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Hydraulic Fracturing Pros And Cons

439 Words2 Pages

Hydraulic fracturing or fracking is a technique that involve the injection of more than a million gallons of water, sand and chemical at high pressure down and across into horizontally drilled wells. This pressurized mixture will causes the rock layer to crack. These fissures are held open by the sand particles so that natural gas from the rock layer can flow up the well. This technique allows us to extract energy sources such as tight oil, coal seam gas and oil shale. It has been around since the late 1940s when petroleum engineers were looking for other ways to increase well productions. It turned out to be very effective considering that there are more than 500,000 active natural gas wells in the U.S. Alone. Therefore, we should support …show more content…

The overwhelming supply of oil and gas may seem a negative aspect today, but there will come a time when these resources will run out. Continuous study into the effects of hydraulic fracturing will also lead to more innovative and safer ideas of extracting natural gas. When both traditional oil drilling and fracturing work hand in hand, fuel shortage could be completely avoided. In addition, hydraulic fracturing is cost effective; the cost for hydraulic fracturing is much cheaper than other options in extracting natural gas. Hydraulic fracturing helps to lessen oil importation costs. With the free flowing of shale gases, the demands will be supplied without having to be dependent on other nations, which is a positive impact to a country’s economy.
Moreover, by using this technique more jobs will available for the people. In 2012, the oil and gas industry in America employed more than 1.2 million people, which further increased due to fracking. So fracking not only increased the supply of natural gas by 65%, but the rate of employment as well. Moreover, it has made a positive impact on the economy, since it accounts for about $385 billion in direct economic activity, as reported in a Nature piece in 2012.Nevertheless, hydraulic fracturing buys the world some time until renewable energy developed and made accessible for

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