There has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of shale gas wells drilled in the U.S. during the past ten years. The most prolific shale gas fields are the Barnett (north central Texas), Haynesville (northeastern Texas and western Louisiana) and the Marcellus (portions of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and New York). Hydraulic fracturing (fracing) of the producing formation is the process by which high volumes of water are pumped downhole under high pressures in order to fracture the productive formation thereby releasing the gas to production.
As one would expect, the anti-fossil fuel green crowd and their lawyers have sought to do everything in their power to block drilling in these new gas fields. Their main ploy has been to claim that fresh groundwater has been polluted as a result of the fracing process. The main and simple truth of the matter is that (as illustrated above) the groundwater formation, just below the surface, is cased with surface casing pipe. Additionally, the entire production string is cased from the producing zone to the wellhead . The producing formation which is fraced, is a mile and a half below the groundwater formation. The idea that fracing a well causes ground water contamination has as much merit as someone who lives a mile away from you claiming that their ceiling leaks every time you flush your toilet.
The University of Texas’ Energy Institute last week concluded and published the results of an exhaustive investigation into many issues related to shale gas development. Their conclusions pretty much mirror what industry experts have been saying for years. The findings
Researchers found no evidence of aquifer contamination from hydraulic fracturing chemicals in the subsurface by fracturing operations, and observed no leakage from hydraulic fracturing at depth.
Many reports of groundwater contamination occur in conventional oil and gas operations (e.g., failure of well-bore casing and cementing) and are not unique to hydraulic fracturing.
Methane found in water wells within some shale gas areas (e.g., Marcellus) can most likely be traced to natural sources, and likely was present before the onset of shale gas operations.
Surface spills of fracturing fluids appear to pose greater risks to groundwater sources than from hydraulic fracturing itself.
Blowouts — uncontrolled fluid releases during construction or operation — are a rare occurrence, but subsurface blowouts appear to be under-reported.
The study further shows that public perception of the fracing process has been negatively impacted by the overwhelmingly negative reporting by the biased and scientifically ignorant press.
Energy Institute researchers analyzed print, broadcast and online news media coverage of shale gas development in the Marcellus, Haynesville, and Barnett shale areas. They found that the tone of media coverage has been overwhelmingly negative in all forms of media. Roughly two-thirds of the articles and stories examined were deemed negative, a finding that was consistent nationally and at local levels.
Researchers also found that less than 20% of newspaper articles on hydraulic fracturing mention scientific research related to the issue. Similarly, only 25% of broadcast news stories examined made reference to scientific studies, and about 33% of online news coverage mentioned scientific research on the issue.
Don’t take my word for it. Read the entire article here.
Tags: Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden
Here’s a scale diagram showing both the Marcellus and Utica formations, along with the depth of a typical water well and potable water table.
I’ve had the perception for many years that the FCTM™ wants the general public to believe that all forms of energy are obtained using 1960s technology. Nothing is further from the truth!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1009530098/fractionation
Check out the video.
@ Dolphin:
That link’s busted.
Ya’ll didn’t expect the media to tell the truth, did ya?
Seriously? Maybe it is time that Atlas Shrugged was made required reading in High School.
They are doing this on purpose to help the progressive elites gain power. Destroy the middle class and make the populace dependent upon the rulers. Destroy the influence of the churches and make the charities pawns of and totally dependent on the government.
Fatherof10
@ huckfunn:
Strange -- it is a redirect. Try
http://www.fracknation.com
@ Bumr50:
Last year the company I work for drilled a 2 legged horizontal Austin Chalk well. The vertical section was 7700 feet and the 2 horizontal sections were 4000 feet each. I guy living 1/2 mile down the road in the opposite direction of the well told our production engineer that the day after we fraced, there was mud in his water well. The engineer told him to get lost.
Dolphin wrote:
Got it. Thanks. I’m going to email those morons this Energy Institute report.
@ huckfunn:
I am sure that the drought had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with it.
@ huckfunn:
Fracknation are the good guys. Gasland are the idiots.
@ huckfunn:
Huck, the Fracknation webpage is to raise money for a pro-fracing movie. Phelim Mcaleer is one of the good guys.
