...Legal Issues In Hydraulic Faulting Jesus Flores DeVry University Prof. Hostetler Abstract This paper is a report which primarily focuses on legal and environmental issues raised by hydraulic faulting. It will be able to distinguish state and federal laws and regulations. It will help to understand the place of hydraulic faulting of oil and gas. It will form and state my own opinion on what hydraulic fracturing laws and regulations should be put in place. It will also discuss the place of hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas in meeting US energy needs. Table of Contents Body of the Report 3 Summary or Conclusion 6 References 7 Legal Issues in Hydraulic Faulting Body of the Report Hydraulic fracturing is the procedure of creating fractures in rocks and the rock formation which is done by injecting a mixture of sand and water into the cracks which allows forcing underground to open further. The larger fissures allow more oil and gas to flow out of the formation and into the well bore from where it can be extracted. The first use of hydraulic fracturing was in 1947 but there was one more modern technique called horizontal slick water flacking which makes the extraction of shale gas economical and was first used in 1998. This energy forms the injection of highly pressurized fluids which creates new channels in the rocks by which extraction rates increases and it ultimately recovers all the hydro carbons. Hydraulic fracturing performs and enables...
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...Property Owners The first group of stakeholders that needs to be represented in this debate is property owners, specifically property owners who also have natural gas under their property or experience environmental and property damage from fracking. Matt Willie addresses the conflict of private property and gas companies. He summarizes that the main issues involved with hydraulic fracturing and property rights are trespassing, pooling, ownership, and damages (Willie, 1752). For trespassing, the issue that has arisen is whether horizontally drilling under someone else’s property is trespassing (1752). The author then concludes that based on the Texas Supreme Court case Coastal Oil and Gas Corp. v. Garza Energy Trust, extracting gas or oil...
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...A Report on Hydraulic Fracturing Salman Ahmed August 18, 2013 1. Hydraulic fracturing is a process of well stimulation, and a completion technique. It is used to extract underground natural resources, such as oil, natural gas, and geothermal energy. Industrial hydraulic fracturing is used to enhance subsurface fracture systems. The well stimulation process is used in nine out of ten gas wells in the United States. Generally, millions of gallons of water, sand, and chemical mixtures are pumped underground to break apart the rock formations to release gas. This method is used to facilitate the maximal extraction of natural gas by allowing it to move more freely from rock pores to production wells. This movement causes the oil or gas to come to surface where it can be stored in wells (US EPA, 2012). 2. The process of hydraulic fracturing starts with finding natural gas in underground formations, such as sandstones, carbonates, shale and coal. To gain access to the natural gas, vertical, horizontal, or multi-level wells are drilled to the target formation. Hydraulic fracturing is a completion technique used to create an effective connection between a well and the natural gas formation. Before drilling a well, a drilling and completion plan must be developed and approved by state regulators. Geoscientists and environmental employees then work to collect information about the surface geology of the potential drill site (ConocoPhillips, 2011). A well pad made of cement...
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...Hydraulic Fracturing Kelsey Moore DeVry University 2/16/2014 OUTLINE Introduction Hydraulic Fracturing Working definition of Hydraulic Fracturing Process of fracking Where fracking is being preformed Environmental and Legal concerns 1. Environmental concerns Legal concerns Economic and environment Impact A. How hydraulic fracturing is impacting the environment and economy 1. Environmental impact Economic impact * Conclusion Hydraulic Fracturing Hydraulic fracturing has been used since the 1940s both naturally and man-made. This process allows fracturing to be widened, allowing more oil and gas to be extracted form the certain area of land. The process of fracturing is extracting larger amounts of gas and oil by injecting sand and water mixture into fractures of rocks and rock formations. This allows the underground to be forced open allowing more oil and gas to me extracted. Hydraulic fracturing is being performed all over the world because of the amounts of oil and gas that can be extracted. There are a number of countries that are preforming the process of fracturing which include: United States- Arkansas, Louisiana, New York, Oklahoma, West Virginia, California, Maryland, North Carolina, Michigan, Wyoming, Colorado, New Jersey, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas. Europe: Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Ukraine South America- Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil. Hydraulic Fracturing has created an increase...
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...Most people cannot light their tap water on fire; however, Mike Markham from Weld County in Colorado did in the film Gasland (23:35). This may not be any more rare because of fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing, also referred to as fracking, is a highly controversial process in which shale gas is extracted from the earth by injecting pressurized liquid into a deeper reservoir to fracture rocks. This technique has been widely used by many oil companies in central and eastern states. While proponents argue that it is safe and is needed to reduce America’s greenhouse gas emissions, critics claim that it may be causing earthquakes and are contaminating water systems. Hydraulic fracking is a process that many companies use. “Put simply, hydraulic fracturing...
