Of course, the fly in the natural gas ointment is fracking, the hydraulic fracturing of underground rock to extract more gas and oil.
When the drilling is finished, water, combined with chemicals designed to reduce friction and serve other purposes, is injected from the surface into the well shaft at very high pressures, thereby fracturing the shale rock formations far below, and making it possible to extract economically the natural gas embedded in the shale.
Shale gas is extracted by tapping gas from shale rock using a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.
However, the shale rock containing natural gas is separated from underground water aquifers by impermeable layers of rock that do not allow any hydraulic fracturing fluids to migrate into underground water aquifers.
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Much of this is based on unconventional methods of fracturing 'tight' or shale rock.
Wells in shale plays have to undergo a process known as fracturing to boost the porosity of the rock and to make oil and gas flow to the well head.
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Shale gas is natural gas that is trapped inside shale rock and is extracted by using a technology called hydraulic fracturing, where highly pressurized water mixed with sand and chemicals is used to crack open rocks.
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The EPA has subpoenaed Halliburton for the secret formula for the liquid chemical cocktail it pumps into underground rock structures so natural gas can be accessed through a process known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
And they have deployed technologies like hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and horizontal drilling to produce gas from shale rock.
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The industry has boomed in recent years, thanks to a stunning expansion of drilling in previously untapped areas because of the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which injects sand, water and chemicals to break apart rock and free the gas inside.
The wider use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has unleashed a vast supply of natural gas from the shale-rock formations across the U.S., forcing down domestic prices, cutting the need for overseas imports and making gas-exporting nations in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean a less important piece in the U.S. energy puzzle.
The assertion is that hydraulic fracturing fluids, which are injected at high speed and high pressure to create cracks in the shale rock that traps natural gas, will seep into underground water aquifers.
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