BTW, kudos for spelling it right!
Most of the wells on which I’ve worked over the last 2-3 get multi-stage fracs in the horizontal leg, and by no means all of them are shale-gas wells. Multi-stage fracing works magic on tight sand reservoirs, too.
Dolphin wrote:
OK, got it. I was watching the Fracknation video about the Gasland video. I’m multi-tasking here. Got several projects open at the same time.
Alberta Oil Peon wrote:
I’ve been around oil & gas wells for the better part of 36 years… long before the kids at the MFM outlets ever heard of fracing. They should understand that the root work is “fracturing” not “frackturing”.
With gas prices at an all-time high and no reduction in sight in the immediate future, I’ll bet that Obama is practially peeing all over himself in joy. All the Republican candidate has to do is to show strong support for energy exploration and a reduction in regulations for gas and oil production/exploration. We need to go after Obama like white on rice (pun most likely intended) about his total failure on the domestic front and the economy. He is the enemy of liberty and prosperity in America!
There is a massive effort to stop or delay all energy development. Millions of dollars are given to the environmentalnut organizations by philanthropic trusts apparently run and directed by progs. The press hasn’t a clue of what the facts are nor do they care. They are handed the propaganda and the repeat it. The Gasland documentary which shows water from faucets burning has as much credibility as algor’s movie. But the reporters and journalist and screen writers work the lies into the everyday information distribution. Why would the Rockefeller Foundation or HP foundation funnel money to stop Canadian oil development?
The daily Caller has an interesting expose on this subject. “A Powerpoint presentation obtained by The Daily Caller shows that during a July 2008 meeting, the $789 million Rockefeller Brothers Fund proposed to coordinate and fund a dozen environmental and anti-corporate activist groups’ efforts to scuttle pipelines carrying tar sands oil from Canada to the United States”.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/20/campaign-against-canadian-keystone-xl-pipeline-driven-by-us-foundation-millions/#ixzz1mxU758hY
I put a little $$ into ICPAX (Williston Basin) based solely on the fracing concept. If I owned oil wells, we’d be fracing! America has the oil, the technology and the ability to be 100% energy independant. What we do not have are politicians that want us to be #1.
Pitchforks on sale at Lowe’s.
@ father_of_10:
@ Buffalobob:
Just this morning Robert Gibbs (BOhole’s campaign manager) had this to say:
Three lies and distortions need to be addressed:
(1) Any oil & gas discovered as a result of Fed permits being issued this year won’t be produced for another 8 to 10 years at which time the current rulers will hopefully have been shown the door.
(2) Domestic oil production is at an 8 year high because of drilling taking place on private land. Production from federal lands is down considerably.
(3) “Use” of foreign oil is at a 16 year low because of high prices and a lousy economy. Note that he used the term “use” rather than “import”.
huckfunn wrote:
Obama is a 60 terabytes of lies. I’m hoping that someday, before I die, all of his past will be revealed. I hope that someday the liberals will be revealed for being either corrupt America-hating traitirs or absolute ignorant morons and that they will be ridiculed and belitted ad nauseum. Someday.
Meanwhile, I’ll say here. Liberals are absolute and total idiots. I have no pity o for them. I resent and disdain liberals. They have no value.
Sorry for the O/T, but someone posted this at my local gun forum, and I thought it was pretty funny and would share.
father_of_10 wrote:
Libs are all about the big lie. Truth does not reside in their wretched souls. It’s amazing to watch the President of the United States stand at a pulpit and deliver nothing but lies with a totally straight and sincere face day after day.
Got an interesting e-mail yesterday. I took a snapshot of it, and you can access it here. Take a good look at the logo…doesn’t it remind you of anyone in particular?
huckfunn wrote:
The teleprompter has got to have something to do with that. Perhaps it zaps Обама into some sort of zombie? 8)
citizen_q wrote:
@ huckfunn:
I don’t know which is worse, the fact that the MFM is complicit, or having to interact with people who believe it.
father_of_10 wrote:
and that will happen when?
Answer: When we get school choice, implement vouchers, and reimbursement of our taxes if we homeschool.
