The Real History Of Fracking, John Manfreda
Over the past decade, the
biggest story in the US energy sector has been hydraulic fracturing, also known
as fracking. This drilling technique has enabled oil and gas producers to
extract oil and natural gas from shale rock, thus increasing oil and gas
production inside the US.
Media
pundits have claimed that this form of oil and gas extraction is a technological breakthrough, which has enabled the US
to become the world’s largest oil and gas producer, and will enable the US to
become energy independent by the year 2020.
While there
are a lot of myths that surround this technology (it poisons the drinking water, or it causes cancer) the biggest one myth, is
that, it’s new technology.
The Civil
War and its Fracking discovery
The History
of Fracking can be traced back to 1862. It was during the battle of
Fredericksburg VA., where civil war veteran Col. Edward A.L. Roberts saw what
could be accomplished when firing explosive artillery into a narrow canal that
obstructed the battlefield. This was described as superincumbent fluid tamping.
On April
26th, 1865, Edward Roberts received his first patent, for an “Improvement” in
exploding torpedoes in artesian wells. In November of 1866, Edward Roberts was
awarded patient number 59,936, known as the “Exploding Torpedo.”
This
extraction method was implemented by packing a torpedo in an iron case that
contained 15-20 pounds of powder. The case was then lowered into the oil well,
at a spot closest to the oil. From there, they would explode the torpedo by
connecting the top of the shell with wire to the surface, and then filling the
borehole with water.
This
invention increased oil production by 1200 percent from certain wells
within a week of being implemented. This also led to the founding of Roberts
Petroleum Torpedo Company, which charged $100-$200 dollars per rocket, plus a
royalty of 1/15 of the profits generated from the product.
The Birth
of Commercial Hydraulic Fracking
The first
form of fracking innovation didn’t take place until the 1930s, when drillers used a
non-explosive liquid substitute called acid, instead of nitroglycerin. This made wells more
resistant to closing, thus increasing productivity.
Even though
the birth of fracking began in the 1860s, the birth of modern day hydraulic
fracturing began in the 1940s. In 1947, Floyd Farris of Stanolind Oil and Gas
began a study on the relationship between oil and gas production output, and
the amount of pressurized treatment being used on each well.
This study
lead to the first experiment of hydraulic fracturing, which occurred at the
Hugoton gas field, located in Grant County, Kansas in 1947. In this experiment,
1,000 gallons of gelled gasoline and sand were injected into a gas producing
limestone formation with a depth of 2,400 feet. This was then followed by an
injection of a gel breaker. While this experiment
failed to produce a significant production
increase, it
did mark the beginning of hydraulic fracturing.
Despite the
failure in the Hugoton gas field experiment, research continued. On March 17,
1949, Halliburton conducted two commercial experiments; one in Stephens county
Oklahoma, and another in Archer County, Texas. These results were much more
successful.
After
achieving experimental success in 1949, fracking quickly became commercialized.
In the 1960s Pan American Petroleum began using this drilling technique in
Stephens county Oklahoma. In the 1970s, this extraction method was being used
in the Piceance Basin, the San Juan Basin, the Denver Basin, and the Green River Basin.
This
widespread use even garnered the attention of President Gerald Ford. In his
1975 state of the union address, President Ford promoted the development of shale
oil resources, as part of his overall energy plan, as a means of reducing
foreign oil imports (Power Plays, Robert Rapier, P. 222).
Modern Day
Fracking
Modern day
fracking didn’t begin until the 1990s. This originated when George P. Mitchell
created a new technique, which took hydraulic fracturing, and combined it with
horizontal drilling.
The Shale
Oil Boom
The
technology known as hydraulic fracturing isn’t new, and has been around for 100
plus years. Like the cell phone, computer, and automobile, it’s been innovated,
and renovated over long periods of time. The question remains: why did this
shale oil production boom occur so long after the technology was created?
The
correlation of these two charts, which show production trends dating back to
the 1990s and price trends dating back to 2000, will help explain why.
In
conclusion, what enabled the oil and gas industry to extract oil from shale
rock over the past 7 years was higher prices. If it weren’t for higher oil
prices, the capital investment needed in the oil and gas sector, wouldn’t have
occurred, and US oil production would have continued to decline.
By John
Manfreda of Oilprice.com
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