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`Unlocking the Earth: A Short History
`of Hydraulic Fracturing (2013)
`
`Michael Quentin Morton
`
`GeoExpro, vol. 10, no. 6
`
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`H IS TO RY O F O I L
`
`Fracking has come a long way since 1857 when Preston
`Barmore lowered gunpowder into a well at Canadaway
`Creek, NY, and dropped a red-hot iron down a tube,
`resulting in an explosion that fractured the rock and
`increased the flow of gas from the well.
`Hydraulic fracturing, as its name suggests, involves
`pumping water and sand at high pressure to fracture
`subterranean rocks. This might appear far removed
`from the mid-nineteenth century practice of ‘shooting’
`a well, which used explosives instead of water, but the
`basic principle is the same. Drillers freed-up clogged
`or non-productive wells by creating underground
`explosions to loosen rock or debris. The effect was
`often the reverse of modern fracking: a column of
`earth, water and oil would shoot out of the well head,
`a spectacle for onlookers but hardly a
`reliable industrial process.
`ts
`In 1865, Col. Edward Roberts
`and his brother developed a
`technique known as ‘super-
`incumbent fluid-tamping’,
`in which water dampened
`the explosion, preventing
`any debris blowing back up
`the hole and amplifying its
`effects. They also developed
`’,
`a nitro-glycerine
`‘torpedo’,
`nd
`replacing the black powder and
`gunpowder that had previously been
`used. Their legacy lives on with the Tallini and Otto
`Cupler Torpedo Company, which still shoots wells with
`
`Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
`Courtesy of The Drake Well Museum,
`
`Unlocking
`the Earth
`
`A Short History of
`Hydraulic Fracturing
`
`MICHAEL QUENTIN MORTON
`
`The recent shale gas boom is a reminder that
`the effective use of hydraulic fracturing in shale
`formations is a relatively new phenomenon.
`However, this ‘fracking’ (also called 'fracing’ or
`‘fraccing’ in the technical literature) has been
`around for longer than many people realise,
`and the use of unconventional techniques
`to extract oil and gas from the ground has
`developed over more than 150 years.
`
`Drilling for shale gas, Washington County,
`Pennsylvania, in November 2010.
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`86 GEO ExPro DECEMBER 2013
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`Mark Schmerling, www.fractracker.org
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`ProPublica
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`Graphic by Al Granberg
`
`than contacting it vertically. Millions of
`gallons of water mixed with sand and
`chemicals were then injected at high
`pressure into the well to fracture the
`
`The Barmore well in 1858.
`
`GEO ExPro DECEMBER 2013 87
`
`Courtesy of the Darwin-Barker Historical Museum
`
`What is Fracking?
`
`Diagram of a typical hydraulic fracturing operation
`
`modern explosives and rigorous safety
`procedures.
`It was left to others to develop
`techniques to crack the rock: in the 1930s,
`experiments were conducted using acid
`instead of explosive, a technique known
`as ‘pressure parting’ and, in April 1939,
`patents were taken out for a device in
`which projectiles were shot through a
`casing into the rock formation.
`
`The Advent of Fracking
`In the 1940s, Floyd Farris of Stanolind
`Oil proposed that fracturing a rock
`formation through hydraulic pressure
`might increase well productivity. This
`was followed
`in 1947 by the first
`application of the ‘Hydrafrac’ process at
`the No.1 Klepper well in the Hugoton
`Field, Kansas. One thousand gallons of
`naphthenic acid and palm oil (napalm)
`were combined with gasoline and sand
`to stimulate the flow of natural gas from
`a limestone formation.
`
`In 1949, Halliburton Oil Well Cement-
`ing Company obtained an exclusive
`licence (subsequently extended to other
`qualified companies) for the hydraulic
`fracturing process. In the first year of
`operations, 332 oil wells were treated
`with crude oil or a combination of crude
`oil, gasoline and sand. The wells on
`average increased production by 75%.
`From 1953, water was also used as a
`fracturing fluid, and various additives
`were tried to improve its performance. By
`1968, fracking was being used in oil and
`gas wells across the United States, but its
`application was limited to the less difficult
`geological formations.
