...Fracking is a growing contentious, political issue in the United States, but what is fracking? Hydraulic fracturing, or more commonly know by it’s infamous nickname fracking, is a process used for finding oil and natural gases. While advocates of this technique find it to be beneficial to society; however, many critics believe there are many repercussions because of this issue. Fracking has numerous causes, and if it is not solved, the effects could be drastic. Fracking starts by a well being drilled, vertically and horizontally, into the ground around one to two miles or more in order to obtain natural gases and oil (Lallanilla). Then, the well is drilled and is covered in steel or cement. After being drilled and covered, a water mixture is...
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...companies be allowed to engage in fracking, or should the United States ban the practice? Should certain regulations be put in place? Defend your answer using examples from the text. Fracking, like many other business solutions is a catch 22 however, I think it is worth researching instead of banning it completely. Fracking seems to have quite a bit of benefits to our economy lowering the unemployment rate and creating 600,000 jobs. It also gives the US a leg up in natural gas production making us less reliable on foreign oil and other countries and making the US the lead in natural gas production. As a result, fracking is a way for the US to slow down our damage to the environment and is a way to grow our economy. For that reason, I believe it should still be an option for oil companies to venture into. I think with research as to how fracking can be done without damaging the earth’s tectonic plates and possibly finding sites far from residential homes where fracking can take place without hurting our other natural resources, the US can find a way to fracking an all around good resolution to two of our nations biggest problems. 2. While fracking might have flown under the radar during the Industrial Revolution, the relationship era requires companies to build long-term relationships with customers—some of whom may oppose the practice. Imagine that you’re a marketing manager for a gas company that is about to venture into fracking. What steps will you take to...
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...Figure 2: GHG Eissions Associated with Oil Extraction 12 Figure 3: Deepwaater Horizon Impacts 12 Introduction The topic of this document is shale oil and gas, and the issues surrounding their extraction and usage. The terms oil and gas are used interchangeably in this article, however they technically are different substances. The issues and economics attached to the two substances are similar, and thus are discussed as a group. This document will begin with an analysis of what hydraulic fracturing (fracking) actually is, as a lot of controversy and misinformation has been released around it. Afterwards the economics of the shale boom will be analyzed, from both a local, national, and international perspective. Finally the environmental impact of shale gas will be discussed, as this is the major concern surrounding the technology. What is Hydraulic Fracturing? Fracking is the term most often used to describe the process of hydraulic fracturing. Unknown to most, fracking is not an altogether new technology. It has been used sporadically since the late 1940’s, but advances in oil and gas production technology in recent decades have made it an increasingly viable option in the extraction of these two fuels. In the case of gas production, these improvements have allowed access to trillions of cubic feet of the material, and could turn the United...
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...Hydraulic Fracturing Does More Bad than Good Oil is a very important asset in life today. Everyone needs oil for one thing or another, especially transportation. Generally, the United States imports most of its oil from foreign countries for American use, however, in order to limit how much America relies on foreign oil, hydraulic fracturing is used. Hydraulic fracturing sounds like it would solve a lot of problems for the United States. Having a supply of oil for its own citizens rather than importing oil from foreign countries sounds like a convenience, but hydraulic fracturing is not safe for people, wildlife or the environment. There are several steps in the fracking process. Hydraulic fracturing, otherwise known as fracking, forces open fissures in subterranean rocks by introducing liquid at high pressure to extract oil or gas and there are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the U.S. (dangersoffracking.com). Each and every gas well requires at least 400 tanker trucks to carry water and supplies to and from each site and it takes 1-8 million gallons of water to complete just one fracturing job alone (dangersoffracking.com). After the water is brought in to the site, it is then mixed with chemicals and sand to create the fracking fluid. Nearly 40,000 gallons of chemicals are used per fracturing, some of which include lead, mercury, radium, and formaldehyde (dangersoffracking.com). After the fracking fluid is made, it is then injected into the ground at a high...
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...Fracking is something heard about regularly on the news, is a topic of discussion many may not completely understand. “Fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before a high pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside,” (BBC, 2015). The way fracking works is: water, sand, and chemicals are injected into the rock (many times, shale) at high pressure which allows the gas to flow to the top of the well. Fracking can be carried out vertically or, by drilling horizontally into the rock layer which can create new pathways to release gas or can be used to extend existing channels. (BBC, 2015). Hydraulic fracking is unique compared to more common means of drilling due to it being based on finding a large...
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...Fracking and its major implications it has on the earth In today’s day and age, societies are a lot more aware of the environment and furthermore, concerned for the Earths sustainability. Although this is the case for most, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) often target developing countries that are rich in resources and therefore take them for all they’ve got. One such example is fracking the earth, in order to extract natural gases that could potentially benefit corporations and contribute to their bottom line dramatically. Although this has it’s positives, the implications of fracking could have incredibly serious repercussions, particularly the preservation of the earth and it’s current resources. “Fracking” is the process in which one would drill thousands of meters below the earth’s surface and inject fluid that is then pumped into the shale at an incredibly high pressure, which then shatters the rocks in order to release shale gas. This particular natural gas is trapped within sedimentary shale rock formations and is found richly in many areas of the world. Fracking breaks most of the regulations in the sustainable environments handbook, and as you can imagine, this causes a massive up brawl in the societies that are pro-environment and sustainability. Although this point of view is prominent and relevant, the opposing side has an equally compelling argument. Global thoughts on the idea of fracking Globally, the topic is thought to be both “one of the best...