Macker wrote:
That teleprompter needs to be run off also.
huckfunn wrote:
We all know Newt doesn’t need one…Rick Santorum probably not either. The others, I’m not so sure.
citizen_q wrote:
LOCAL GUN FORUM? Give us a link! My local gun forum is Arizona Firearms Forum.
Just the fact that the Greens can’t establish anywhere that
the water table is being polluted due to the process has
no meaning.
It is like them being unable to show compelling evidence
for AGW is beside the point.
What matters is that they say so!
citizen_q wrote:
That’s a metaphor, right? Obama is the soldier who gives the automatic weapon to the chimp, and the chimp is the Arab Spring.
Speaking of gas.
Syrian regime used poisonous gas under Iranian, Russian supervision
Not that there are really any good guys in these uprisings—but it’s really hitting the fan there.
RIX wrote:
I remember during the 2000 election the dims kept up the mantra “There’s 383,294 votes that haven’t been counted. We must count everyone’s vote. How can everyone’s vote count if all the votes aren’t counted?” Over and over and over. They never could quite explain how they had an exact count of the uncounted votes.
Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie. Repeat the lie.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
Sorry, buzz. Ya got this one wrong. The soldier is the American voter who gave the rifle to Obama. Wait for it … 3…2…1….
@ huckfunn:
Wasn’t 383,294 the number of votes Algore needed to surpass Bush?
Macker wrote:
It’s either that or the number of 7th Day Adventists who will get to heaven.
Macker wrote:
Hi Macker,
I tried to respond at ‘Mackers World‘, but there’s no way to comment because you can’t register at your site. (“I wouldn’t want to be a member of any site that would have me as a member”. — Groucho Marx)
Check out this scam report.
In the ‘privacy’ link to a PDF on site, I found an address:
Solar Savings America
8022 S. Rainbow Blvd. Suite 185
Las Vegas, NV 89139
According to Angies list, Solar Savings America is located in the same building as, wait for it, …
Poop Magician Pooper Scoopers
8022 S. Rainbow Blvd Las Vegas, NV
Cheers,
-- Fritz Katz
@ huckfunn:
Now see I thought that number for the 7th Day Adventists was 144,000! 8)
@ Fritz Katz:
Send me an e-mail and I’ll register you. You have the damn Russians to thank for that!
@ Macker:
Yep. And the bullshit level is equally high. Without those “incentives”, i.e., other peoples’ money, a home solar system could never compete with grid power at the lot line.
Now if you had to pay the utility to install 20 poles to get the grid to your door, maybe solar would be competitive.
@ Fritz Katz:
As far as I’m concerned, if the marketing of a product includes the words “Eeek-O” “Green” or “Go Green”, it’s a scam and I won’t buy it.
The ONLY reason to go solar (and I have some solar at my house) is to be independant. It’s a prepper thing. If you think you are going to save money, you are wrong. If you think that having panels and selling power back to the grid makes a differnce, you are an idiot. But, if you do not want to HAVE to eat your ice cream when the grid goes down in a storm, then solar is great.
@ father_of_10:
sure,
MD Shooters
@ huckfunn:
They also alleged that the Republicans supressed the
votes in Florida.
Turns out that it was all in Dem precincts.
father_of_10 wrote:
I’ve thought about solar for my place in New Mexico primarily for hot water. I have a simple gable roof with a southwestern exposure. However, for power outages (coming soon to a neighborhood near everybody) I’m thinking about something like this kind of generator.
heh
the other mccain just gave a big shout out to dod about the heartland institite
and the madness that is charlie
First article I’ve seen in well over a year that actually spelled the damned word correctly -- I’m stunned.
Oh, and drilling of those expensive completion gas wells has dropped like a rock due to abysmaly low prices. NYMEX Henry Hub at $ 2.62/MMBTU now. Folks like Chesapeake are in deep do-do.
RIX wrote:
I remember that. That whole Florida vote thing was dem scheme to keep counting the votes until they won. It worked for them in Minnesota.
huckfunn wrote:
So what you’re saying is that when Obama said, “I won,” that was the same as the chimp raising the rifle over his head at the end of the video? Sort of equivalent to singing, “We are the chimpions?”
