)

From La., to N.D., to Pa., Hydraulic Fracturing Continues to Positively, and Safely, Impact the Economy

In 1949, the average cost for a gallon of gasoline was 17 cents. That same year, the First Polaroid Camera was sold for $89.95. And while the Polaroid has certainly had a lasting impact on American society, it was in 1949 when hydraulic fracturing first came into commercial use.

This energy stimulation technology has been safely used to help produce homegrown oil and natural gas more than 1.1 million times. And because of the industry’s commitment to ensure environmental safety, along with commonsense laws and regulations overseeing the process, hydraulic fracturing has never caused groundwater contamination. But despite this remarkable track record of putting the nation on stronger path toward energy security, a host of claims surrounding fracturing continue to persist.

Energy In Depth’s Lee Fuller helped separate the fact from fiction in a Detroit Free Press letter this week:

Fracturing is not new and is not “exempt from federal water laws,” as Olson claims. Shale gas development is regulated under the federal Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, the Community “Right to Know” Act, the Superfund law and by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

While Olson claims that “Most states, like Michigan, have not evaluated the impacts” of this technology, your readers should know Harold Fitch, director of the Geological Survey (OGS) office at Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality — which regulates every aspect of oil and gas production, including fracturing — has said that “there is no indication that hydraulic fracturing has ever caused damage to ground water or other resources in Michigan.” Fitch notes that “OGS has never received a complaint or allegation that hydraulic fracturing has impacted groundwater in any way.”

Fracturing fluids are made up of more than 99.5% water and sand. A small percentage of fluids used to reduce friction and kill bacteria that are commonly found under one’s kitchen sink, are added. Not only is a list of these fluids mandated by federal law to be available at every well site, many organizations — including Energy In Depth — list them online.

And here’s just a quick snapshot of positive economic benefits that hydraulic fracturing is helping to bring to energy-producing regions of the country that are in desperate need of good-paying jobs and stable energy costs, as well as the commitment from the industry to be good neighbors and stewards of the environment:

• Making good on a promise; Halliburton plant creates jobs. Sun-Gazette. “When ground was broken last August on a cement mixing plant owned by Halliburton off Route 405 in Clinton Township, company officials promised they would bring jobs to this area. The company is making good on that promise, said Perry A. Harris, senior district manager for Halliburton’s northeast U.S. operations. “By year’s end we’ll have 75 to 100 (employees) and (add) another 100 to 150 next year,” Harris said during a recent tour of the plant. … Harris said the company plans to develop another 55 acres nearby that will be home to other Halliburton gas field support operations. “Between the two sites, we’ll (be hiring) 400-plus people over the next two to three years,” Harris said.
• Another Bakken in ND? KXN-TV. “Central Bottineau County is poised to become the hub of a brand new boom. We’ve all become familiar with the Bakken Shale Formation in recent years. That’s the huge oil-rich rock formation that’s triggered a major oil boom centered in the Stanley area. But now, major oil companies are making moves that suggest a second oil boom is in its infancy. Jim Olson reports. Oil wells are not new to Bottineau County. 40 years ago, several successful wells were drilled there. But the work going on this summer on drilling rigs like this could signal the beginning of a major oil rush to the region. Lynn Helms, Dept. of Mineral Resources, says “It’s going to have a major impact.”
• Our commitment to the community. Lock Haven Express, Marcellus Shale Coalition’s Kathryn Klaber. “And while Marcellus development is still in the early stages, many of these benefits are already being realized. According to a recent study released by researchers at Penn State, our industry will help create nearly 212,000 jobs across the Commonwealth over the next decade. Last year alone, Marcellus development was responsible for the creation of 44,000 jobs. To date, landowners have received more than $1.7 billion in royalties and lease payments from Marcellus producers. And this production has also generated close to $400 million in state and local tax receipts – with that number expected to double this year. Many Pennsylvanians are also seeing lower energy rates because of this increase supply, allowing consumers to keep more of what they earn.
• Natural gas fueling economy. Shreveport Times. “The Haynesville Shale is the fourth largest natural gas field in the world. Discovered in 2008, the shale rock is buried as deep as two miles under the ground and in some places can be 500 feet thick. It stretches about 5,000 square miles under most of northwest Louisiana, and experts believe it contains about 245 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to power America for 10 years. Local leaders tout the economic benefits of the shale not just because of the millions of dollars in royalties and leasing bonuses paid to local landowners during the past two years from gas companies scrambling to acquire space to drill, but also new jobs and economic growth have come as a result of the production.
• Anadarko joins team to preserve stream banks. Lock Haven Express. “The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Bureau of Forestry have been working with volunteers from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. this week to construct in-stream fish habitat structures along Trout Run, a tributary to Pine Creek. Last fall, Anadarko contributed $10,000 to the conservancy to purchase materials for a stream restoration project in the Pine Creek watershed. Anadarko employees volunteered to help with the installation at the time of the donation. This week, they kept their word with 20 Anadarko staff from Williamsport and Houston pounding sledge hammers , moving rock, and securing silt fabric to create the in-stream structures.
• UGI to spend $300M on drilling project. Citizens Voice. “UGI Corp. plans to invest more than $300 million over the next two years to develop natural gas infrastructure in the Marcellus Shale region, a project that includes a “major pipeline project,” the utility company announced Thursday. UGI officials outlined the move in a one-and-a-half-page news release sent out after normal business hours without providing details of exactly where the company might locate such a pipeline. The project would bring Marcellus Shale producers in the state “improved access to high-value markets,” according to the release.
• Gas Company Overhauling Some Roads. WNEP-TV. “Cabot Oil and Gas is now completely rebuilding some roads before all the trucks show up. It’s a complete transformation along Wickizer Road, a state road near Dimock. Trucks and crews are turning a narrow dirt road into one wide enough to handle big trucks coming and going all the time. Cabot Oil and Gas is doing all the work on that road and other state and township roads in Susquehanna County before there is truck traffic.