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...Problems and Solutions when Fracking to Produce Natural Gas English 215 7 December 2013 Professor Jordan Problems and Solutions when Fracking to Produce Natural Gas In light of the reality of a brutal U.S. Economy and dismal employment numbers, as well as soaring gas prices, it has never been more important than now to aggressively pursue energy independence. One way to do this is to expand fracturing. While this concept is popular in some circles, be they economists or politicians, it is not popular with all, and therein lays the challenge. Where there is challenge though there is also opportunity, and where a problem is identified, a solution must be offered. Does this concept of fracturing make sense to pursue? Yes it does, and we will explore the fracking of shale as a national policy, the challenges thereof, and look at some possible solutions that our lawmakers embrace. We will begin with a brief historical overview of the fracturing of shale. Fracturing in the United States is not exactly unknown, as hydraulic fracturing began in this country 130 years ago, making us the most “fracked” country in the world. Large scale fracking began in earnest though in the 1980s, when Mitchell Energy Development Corporation used this technology on the Barnett Shale play in Texas. What is the current status of shale fracturing? The United States in the past 130 years has produced more than 839 trillion cubic feet of gas (TCFG). Shale gas production is expected to...
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...QUESTIONS 1. How does managing risk in the oil and gas industry relate to reducing accidents? 2. Managing risk relates to the oil and gas industry by first off keeping the environment and public safety at a high and safe level. By keeping a safe environment that will reduce the chance of oil leaks, spills, and also explosions. Not only will it affect the community and the public, but also the stakeholders reputation and public pressure and criticism that they have to further deal with. 2. Compare the risk that BP, Exxon, and the fracking industry continue to face in providing adequate supply of energy? The main risks that each company will face are leaks, spills, and explosions happening. Other than those main 3, they also have to deal with reputation of customers and people who buy their oil. For instance, a loyal BP customer found out about the oil spill harming the ocean, now he will probably switch to Shell oil because their gas isn’t harming the environment. Also, both deal with political and financial risk. Activist groups will bring pressure on them. For example the National Resource Defense Council. Lastly, financial risk all the money you spend trying to repair and clean up oil spills, you could’ve avoided that and the money could’ve went to a better cause. 3. How can ethical leadership help the oil and gas industry to manage risk? Ethical leadership and help risk management by helping the environmental risk with organizations such as the IPIECA...
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...future. Due to recent technological advances in horizontal drilling techniques, the vast natural gas reserves found within the shale formations underground in the United States have become easily accessible. Responsible development of these resources is believed to be key to a sustainable financial, and environmentally prosperous future for America. However, recent environmental and health concerns beg to differ, and question whether these new developments pose more of a threat to americans than they are worth. Nature sustains life on our planet. Humans have developed an organization of society that runs on machines. What does it take to run the machines that power our world? Our society also runs on money. So anything that plays into the running of our society must must invariably be tied to how it profits the people in charge of running things. How does it benefit us as a whole? This question is larger than the debate which this paper addresses, yet it is valid in that it is an overarching theme that drives the situation behind the issues within. A big part of what our economy has deemed is important in order to sustain the current level of comfort that we have been sold is largely based on non-renewable energy sources such as oil, coal, and gas. It is a very competitive world. Our level of comfort is key to maintaining an edge over our competitors on the global financial stage. Deep within the earth, there lies organic material that, over many millennia, has been condensed...
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...States is becoming more and more dependable on foreign resources as the national ones are running low. However, fossil fuels are still the only cost-effective sources of them all. You could argue that hydroelectric and nuclear power are on the rise, but the first one does not produce large scale amounts of energy and the latter requires a huge initial investment with long waits until returns and profits; all the previous makes these sources not really convenient in developing countries, the ones that ironically need is the most. That’s why fossil fuel sources will continue to dominate the energy scene for the next decades, at least. In this context, I want to focus my paper on hydraulic fracturing, fracking. Actually, more specifically, the absolute focus will be to relate this modern method of oil and natural gas extraction with the Eagle Ford Shale, located in South Texas. Specifications and characteristics that make this shale so appealing for fracking will be a part of the following analysis. Overall, the shale is one that could be the biggest production center of oil and natural gas of the US and bring lots of economic benefits to the region. The objective of this paper is demonstrated how the nature of fracking is the appropriate one to make this true, and to estimate the extents of these benefits in terms of both production and revenue. Hydraulic Fracturing The formal definition of hydraulic fracturing, conceived and patented by R. F. Farris in 1953, describes it as...