Mike C. wrote:
Oil field trash at your service.
I’ve put together a 1400 Buda-Georgetown unit in East Texas but the leases run out beginning in December of this year. We need at least $5.75 gas to drill one of those and I don’t see that happening this year. CHK stays in deep do-do. Their contractors will pay for CHK’s sins.
@ huckfunn:
That was the plan & until this day a lot
of Dems will still say that the election was stolen
Even the NY Times said that W won after they went
through all of the data.
Hell all Gore had to do is win Tennessee.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
RIX wrote:
I don’t remember all of the details, but the Florida judge who made the final ruling against the umpteenth vote count was a democrat; possibly one of the last few truly honest democrats ever.
Hurl Alert: Puerto Rico adds life-size statues of Obama, Lyndon Johnson to its ‘avenue of heroes’
HT/WZ
@ huckfunn:
Avenue of Zeros.
John Difool wrote:
Fist bump!
@ huckfunn:
The whole thing was a fiasco & a Dem attempt to be awarded
an election by the courts that they lost at the ballot box.
If Obama is not delared the winner in 2012, you just know
that they will have a swat team of lawyers trying to steal
it.
@ huckfunn:
Certified oilfield trash here, too. Coming up on 38 years…
Mike C. wrote:
I said 36 years above, but I walked up on to the floor of my first drilling in October, 1974 about a month after I got out of the Army. The driller told me exactly where to stand by the rotary table. I watched in awe for several minutes until they made that first connection. Being a worm I just stood there while the other hands backed off.
You must be damn near as old as I am.
Excellent and informative post and thread.
Bagua’s Ghost wrote:
Thank you very much. I’m thinking that someone at Fox News is reading this thread as they just made every point that I stated in # 18 above.
@ huckfunn:
Did Megyn Kelly ask about me, or is she still stuck
on Ludwig?
@ RIX:
Imagine if the billions being wasted on “Green Energy” and “Climate Change” and other related scams was being spent to subsidise the drilling industry?
America would become energy independent and radical Wahhabi Islam would be de-funded.
We would have a new age of prosperity in the West, India and China would develop faster, and the oil supported radical Islamic states would have far less money to spend on weapons and terrorism.
Later gators
Jim Angle just made the following excellent observation on Fox News. “Obama keeps making the point that everyone should ‘pay their fair share’. Obama’s idea of fair seems to be that the rich should pay more rather than everyone should pay something.” Great point!
@ huckfunn:
The Queen of America is at Aspen on her 16th vacation in 3 1/2 years……because there are totally no ski-resorts on the east Coast and within an hour or two driving from the D.C. area.
Must be nice being the 1%.
huckfunn wrote:
Well, if the Puerto Ricans got up off their ass and voted for Statehood, they too can actually vote for President!
BTW, ‘Обама’s statue just doesn’t look right….
@ huckfunn:
All Animals are Equal, but some Animals are more Equal than others!
@ Macker:
The ears are too small
well done,huck, thank you
@ John Difool:
Speaking of skiing…
FisCon?
Not likely.
At the very least maybe he’ll stop talking about how he “saved the Olympics” on the stump, because I really couldn’t care less…
@ huckfunn:
I might even be older.
Bumr50 wrote:
Naaaah, I’m not going to FisCon this year. A friend is bringing me a T-shirt, though.
Bumr50 wrote:
That must be like “Severely” Conservative! 8)
@ buzzsawmonkey:
There’s chatter Friedrich and the Hayeks are doing “The Road To Serfdom” in it’s entirety…
Bumr50 wrote:
To hell with the Checked-Shirt Android That Walks Like a Man. To hell with Mr. Pocket Protector, too.
I’m going for Poppin’ Fresh in the grey Beatle wig.
@ coldwarrior:
Thanks.
huckfunn wrote:
yer a fracin’ asset to the blog.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
There’s even a freaking “light-rail project” in there.
John Difool wrote:
Several weeks ago (I think it was one of the ladies) commented on the idea that only 53% of the population pays taxes. She had an idea about a T-shirt that says “I’m one of the 53%”. I wish I knew who that was.
