Video: Fracking a ‘Very Safe and Well-Understood Technology’
Mark Green
Posted May 20, 2014
The video below details industry’s hydraulic fracturing experience in Colorado, a state whose oil and natural gas potential is being realized thanks to advanced fracking and horizontal drilling built on a rich history of safe and responsible drilling. Take a look:
As the speakers point out, the Denver-Julesburg (or D-J) Basin has been operating commercially for nearly 150 years. Modern hydraulic fracturing has grown from the days of trying various types of fracking fluids and using recycled aircraft engines for hydraulic horsepower to carefully formulated mixtures designed to produce tiny fractures in deep rock layers that hold oil and natural gas.
Though the core principles of hydraulic fracturing in shale and other tight-rock formations are relatively unchanged over the years, industry has made careful progress to today’s operations that use cutting-edge technology to increase effectiveness while reducing energy development’s environmental footprint. As Bonanza Creek Vice President Kerry McCowen says, “This is a very safe and well-understood technology.”
Learn more at Energy From Shale.org.About The Author
Mark Green joined API after a career in newspaper journalism, including 16 years as national editorial writer for The Oklahoman in the paper’s Washington bureau. Previously, Mark was a reporter, copy editor and sports editor at an assortment of newspapers. He earned his journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma and master’s in journalism and public affairs from American University. He and his wife Pamela have two grown children and six grandchildren.