Hydraulic Fracturing Overview
Growth of the Process and Safe Drinking Water Concerns
The process of hydraulic fracturing was developed initially in the 1940s to stimulate production from oil reservoirs with declining productivity. More recently, this practice has been used to initiate oil and gas production in unconventional (low-permeability) oil and gas formations. Its application — in combination with technological breakthroughs, such as horizontal drilling — in the production of natural gas from coal beds, tight gas sands, and unconventional shale formations has resulted in the marked expansion of estimated U.S. natural gas reserves in recent years. Similarly, hydraulic fracturing is enabling the development of unconventional domestic oil resources, such as the Bakken…
