Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing is a proven technology used to stimulate production from oil and gas wells.  It has been successfully employed in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado for many years.  In the early years in these producing states, fracturing was used to produce oil and natural gas from low pressure, tight formations, which in most cases were nearing depletion.

Today, it is used most often to extract natural gas from deep horizontal shale wells.  With the discovery of the many shale formations in the Eastern United States, fracturing is now being deployed in areas not familiar with the technology.  The content which follows this discussion is designed to provide basic information about how fracturing works, why it is important to the oil and gas industry and to the US consumer, the chemicals used in the fracturing process, the air emissions due to hydraulic fracturing, the best management practices found in the various major shale plays across the United States, and to answer some of the more frequently asked questions about the technology.

In order to preserve the environment and reduce the amount of fresh water resources being used during fraccing, oil field brine and flowback water must be cleaned and reused.  Texas A&M and its partners have developed efficient methods for removing petroleum and other waste from brine using membrane filters and reverse osmosis desalination.  More information regarding produced water can be found on our site.