Jack Gerard
Jane Van Ryan
Have you ever heard of shale gas? It's the naturally occurring, clean-burning gas that is found in shale rock formations, and it's becoming increasing important as an energy resource in the United States. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy says there is enough so-called unconventional gas (shale gas, tight sands and coalbed methane) in the United States to supply our energy needs for the next 90 years. Other estimates extend this supply to 116 years.
Today, a House subcommittee is holding a fact-finding hearing on shale gas development. Because this form of gas is locked in layers of hard shale, it's more difficult to produce than gas that easily flows through underground sand formations. To encourage shale gas to move toward the well, a process called hydraulic fracturing is required to create tiny fissures in the rock. Fluid is pumped down the wellbore under enough pressure to make the shale crack and a proppant--usually sand-- is left behind to prop the cracks open, allowing the gas to flow up the wellbore. To see how hydraulic fracturing works, watch this video:
Hydraulic fracturing has been used in nearly 1 million wells in the United States during the past 50 years. It is a tried-and-true technology that helps increase domestic supplies of natural gas for homes, businesses, industries and as a feedstock for thousands of consumer items. Hydraulic fracturing has also been found to have little or no impact on drinking water supplies or increased risk to human health. Several organizations have conducted studies on hydraulic fracturing, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which concluded there were "no confirmed cases linked to fracturing fluid infection into coalbed methane wells or subsequent underground of fracturing fluids."
Yet in recent weeks, some consideration has been given to regulating hydraulic fracturing under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, an action that could raise the cost of domestic natural gas production and reduce natural gas supplies. As I wrote in a recent post, the Ground Water Protection Council conducted a study and reported on May 28 that the language in state oil and gas field regulations is adequate for regulating hydraulic fracturing.
Several oil and natural gas trade associations have submitted a statement to the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, explaining the importance of shale gas and the safety of hydraulic fracturing as documented in numerous studies.
Hi, Jane.
I was going to say welcome to the blogsphere, but now that I've arrived here I note that you've been going for a couple of months.
Thanks for providing the resource, and for your other help. For your info, I just posted on the hearing on the gas shales that the house subcommittee held this morning.
Keep up the good work.
HO
Jane:
Thank you for the post and the explanatory video. Both provided thought provoking information about hydraulic fracturing.
One thing that I do not quite understand, however, is the notion that this well established technique should not be subjected to a consistent, federal regulation regime instead of a fragmented approach by 50 different states with varying levels of experience in understanding the technique.
I visited the web site of the Ground Water Protection Council and found a listing of the states involved in Underground Injection Control. (http://www.gwpc.org/uic/uic.htm)
That list indicates that there are some missing members that are the home new exploration areas - states like New York and Pennsylvania are not listed.
That seems to indicate that the regulators in those states are ill equipped to monitor the industry and are at risk of environmental damage by the less competent or careful drillers. State regulation might be adequate in experienced states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas or Louisiana, but how does a state that has not had much drilling activity develop the expertise required?
Wouldn't it be beneficial for the industry to have a consistent, competent regulator that could help prevent damage from operators that do not take all of the precautions for environmental protection described in your video.
Rod Adams
Publisher, Atomic Insights
Host and producer, The Atomic Show Podcast
Rod, thank you for your questions. This industry shares your concern for environmental protection, and it’s our hope that all operators demonstrate their concern for the environment by using sound operating practices.
We also believe that state regulators are competent and effective in monitoring well completion activities, including hydraulic fracturing, because they have greater familiarity with the geology and conditions that exist in each state. Furthermore, the states, including New York and Pennsylvania, do have agencies in place to inspect and regulate oil and natural gas operations. Oil and natural gas activities have occurred in both states for many decades. In fact, the first oil well drilled in the U.S. was located in Pennsylvania 150 years ago.
Your question seems to be based on the premise that adding a new federal agency could guarantee a new level of environmental protection. Based on the state regulations that exist today, I’m afraid that’s doubtful. But it could, however, add another layer of oversight that would be duplicative, unnecessary, and costly to taxpayers.
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-Bob
washing machine