Hydraulic fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing, hydraulic fracture​ or hydraulic stimulation (also known by the English term fracking) is a technique to enable or increase the extraction of gas and oil from the underground.

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The technique consists of drilling a vertical or horizontal well, cased and cemented, at more than 2500 meters deep, with the aim of generating one or several channels of high permeability through the injection of water at high pressure, so that it overcomes the resistance of the rock and opens a controlled fracture at the bottom of the well, in the desired section of the hydrocarbon-containing formation. This pressurized water is mixed with some proppant material and chemicals, with the aim of widening the existing fractures in the rocky substrate that encloses the gas or oil, which are typically less than 1 mm, thus facilitating its exit to the surface.

It is estimated that in 2010 this technique was present in approximately 60% of the extraction wells in use. Due to the increase in fossil fuel prices making these methods economically viable, their use has spread in recent years, especially in the United States.

History

Subsurface injections to facilitate oil extraction date back to 1860, on the North American east coast. In 1930, the possibility of using water was studied for the first time. This method began to be applied industrially in 1949 by the company Stanolind Oil.

In the Soviet Union, the first hydraulic fracturing well was carried out in 1952. Other countries in Europe and North Africa employed fracturing techniques, including Norway, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Austria, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Tunisia, and Algeria.

George P. Mitchell is currently considered the ‘father’ of the modern fracking industry, having achieved its economic viability in the field known as Barnett Shale, reducing its costs to 4 dollars per million BTU (British Thermal Units). His company, Mitchell Energy, achieved the first commercial hydraulic fracturing in 1998.

In the United States, it is estimated that the generalization of this method has increased proven gas reserves by nearly 47% in four years and the estimated existence of oil by 11%. The advancement of this technique has allowed the country to increase natural gas production by 35% since 2005 and eliminate the need for imports. Regarding oil, production has increased by 45% since 2010, making the United States the second-largest oil producer in the world again. Unconventional hydrocarbons already contribute 430 billion dollars to GDP and the creation of 2.7 million jobs, with salaries that double the average in the United States; at the same time, the price of natural gas is three times cheaper than in most industrialized countries.

Furthermore, in that country, in 2012, 2.1 million jobs were created thanks to unconventional hydrocarbons extracted through hydraulic fracturing, contributing 283 billion dollars to its economy. Additionally, according to a report funded by the fracking industry, 3.3 million new jobs will be created and it will add 468 billion dollars to the growth of the United States by the end of the decade.