Just The Facts: Energy Experts, Top Forbes Energy Reporter Debunk “Preposterous” Hydraulic Fracturing Claims

University of Houston professor Dr. Michael Economides in the Houston Chronicle:

• There have been two huge lies, the first that hydraulic fracturing somehow causes natural gas to migrate upwards through the geological formations, infiltrating drinking water aquifers. The second, is that “chemicals” mixed with the fracturing fluids will contaminate the same drinking water. … The idea that formations 10,000 ft below ground can somehow contaminate drinking water aquifers, 9,500 higher through the growth of the fracture height is beyond preposterous.

• The “chemicals” we use are not that many nor are they sinister. We use mostly gelling agents, not much different than the common kitchen flour to thicken the water to allow it to transport the particulates, tiny granular materials to keep the fracture propped so that gas and oil will flow into the well (still 10,000 ft below ground.)

• About 100,000 wells are fractured worldwide every year and in all my years in this industry I have heard of precious few examples of such accidents. The reason is that oil and gas wells are hermetically sealed with steal casing and a cemented annulus. They are perforated only at a very limited interval, perhaps 50 to 100 ft, exactly where the targeted reservoir is. Fracturing fluids will not go anywhere else.

• What is at stake here is at least 90% of natural gas production and perhaps 70% of oil production in the United States.

• A back of the envelop calculation suggests that the war on fracturing toys with about $200 billion per year. This is the incremental value added by fracturing in the United States at just the wellhead. The multiplier in the economy is several times that. The damage to the US energy supply would be incalculable. This is why the cavalier attitude of the environmental groups is hard to fathom.

Forbes’ Christopher Helman: “Can Gas ‘Fracking’ Pollute Groundwater? Unlikely.”

• Can hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells pollute groundwater? The anti-drilling crowd wants you to think so, and has convinced the Environmental Protection Agency to launch an investigation into fracking. Don’t believe them.

• Using underground sensors they monitored the success of these fracks–how the rock cracked, how far the frack fluids infiltrated into the gas reservoirs. What they found was that even in the most successful fracks, none of the fractures or chemicals migrated closer than 4,500 feet below the surface–thousands of feet below the nearest water aquifer.

• In short, if water reservoirs are ever contaminated it’s because of a problem with how wells are cased close to the surface, not because frack chemicals are oozing up from a mile underground.

• We need to end this debate. Many oil and gas companies would be ok with regulations covering how wells must be cased. But it’s absurd to even consider a ban on fracking. Without the process the U.S. would go from being self-sufficient in natural gas to depending on shipments of LNG from the likes of Qatar. Without fracking, gas would cost a lot more, as would electricity, chemicals, plastics, everything.

Pinnacle’s Kevin Fisher: “Data Confirm Safety Of Well Fracturing”

• In the more than 60 years following those first treatments, more than 2 million frac treatments have been pumped with no documented case of any treatment polluting an aquifer.

• As a result, hydraulic fracturing is now responsible for 30 percent of domestic oil and natural gas reserves, and has aided in extracting more than 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 7 billion barrels of oil, with much more to come.

• Studies conducted by governmental agencies and respected authorities have unanimously concluded that hydraulic fracturing is safe. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission all have found hydraulic fracturing nonthreatening to the environment or public health.

• The EPA conducted an extensive survey of hydraulic fracturing practices and their effect on drinking water in 2004. … The EPA agreed with the GWPC and the IOGCC that hydraulic fracturing is safe. More specifically, the EPA concluded that hydraulic fracturing does not create pathways for fluids to travel between rock formations to affect the water supply.

