That translates to 21 states, from California to Texas, Michigan to West Virginia, currently employing this high-intensity form of energy extraction, and five others may soon follow. Called high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, the controversial process became commercially viable in the late s. It generally involves injecting millions of gallons of water, along with sand and chemicals, down a well to extract oil-and-gas reserves that were previously hard to access.
This state-by-state breakdown will be periodically updated. Fracking is used differently in each state, depending on the available fossil fuels. Texas has thousands of wells that tap into deeply buried shale deposits. By contrast, in Indiana, fracking occurs for a small percentage of wells. Tennessee and Kentucky are outliers. While both states allow high-volume fracking modern fracking , drillers there tend to use other extraction techniques that can involve injecting nitrogen gas underground.
Illinois and North Carolina are the most recent states to allow modern fracking, with their state legislatures passing new rules in and , respectively, and regulators are now waiting for applications. Nevada allows the process and had active operations as recently as December ; regulators there are not sure why operations have since stopped.
Energy Information Administration and were current as of May 9, Information on fracking accidents was compiled from the source s cited with each fracking accident.
View Larger Map. Our victories for you and for the environment. As of July , Colorado , Kansas , Ohio , Oklahoma , and Texas established seismic monitoring stations and updated injection well regulations, among other actions, to address increased seismic activity from fluid injections. Geological Survey argued that fracking was not the main cause of felt earthquakes in most instances: [50] [54] [55]. In , the USGS found that wastewater disposal, rather than fracking, was the main cause of an increase in earthquakes throughout the central United States from to According to the agency, wastewater disposal wells raise pressure levels more than fracked wells.
Larger amounts of fluid are used in wastewater disposal wells than in fracked wells; thus, wastewater disposal wells were more likely to produce induced seismic events than fracked wells, according to the agency. In addition, the agency argued that wastewater injection and as a result induced seismic activity typically occurs in rocks that have not been previously touched, whereas fracking involves injecting fluid into rock layers from which oil and natural gas have previously been extracted.
The USGS concluded that induced seismic events are more likely to occur in rock formations that have not been touched than formations that had been subjected to oil and gas activities.
In March , four seismic events ranging between 2. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources ODNR temporarily halted the operations and conducted an investigation, which concluded that there was likely a connection between fracking and the seismic events. These seismic events occurred on a previously unknown micro-fault. The ODNR announced it would require oil and gas operators to follow additional permit conditions and would begin to monitor and address induced seismicity potentially linked to fracking in the state.
The ODNR also said that it would work with private interstate oil and gas commissioners, states, and other stakeholders to share relevant data on induced seismicity and fracking. In addition, Ohio state regulators implemented a seismic monitoring system for certain disposal wells, particularly in areas where the surrounding geology could increase the likelihood of induced seismicity.
Seismic monitors are used on a site-by-site basis; if induced seismic events are not detected prior to and after injection, the seismic instruments may be transferred elsewhere. Congress in directed the EPA to review available research on the impacts of fracking on drinking water resources. We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources in the United States.
Of the potential mechanisms identified in this report, we found specific instances where one or more mechanisms led to impacts on drinking water resources, including contamination of drinking water wells. The number of identified cases, however, was small compared to the number of hydraulically fractured wells. Concerning the draft conclusion that researchers did not find evidence of widespread, systemic impacts from fracking on drinking water resources, the draft noted the following:.
In the final report, such data gaps were presented as inhibiting a conclusion about national impacts. A article published in Science reviewed 11, water wells across Pennsylvania and found that "background levels of methane in the water are unrelated to the location of hundreds of oil and gas wells that tap hydraulically fractured, or fracked, rock formations.
According to the Science article, "[F]or all their disagreements, scientists on both sides of the fracking debate agree that it is very unlikely that microfracturing of rock formation itself contributes to the vertical migration of gases. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analyzed water well samples from both the Marcellus and Barnett shales, located in Pennsylvania and Texas , respectively.
Researchers found that higher-than-expected levels of hydrocarbon gases, including methane , had not been caused by fracking, or horizontal drilling , but by well integrity problems.
Researchers gathered samples from Pennsylvania and found seven instances of fugitive gas contamination, known as elevated hydrocarbon levels. In Texas, 20 wells were sampled, and one instance of fugitive gas contamination was found. Of these eight cases, four were identified by the researchers as having likely been caused by poor well cementing, not fracking. Three cases were associated with faulty casing, and the final well experienced underground well failure.
The study also found that methane in wells above the Marcellus Shale occurred naturally and was not the product of fracking.