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...concerns to the public health and the drinking water becoming contaminated, because the fracturing of shale in our communities and what can be done to stop it all. The hydraulic fracturing of shale needs to be, banned until further investigations are completed to determine how safe it is to people and the environment surrounding the drilling site. It all started with a few cases of illness, which everyone assumed was a virus that was going around. Over the past couple of years, these illnesses have become a very serious problem, not only to people but to animals and livestock too. This is a big concern and it is obvious that it is not a genetic disease as first thought. Far too many families, who are living near these drilling sites and have contracted the same illnesses in many different areas across the United States,. Is this a coincidence or facts of serious problems taking place in the United States from fracking? It is very important that everyone should be aware and to take notice how close to where they live and if any hydraulic fracturing is taking place because there is much more to this story than many people realize. The hydraulic fracturing of shale needs to be, banned everywhere until further testing can actually be done to determine how safe it is to people and the environment. The US is participating in this method called fracking to extract energy sources from our own land in an effort to cut down dependence on foreign energy. As it sounds great that it will...
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...combustion of gas that would otherwise be vented. The rules also specify leak control...
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...Water Crisis 6 Chapter-3: The environmental effects of Hydraulic Fracturing 8 Air: 8 Water: 8 Deforestation: 9 Health: 9 Climate: 9 Faulty Wells: 9 Chapter-4: Hydraulic Fracturing: A Controversial Topic 10 Chapter-5: Conclusion and Recommendation 12 5.1 Water Scarcity Issues and Factors: 12 5.2 Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Scarcity: 14 Bibliography 15 Appendices 17 Appendix-1: Shale Gas Extraction 17 Appendix-2: Components of Fracturing Fluid 18 Appendix-3: Percentage of Global share by gas types 19 Appendix-4: Reducing Surface Footprint with Horizontal Drilling 20 Appendix-5: Satellite view of a Hydraulic Fracturing fluid storage 21 Appendix-6: Possible risks of Hydraulic Fracturing 22 Appendix-7: Global physical and economic water scarcity 23 Appendix-8: Survey conducted in Yangon, Myanmar 24 Chapter-1: Introduction Hydraulic fracturing is the process of obtaining natural gas by drilling into shale rock layers deep within the Earth. This process was made possible by advances in drilling technology in the past 100 years (www.energyfromshale.org/). Hydraulic fracturing of shale gas is also known as “fracking”. Hydraulic fracturing involves usage of vast amounts of a water mixture directed under high pressure at layers of shale to release the gas. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation states that approximately 2.4 to 7.8 million gallons of water are needed per fracturing process. The water mixture contains 90% water, 9.5%...
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...by Josh Fox, we see firsthand how small rural communities were exploited and how Politian’s benefited themselves. In the begging of the film we see how these gas companies use their PWP to gain control of land. We discover that Fox’s land sits on a gold mine of natural gas. The gas companies offer to buy his land for $100,000. Fox refuses and finds that people are selling their land for a chance at some quick cash. However, what he finds is that these gas companies are contaminating their land and water with a process known as hydraulic fracturing(which uses over five-hundred different chemicals, most known to be cancerous to the human body), which starts to make locals in the communities incredibly ill. This begins to create conflict within the communities. So the gas companies try to break even with the locals by buying and installing water filters to clean their water. The filters do not work and this forces the locals into purchasing bottle water from stores, which is a huge inconvenience. But, how are these gas industries allowed to mistreat these communities? Turns out, a politician by the name of Dick Cheney, pushed a bill (Energy bill) through congress back in 2005 which exempts the oil and natural gas industries from a number of acts. This in turn, allows them to keep their hydraulic fracturing chemicals safe from discloser. In conclusion, we can see that these huge gas companies...
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...Can Bulgaria frack its way to energy independence? | | Term Paper | Class: “BUSINESS & SOCIETY”, Prof. Akbar | | Radostina Rubenstein | 3/23/2014 | | Contents: Intro 3 Shale Gas in Bulgaria 3 Overview 4 Mounting concern as production rises 5 Water Supplies 5 Surface impacts 6 Land 6 Water 6 Noise 7 Frack Quakes 8 Social acceptance 8 FRACKING IN BULGARIA 8 IS THERE A BUBBLE IN THE SHALE GAS INDUSTRY? 10 Diminishing returns 11 The drilling treadmill 11 Unsustainable prices 11 A shale bubble 11 Regulate or Ban? Movement Divisions 12 Bibliography: 13 Intro In the beginning of 2009, South-East Europe suffered several external shocks: an extended period of cold weather, disruption in natural gas supplies from the Russian federation and financial crisis. The disruption of natural gas supply from the Russian Federation was particularly devastating for all countries with gas infrastructure. The region is supplied with natural gas from Russia by three different itineraries and three sub-regions are served by three different sets of gas infrastructure (see Appendix 1). Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and FYROM are supplied by a system of transit pipelines from Ukraine. Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are supplied from Ukraine via Hungary, while Croatia is supplied via Austria and Slovenia. These three supply systems are not connected which in itself presents a problem. With nearly 98% gas import dependency, however, Bulgaria’s...