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...The Exportation of U.S. LNG: An Abundance of Shale and Construction of New Export Terminals Section 1: Introduction The shale boom experienced by the United States since the mid-2000s ushered in unprecedented production and reserves estimates of oil and gas in the lower 48 states. This sustained supply and production has been a result of technological advancement, particularly improved techniques in hydraulic fracturing, has kept prices for natural gas extremely low while crude oil prices have fluctuated and changed over time. One reason for this is the different nature of exportation in the two hydrocarbons. As will be discussed below, the transportation and exporting of natural gas is much different than for crude oil. Natural gas must undergo a liquefaction process in order to travel by specialized cargo ship, the alternative to a pipeline, which adds substantial costs to the activity. There are currently no operational natural gas export terminals in the lower 48 states, but a few are under construction. The large sunk costs will be a large part of our consideration of the exportation of natural gas. The U.S. has traditionally been a net importer of gas, and considering the high upfront costs of building export terminals, the sale of American gas has been isolated almost exclusively to the domestic market. The only exception to this has been to export natural gas only where existing pipelines can carry it, which has limited foreign export to North America....
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...So how are we exposed to chemicals? I'm going to talk a little bit of that now. In here, in this picture, I want to show you kind of a classical framework, or exposure pathway schematic it's called, of how we might be exposed to chemical contaminants in our environment. And here's a classic case. So imagine, that's your house there on the left. And these days it might not necessarily be a leaking drum of chemical waste, but perhaps it's something like, an oil well, a fracking location, where there's the use of chemicals as lubricants in the fracking operations, or, in fact, some of the byproducts of oil drilling. Getting into the ground water. So here in this picture it tries to show the big king of cycle of how things might leak into the environment, and leach through the soil, into the ground water, be carried through the groundwater and perhaps then ingested, either by somebody who in this case has a well. Or by a population downstream, who may drink from a river or a stream. But if you can kind of follow this, imagine a chemical, which is synthesized, gets delivered to the environment in some way. All right. May travel through the air, as a vapor or a mist, settle down into the soil, and down through the soil into the water. Where it may also be picked up in the water table, not just as a drinking water contaminant, but it might be picked up by wildlife. So, contamination that is in the water supplies, or the waterways, might be...
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...shale play. Internationally, Hess Corporation owns many other hundreds of thousands of acres in land where they conduct other exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas. Hess Corporation currently has a net income of $1.7 billion and transports more than 700,000 barrels of crude oil and other products daily via tankers, barges, pipelines, and production platform sales. However, there have been some important market changes and trends, which companies like Hess Corporation must pay close attention. Adapting to change is essential in the world of business. During today's economy and competitive environment, organizations can be certain of uncertainty. Change is occurring everywhere and is forcing business executives to review how the evaluate markets, technology, human resources, and competitiveness. For example, prior to the invention of the Internet, companies like Blockbuster Video and even the United States postal service enjoyed smooth sailing profits from video rentals and standard postage fees. However, because of the Internet, local video store rentals became a thing of the past as did sending someone a letter or a birthday card in the mail. Technology was evolving and more people were renting their videos online from...
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...Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. He was always helping my older brother with his calculus assignments even though he had been through school for a long time. The engineering profession afforded my father with the resources to provide for his family and to do some philanthropic work as well. There was always something technological being discussed with his friends. In my early years when I wanted to be an engineer, it was always because I just wanted to be like my father, not until I got into school. When I started school, I realized I was very interested in mathematics and the sciences. The tougher the subject, the greater satisfaction I had at the end of the term when I succeeded. I loved working in the science labs and learning how science works. I always wanted to challenge myself with an occupation that will keep me on my toes, so engineering being my first love was an obvious choice. I liked reading about the great inventors and scientists of our time like Sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Edison, The Wright Brothers, Benjamin Franklin et al. I started to really acknowledge basic products and means of production around me, marveling at the process at which they were invented. I was always encouraged by my teachers and parents to learn as much as I can and to yearn to be great. As I grew into adulthood, I began to flirt with the law profession. Each time, I caught myself observing problems...
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...Electricity: What Powers Our Planet To Whom It May Concern: It’s dark and you are trying to sign paperwork. You want to turn on the lights so you can see better. With one flick, the whole room illuminates. But, congressman, let me ask you. Have you ever wondered how electricity works? What is it that makes electricity possible? What did it take for light to have the ability to stream out of the light bulb? We take electricity for granted, but not many of us actually look into it. People often do not know how electricity is the way it is, but instead they see electricity as something that is very accessible and plentiful. So, congressman, you have the money, and I have the brains. You want to know how to spend the 200 billion? I’ll tell you. Let’s start off with what electricity really is. You hear that word so many times in your daily life, but few have heard the scientific definition. Electricity is a type of energy produced from the existence of electrons or protons, either statically as a build-up of charge, or dynamically as a current. It is usually categorized into two different currents: alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). Alternating current is a constant flow of electric charge that reverses its course from time to time. Direct current is the opposite; it only runs in one direction. Within those two currents are things such as volts, watts, amperes (or amps), and ohms. Volts are the SI unit of electromotive force, the distinction of potential that would...
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