An August study by the U. Department of Energy found that the "likelihood of properly injected fracturing fluid reaching drinking water through fractures is remote" when a large separation exists between drinking water sources and the areas where oil and gas are produced. According to the department, the majority of regions where shale gas production occurs are largely separated from drinking water sources and that there was little to no documentation of fracturing fluid migrating to drinking water sources.
According to Mark Zoback, professor of geophysics at Stanford University and a member of the committee responsible for the report the Shale Gas Production Subcommittee at the Energy Department , "[F]racturing fluids have not contaminated any water supply and with that much distance to an aquifer, it is very unlikely they could. Zoback claimed that, though natural gas has been found in drinking water supplies in some instances, the problem was caused primarily by poor well construction. For example, if a steel well's casing is not full cemented, natural gas can leak "around the outside of the casing and contaminate shallow aquifers.
According to Zoback, one solution includes injecting the water into a storage well that meets federal and state standards to prevent leakage. Zoback also argued that a preferable method is to treat the water for reuse and return it to the shale from which it came, a process that occurs in fracking operations in the northeastern United States. A study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT found that no reported incidents "conclusively demonstrate the contamination of shallow water zones with fracture fluids.
Studies from state government agencies on the impact of fracking on drinking water within their states are summarized below: [75] [76] [77] [78]. As with any type of energy extraction, air pollution can occur throughout the oil and gas extraction process.
In the case of fracking, air pollution can occur when oil or natural gas is extracted, transported, or distributed. Pollutants that may be emitted include volatile organic compounds , hydrogen sulfide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particulate matter. Fracking involves directional drilling, which is used to create non-vertical wells to access resources that are inaccessible by drilling a vertical well.
Directional drillers increase their control over the angle of wells and can adjust the angle of a drill bit, and thus the well's angle, in real time.
Proponents of fracking argue that one environmental benefit of directional drilling is the ability of operators to access energy resources in sensitive areas without having to set up multiple vertical wells on a stretch of land.
Proponents also argue that drillers can create one horizontal well to access to large deposits of oil or gas deposits that would otherwise require several vertical wells. As a result, proponents argue that visible construction and land changes are reduced and access to reserves is increased without harming sensitive areas. Opponents argue that fracking still results in land damage, including clearing land and forests for roads, wells, pipelines, and other infrastructure. Opponents argue that these land changes negatively affect local habitats and species and disrupt public access to forests and open landscapes.
Opponents further argue that continued fracking leads to more oil and gas activity near forests and farmland. As a result, opponents argue that fracking reduces or eliminates natural resources by converting forests and agricultural land into drilling sites. Approximately 21 percent of U. Approximately 16 percent of U. Energy Information Administration EIA , wells that had been hydraulically fractured accounted for 51 percent of the crude oil and 67 percent of the natural gas produced in the United States in Click the [Show] button to view the table below.
Note: Unlike crude oil production data, natural gas production data for all states in was unavailable as of August Coalbed methane is methane contained in layers of coal ; it can be used in the same manner as traditionally extracted natural gas. Employees in the News. Emergency Management. Survey Manual. Hydraulic fracturing is used in many established oil and gas producing regions of the country as well as some areas new to the petroleum industry. Maps of major shale gas, tight gas, and tight oil basins are available from the U.
Energy Information Administration, although not all of the shale basins shown currently have production. Learn more: Hydraulic Fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is presently the primary stimulation technique for oil and gas production in low-permeability, unconventional reservoirs. Comprehensive, published, and publicly available information regarding the extent, location, and character of hydraulic fracturing in the United States is scarce.
This national spatial and temporal analysis Since , the U. Geological Survey has completed assessments of continuous unconventional resources in the United States based on geologic studies and analysis of well-production data. This publication uses those continuous oil and gas assessments to show the variability of well productivity within and among the areas.
The production Domestic oil and gas production and clean water are critical for economic growth, public health, and national security of the United States. As domestic oil and gas production increases in new areas and old fields are enhanced, there is increasing public concern about the effects of energy production on surface-water and groundwater quality. In south Texas, a wide band of rocks stretches from the Mexican border all the way to western Louisiana, forming the highly productive Eagle Ford Group.
These formations, made up primarily of shale and mudstone, are some of the most prolific oil and gas-producing rocks in the United States. More data and research are necessary to best understand the potential risks to water quality associated with unconventional oil and gas development in the United States, according to a recent U. Geological Survey study. Two new U. Geological Survey publications that highlight historical hydraulic fracturing trends and data from to are now available. Using a geology-based assessment method, the U.
Geological Survey estimated a mean undiscovered natural gas resource of 3. The Nation relies on oil and gas to power its economy, and unconventional gas is the fastest-growing energy resource in the United States.
The U.
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