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...Delivery date: April 19th 2013 NPRE 101 – INTRODUCTION TO ENERGY SOURCES END OF TERM PAPER PROF. RUZIC HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND THE EAGLE FORD SHALE Patricio Calles Almeida – UIN 651559726 Everyone knows that the urge to find an alternative to fossil fuels is one of the top priorities of technology researchers and scientists. We also know that the United 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...
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...Introduction Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, is a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling. The fracturing is done from a wellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations. The rock layers are fractured when chemical-laced water and sand are blasted underground to break apart rock and release natural gas. The chemical based water is known as fracking fluid. The fracking fluid injected into the rock is typically a slurry of water, proppants, and chemical additives. Additionally, gels, foams, and compressed gases, including nitrogen, carbon dioxide and air can be injected. Various types of proppant include silica sand, resin-coated sand, and man-made ceramics. These vary depending on the type of permeability or grain strength needed. Sand containing naturally radioactive minerals is sometimes used so that the fracture trace along the wellbore can be measured. Chemical additives are applied to tailor the injected material to the specific geological situation, protect the well, and improve its operation, though the injected fluid is approximately 98-99.5% percent water. (Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer, 2009) For each frack, 1-8 million gallons of water and 80 – 300 tons of chemicals may be used to frack a well. A well may be fracked up to 18 times. (Fox, 2010) Figure 1: Hydraulic Fracturing (Albertan, 2011) History Hydraulic fracking of oil and gas wells was first used in the United States in 1947...
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...A Colossal Fracking Mess Just a decade ago, only the smallest sliver of the U.S. population had even heard of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Today, it’s one of the most incendiary environmental topics going. Natural gas is found underground, and is produced when trapped gas is released above ground. Hydraulic fracturing is a process that extracts natural gas from the ground. In order to try to break our country’s dependence on foreign oil supplies, we have begun to dip into our own natural gas supply. As harmless as the billion dollar producing oil companies would want us to believe, environmental groups, scientists, and average citizens have raised concerns about the negative impact of hydraulic fracking on the environment and surrounding communities. From an ethical perspective we might look at the harms and benefits of fracking. Is U.S. energy independence more important than the potential for harm to those affected by fracking procedures? Hydraulic fracturing poses the greatest current threat for communities because its potential for environmental and human damage is vast and its management is fairly unregulated. Modern day hydraulic fracturing results from the marriage of two technologies: hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling. Although these technologies are not new, it was not until 2002 or 2003 that they were first combined. In a typical fracking operation, pressurized water, sand and chemicals are injected into shale rock formations to release trapped...
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...innovation of the decade”, in light of the growing need for suitable alternatives to conventional oil and gas with increasing pressure on energy over time. 90% of global shale gas is currently produced by the US. India meets two-thirds of its petroleum requirements by importing of fuels that include coal, and this figure is expected to rise in the future in spite of India being a coal-rich country. Even with introduction of more efficient technologies and cases of higher CO2 emission reduction, our country’s import dependence on petrol, oil and gas will significantly rise in the future, raising the pressure on the resources. This concern for energy security calls for further research in technological solutions for greater efficiency and control. With that backdrop, India’s Integrated Energy Policy (IEP) in its policy proposal has stressed heavily on the need of the hour to explore and add to India’s energy portfolio various alternative and non-conventional sources of energy- hydro, nuclear and renewable. This will attempt to balance the demand and supply mismatch of conventional sources of energy....
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...Hydro-Fracking Synopsis Hydraulic Fracturing, commonly known as Hydro-Fracking is a newly discovered drilling technique for extracting natural gas from rock shale formations. These shale formations are quite abundant throughout the United States the largest being the Marcellus which encompasses a range of West Virginia to Upstate New York. Estimates predict that these 30 shale formations could provide enough natural gas for US consumption for 118 years (Fortin). Although there appears to be vast amounts of shale fissures containing natural gas within our nation, the extraction process has come under harsh scrutiny. The process of drilling and extracting these gases from the shale formations requires creating fissures within the shale by drilling horizontally, forcing water, sand and chemicals into the rock. In each 10,000 ft well over a million gallons of water is pumped, along with sand in chemicals agents in order to cause fissures. By flowing sand through the well, this acts to keep these fissures open, to allow the natural gas to escape. Between 2005-2009, the House Energy and Commerce committee released a report addressing the chemicals used in the hydro-fracking process. The report stated, “The 14 leading oil and gas service companies used more than 780 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing products, not including water added at the well site. Overall, the companies used more than 2,500 hydraulic fracturing products containing 750 different chemicals...
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