`
`The Fracking Breakthrough
`Fracking was transformed when it was
`combined with horizontal drilling and
`other new technologies, such as 3D
`seismic
`imaging. Horizontal drilling
`wells extended the range of fracturing
`sideways along a rock formation rather
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`holding ponds, spills and underground
`ruptures have polluted their water.
`than
`Microearthquakes
`(less
`magnitude 3 on the Richter Scale) are
`an integral part of fracking. They carry
`a very low risk of destructive effects
`– virtually all observed microseismic
`events associated with fracking are of
`a magnitude -0.5, well below levels
`that are noticeable to the public. Small
`earthquakes in south Texas have been
`linked to increased extraction of oil and
`brackish water in the shale boom, but
`not directly to the fracking process. Low-
`level seismic events between 2009 and
`2011 in remote areas of the Horn River
`Basin, British Columbia, were caused by
`fluid injection during hydraulic fracturing
`in proximity to pre-existing faults, but
`only one of these events could be ‘felt’
`at the earth’s surface and no damage or
`injury was caused.
`attributed
`tremors
`Most
`earth
`to fracking are associated with the
`injection of wastewater into wells deep
`underground. This can change the fluid
`balances in rocks and the stresses in
`the Earth’s crust near a fault. Generally,
`these so-called ‘disposal wells’ carry a
`small risk of induced seismicity and, in
`
`H IS TO RY O F O I L
`
`rock. This mixture (or ‘proppant’) filled
`the fissures and propped them open,
`allowing trapped oil and gas to flow out.
`Shale rock presented a particular
`challenge because of the difficulty in
`accessing the hydrocarbons in these tight
`formations. In the mid-1970s, the US
`Department of Energy (DOE) and the Gas
`Research Institute (GRI), in partnership
`with private operators, began developing
`techniques to produce natural gas from
`shale. These included the use of horizontal
`wells, multi-stage fracturing, and ‘slick’
`water fracturing (GEO ExPro Vol. 9, No. 2).
`Between 1981 and 1998 a Texas
`company, Mitchell Energy and Develop-
`ment, experimented with these tech-
`niques
`in testing the Barnett Shale
`formation. Commercial success came
`when the company combined them
`with slick water, a low viscous mixture
`that could be rapidly pumped down a
`well to deliver a much higher pressure to
`the rock than before. A merger between
`Mitchell Energy and Devon Energy in
`2002 brought a rapid increase in the
`
`use of fracking with horizontal
`drilling. With other companies
`involved, fracking spread to shale
`exploration in Texas, Oklahoma,
`Arkansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania,
`West Virginia and the Rockies.
`
`Fracking ‘Quakes
`As public awareness of fracking has
`grown, so have concerns about
`the pro cess, espec ially the large
`volume of water used, the resulting
`waste water, air pollution and
`the consequences of injecting chemicals
`deep under ground. Opponents point to
`the possible con tamination of aquifers by
`chemicals associated with fracking or by
`the escape of methane gas. According to
`geo logists, it is unlikely that the gas will rise
`far enough to reach the shallow aquifers
`that supply drinking water, although
`some researchers disagree.
`It appears
`that, at production sites, fracking causes
`lower leakages of methane than had been
`feared. In a number of cases, landowners
`and farmers have claimed that leaks from
`
`US Geological Survey
`
`A hydraulic fracturing operation at a Marcellus Shale well, Pennsylvania.
`
`American Oil and Gas History Society
`
`The first commercial hydraulic fracking site at Duncan,
`Oklahoma, in 1949.
`
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`EIA ARI World Shale Gas Resources
`
`with the shale buried deeper underground
`and therefore more expensive to extract.
`According to Deutsche Bank, a well in
`Europe might cost as much as three-and-
`a-half times more than one in the US.