Bumr50 wrote:
I’ve got nothing against light-rail—as long as it’s built by franchisees who pay the government for the privilege.
That’s how the trolley tracks were laid all across America 100 years ago—back in the days when you could travel from New York to Chicago, if not farther, on urban and inter-urban trolley-cars. The private companies that built the lines paid the municipalities for the privilege, on the expectation that they would recoup the cost at the farebox. And if there was no reason to build a line, it didn’t get built.
@ huckfunn:
CarolinaGirl, I believe.
Romney claiming he’s a fiscal conservative is like Michael Moore claiming he suffers from anorexia.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I don’t even know if that’s feasible these days, between government regulation and transit unions.
coldwarrior wrote:
Well, gee…
I just know that everything coming out of D.C. is utter, total B.S. and I’ve gotta do whatever I can to get the word out. I’ve probably already been reported to Ataaaaaaaaacccckkkkk Waaaaaattttcccch which will probably lead a tax audit.
Bumr50 wrote:
Nor do I—but that’s how the transit infrastructure was actually built.
What’s funny is that the old transit franchises were a major source of graft and bribery—but apparently the politicians decided to let the direct cash go in favor of public ownership and transit-union support.
@ Bumr50:
Didn’t see the actual post, but that was my first “guess” -- lol.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
It seems that a majority of City of Pittsburgh residents now view public transportation as a “right,” so that might explain the rationale behind shifting everything under the “public” umbrella.
You can’t just “start” a transportation company around here, be it cabs, buses, water taxi, or anything else without kissing an intricate series of rings and paying tribute.
Mike C. wrote:
Scary thought.
@ Bumr50:
I like the idea of high speed rail, since getting from Kansas to my parents in Oregon is something like a 2 1/2 day trip out and about 3 1/2 back with parts of the trip by bus, and I don’t like flying, but I can’t even imagine what that’d run to build.
@ mfhorn:
Have you used Amtrak?
I actually hear that train trips out west are a blast. It might take a while, though.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
That was “Once upon a time in America”, sadly we now live in “Once upon a Nightmare in America”.
@ mfhorn:
Sorry, should have said the trip to Oregon is by Amtrak and takes 2 1/2 & 3 1/2 days.
Bumr50 wrote:
Back in the day, New York politicians used to campaign on “keeping the subway fare at a nickel.” Well, that’s all well and good, but when the subway lines were profit-earning private enterprises (operating under city franchises), there came a time that the fare couldn’t be kept at a nickel. Expenses do go up, you know.
So the city—and, eventually, the “Metropolitan Transit Authority”—took the subway lines over. The MTA is a sinkhole of incompetence and corruption, and as an “independent agency” it is beyond city control and beyond even direct oversight by the state legislature (not that that would do much good anyway). We’ve currently got the transit union workers repairing major subway stations that should have been repaired thirty years ago, and should have been maintained for at least that long—and they’ve already taken longer on the repairs than the stations took to build 80 years ago.
doriangrey wrote:
The future’s not what it used to be.
CSPI could label soft drinks as ‘raaaaacist’
@ Bumr50:
@ doriangrey:
You need to watch this film about politics and corruption in American politics: “The Great McGinty.” Entire film is at the link. One of the funniest films you’ve seen in a while.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
Here’s when things went south for us:
huckfunn wrote:
The futures so blight I gotta wear shades…..
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I got as far as Rufus J, and could take the pain anymore…
@ doriangrey:
Oh, it gets better and better. You have to follow him through voting 37 times, meeting political boss Akim Tamiroff, and getting into protection collecting before becoming an alderman. It’s a hoot.
Check it out: Texas Poll: Santorum 45, Gingrich 18, Romney 16, Paul 14
huckfunn wrote:
Damn, I guess them thar Texans aint so dumb after all…
huckfunn wrote:
Oh yea, and I forgot to ROTFLMAO at Ron Paul coming in dead last in his home state.
@ Bagua’s Ghost:
You don’t need to subsidize the drilling industry! Just get the tax and regulatory monkeys off the industry’s back, and get out of the way. Subsidies are bad news, even if the good guys get them. They encourage sloth and bad decisions.
doriangrey wrote:
I wonder if they just got as far as Rick and just assume it’s Perry?
doriangrey wrote:
Simple. They know him.