• Despite claims by environmental organizations, [Steve] Heare, [director of EPA’s Drinking Water Protection division] also reported that he had not seen any documented cases where hydraulic fracturing was contaminating water supplies.

• ICF International recently completed another key study that specifically addressed hydraulic fracturing activities in the Marcellus Shale play in New York. The study confirmed that the EPA findings were valid and found that there would not be any risks to drinking water from hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale region.

• The data from these two shale reservoirs clearly show the huge distances separating the fracs from the nearest aquifers at their closest points of approach, conclusively demonstrating that hydraulic fractures are not growing into groundwater supplies, and therefore, cannot contaminate them.

House Call on the FRAC Act

Sen. Casey asks Colo. congresswoman to help him make the case for jobs-killing anti-HF bill in Philadelphia paper – EID takes a closer look

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) represents the only congressional district in Colorado where hydraulic fracturing technology is not currently used; Philadelphia represents the only major city in Pennsylvania where the geology suggests it’s likely the technology will never be used.

So of course it made perfect sense for Rep. DeGette to choose the Philadelphia Inquirer to lodge her latest broadside against the 60-year-old energy technology known as hydraulic fracturing, teaming up with FRAC Act battery mate and Pennsylvania senator Bob Casey (D) on a column that does its level best to tie onshore natural gas exploration to the oil spill in the Gulf – notwithstanding the fact that hydraulic fracturing had nothing to do with the incident offshore.

But for those who continue to oppose the generations-old, 1.1-million-served-and-counting procedure of “fracking” a well, admitting to that fact would be tantamount to letting a once-in-a-lifetime crisis go to waste. After all: Opportunities to re-write a 37-year-old statute for the explicit purpose of assigning EPA unprecedented new authority over something that’s always been regulated by the states don’t come along every day. Rep. DeGette, a perennial FRAC Act introducer, knows it – and Sen. Casey likely does too. So maybe that’s why their column on hydraulic fracturing in Tuesday’s paper includes three separate allusions to the spill in the Gulf – three references in a column that only runs 580 words.

We’ll get to the errors in that piece in just a second. But let’s start by giving credit where credit’s due: Nowhere in the op-ed do Sen. Casey and Rep. DeGette attempt to advance the notion that fracturing was previously regulated under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, but now – magically – is not. The reason, presumably, is that it’s not true. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped folks like Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) from peddling their own alternate reality in support of the FRAC Act.

In Hinchey’s world, EPA had been regulating hydraulic fracturing for 30 years right up until Dick Cheney rammed through legislation in 2005 that “exempted” the procedure from federal oversight.  But wait, that bill had the support of nearly three-quarters of the U.S. Senate? Wait, hydraulic fracturing had never in its history been regulated under SDWA prior to 2005, or after it? Wait! Did Rep. Hinchey just tell a committee of Congress that a nurse in Colorado “died after being exposed to fracturing fluids” – even though that’s not true? Of course he did. Silly to sweat the details when no one holds you accountable for them.

Again, to their credit, the inaccuracies found in Tuesday’s DeGette/Casey column can be considered minor compared to the whoppers that Hinchey and his friends let fly just about every week. But they still should be considered. Below we identify and correct just a few:

Trust, But Verify

PA DEP confirms that well-water claims not related to “natural gas exploration and production activities”; Calls such claims “unfortunate”

Drinking Water Claims Made Last Week …

Drinking Water An Issue In Marcellus Shale Debate
KDKA-TV
Jul 23, 2010

Bill Eakin, of Avella, says his once-pristine well water is now contaminated and that it has killed his garden and made him and his wife Shirley ill.

He blames the Atlas Energy Company which has been drilling for natural gas close by for the past two years.

In a statement, Atlas Energy says testing showed that their drilling had nothing to do with the contamination of Bill Eakin’s well.

“The results did not indicate contamination due to natural gas exploration and production activities. We subsequently notified their lawyer of the results and discontinued the courtesy water service that has been provided during the testing process.”

… Debunked by Scientific, DEP Data This Week

DEP Tests Don’t Find Water Contamination
KDKA-TV
Jul 27, 2010

In a statement, Atlas told KDKA’s Andy Sheehan their tests of the village’s water wells came up negative:

“The results did not indicate contamination due to natural gas exploration and production activities.”

On Tuesday, the state Department of Environmental Protection said its independent testing showed the same thing.

“That’s exactly right,” Helen Humphreys, a spokesperson for the DEP, said. “The test results came back with results that are consistent with water in southwestern Pennsylvania.”

The DEP says it also has been unable to verify any contamination cases in the state caused by drilling, even though much of the public believes otherwise.

“It is counter to a perception and it’s unfortunate,” Humphreys said. “We really need to be sure that people are seeing the data that we’re seeing.”