`The American gas industry is less
`restricted than in Europe, with hydraulic
`fracturing being exempted from the Safe
`Drinking Water Act. This contrasts with
`France, where there is a moratorium on
`fracking while an assessment of the risks
`is carried out. But some countries have
`forged ahead: in Poland, for example,
`exploration licences have been issued
`to 20 firms, test wells have been drilled,
`and commercial production is likely to
`commence in 2014.
`In the United Kingdom, until the
`occurrence of two small earthquakes (3.2
`and 2.4) in Lancashire in 2011, fracking
`was not widely known. In fact, the process
`has been going on since the 1970s, with
`200 wells fracked onshore and even more
`in the North Sea. Various experiments
`have been tried: the Lidsey oil well, for
`example, was fracked in September 1991
`using as the fracturing agent microbial
`acid, otherwise known as Marmite, a
`yeast and vegetable extract. In theory,
`
`Marmite (and molasses) would be food
`for special bacteria, which would excrete
`acid to dissolve the carbonate rock.
`Unfortunately, it also fed the indigenous
`bacteria to produce hydrogen sulphide
`gas. The well was also fractured with a
`typical sand frack before the Marmite
`treatment, and is still producing today.
`
`Unanswered Questions
`Although the global potential of shale
`gas is vast, it is uncertain how much can
`be produced. And, although shale gas
`is cleaner to burn than conventional
`fossil fuels, its overall impact on global
`climate change is difficult to predict.
`Environmental concerns persist: in China,
`drilling for oil has begun in the earthquake-
`prone Sichuan region; in South Africa, the
`government has lifted a moratorium to
`allow fracking in the Karoo region, raising
`fears of damage to its ecosystem. Whatever
`fracking’s real benefits, one thing is certain:
`the arguments over its future risks and
`impact are set to rumble on.
`
`Acknowledgements:
`The author wishes to thank Peter Morton, Julie
`Shemeta, Eric Vaughan and Steve Wolhart for
`their assistance.
`
`West Sussex, England, 1991: the fracking fluid in the tanks is pumped into the well using Marmite
`in the fracturing process.
`
`Eric Vaughan
`
`H IS TO RY O F O I L
`
`relation to their large number, there
`have been few recorded seismic events.
`However, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake
`in Oklahoma in 2011 has been linked
`to the disposal of wastewater from oil
`production. It appears that some areas in
`the mid-western United States are prone
`to a process called ‘dynamic triggering’
`whereby distant earthquakes might
`trigger minor earthquakes along faults
`which have been ‘critically loaded’ by
`disposal wells. If strategies are devised
`to minimise the impact of these wells on
`underground fluid balances, then the risk
`of induced seismicity will be reduced.
`
`The Hamster’s Wheel
`The International Energy Agency (IEA)
`estimates that, over the next five years,
`the US will account for a third of new oil
`supplies. The growth in US production is
`largely attributable to a steep rise in the
`recovery of shale oil, in which fracking
`has played a major part, unlocking major
`shale rock formations such as the Bakken
`in North Dakota and Montana.
`The tables are turning. The US is likely
`to change from the world’s leading
`importer of oil to a net exporter and,
`according to the IEA, will be self-sufficient
`in its energy needs by 2035. It has also
`led to a refocusing of US foreign policy,
`away from an historical reliance on the
`oil-rich countries of the Middle East.
`The natural gas boom initiated by
`fracking has had a number of consequences
`(GEO ExPro, Vol. 10, No. 3). In the United
`States, with low prices resulting from the
`development of unconventional gas,
`producers are currently active in preserving
`leases for future development. Today’s
`story is more about fracking for liquids –
`natural gas liquids (aka condensate) and
`oil. Commodity prices and economics are
`driving relentless activity in the Eagle Ford
`Basin in south Texas, the Permian Basin, the
`Williston Basin in North Dakota, and the
`Utica Shale in western Pennsylvania and
`eastern Ohio. Like a hamster on a wheel,
`the producer has to keep production
`numbers up, or even rising, in order to
`satisfy investors.
`
`Fracking in Europe
`Europe’s reserves of 639 Tcf compare
`favourably with America’s 862 Tcf, but there
`are other factors to consider. European
`geology tends to be more complicated,
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