@ John Difool:
Oops.
//;-)
@ John Difool:
Not if they’re like tfk
huckfunn wrote:
Oh, and we better hide this poll from speranza, he’ll seriously blow a gasket over it.
doriangrey wrote:
I’m encouraged… hope you are too.
As far as Ron Paul is concerned, in Texas they know that if a fellow wants to be the Man on Horseback it’s best if he doesn’t use gynecological stirrups.
Bumr50 wrote:
i’ve used amtrack on a few occasions. not a bad way to travel
waldensianspirit wrote:
I suspect tkf could hide behind a single blade of grass…
doriangrey wrote:
Heh! You got his email?
@ buzzsawmonkey:
LMAO! Good one.
huckfunn wrote:
anyone but romney is fine by me
coldwarrior wrote:
Here in Kalifornia the one good thing about riding on the AmTrak is… They have a alcohol car… From San Diego to LA you can get just about 6 beers in…
huckfunn wrote:
ROTFLMAO… Hell no, he’d probably sue me if he even thought I had it…
@ coldwarrior:
At this point -- any one other than -0-.
doriangrey wrote:
i can get good and blitzed here to chicago….
coldwarrior wrote:
ROTFLMAO and not have to worry about getting a DUI…
doriangrey wrote:
damn straight! stumble off the train, hail a cab and go to the hotel.
@ coldwarrior:
Unfortunately travel time alone via Amtrak is 7 days round trip. I’d love to travel by train sometime, but we’ve got no service here in town (possibly coming in the next few years, though), and even though the nearest station isn’t far away, the only daily departure is at something like 4am.
@ mfhorn:
i like trains, traveled all over europe on them, so, the hassle is worth it to me. i love the overnight trains. wake up there and refreshed.
@ coldwarrior:
If I go from here (Kansas) to San Francisco, I go via Illinois. If I go to LA, it’s direct.
mfhorn wrote:
yeah, thats a problem
mfhorn wrote:
Why in god’s name would you ever go to San Fransicko?
coldwarrior wrote:
Ron Paul needs to be on the “anybody but” list but I don’t think he’s a serious threat to be the nominee. He’s a possible 3rd party not-so-wild card who will hand O-dawg a 2nd term.
doriangrey wrote:
I think I still have an unpaid ticket from CA for an open container violation in 1977. They’ll never take me alive.
@ huckfunn:
Possibly, but a lot of his supporters would otherwise vote for Obama too if he weren’t running.
Heh. Juan Williams was just on O’Reilly weeping, wailing and gnashing his teeth about “gauging by oil companies”.
huckfunn wrote:
That seems to be newest meme put out by his masters at MMFA.
The evil oil companies want Obama to fail and not get re-elected !!11!11eleventy
@ John Difool:
I’ve gotta get back to Juan on that. Obama’s stated energy goal is skyrocketing energy prices.
huckfunn wrote:
Of course with the old trusty fallback of demonizing the oil companies when his plan starts to succeed.
Five dollar a gallon gas by Memorial Day by some estimates.
huckfunn wrote:
Meh, they don’t want to take you alive…. They just want all of your money…
doriangrey wrote:
Ha ha! And you should know.
huckfunn wrote:
Sigh, oh I know all right…
@ doriangrey:
San Francisco is at least on its way to southern Oregon, where I have family. I could try Portland, but it’d probably be through Illinois, too.
mfhorn wrote:
You have family that lives just outside the gates of hell… Yikes…
Alberta Oil Peon wrote:
In general this is right on. I’m mostly referring to the effect of the NG price on drilling.
Bagua’s Ghost wrote:
The price of natural gas has a great deal of influence on drilling gas wells. Four years ago, $5.75 per mcf was the break even price for drilling a gas well in the Barnett Shale. Current nat gas price is roughly $2.50 per mcf.
huckfunn wrote:
Problem is, if you spell it “fracing,” nearly everybody outside the energy/geology field will think it rhymes with “facing.”