Is Oil Fracking Here To Stay?
Oil fracking is a widely used process for extracting oil and gas from the ground, or often from underneath it. Fracking for oil has become a widespread practice especially within the United States of America. Fracking can and is used to extract other things from beneath the surface of the Earth. Generally, the nearer something is to the surface then the cheaper it should be to extract, although that is not always the case. Before fracking was developed extracting oil required the use of drilling rigs, often with pipes going down miles in order to reach the reserves of oil and gas down there.
What it Takes to Frack Oil
When it comes to oil fracking all you need is thousands of gallons of water, plus sand and various chemicals to add to it. Oil when it is deep under the sea or underground is expensive to remove. However when the oil is close to the surface on land then oil fracking is an option for extraction, which always should be considered. This is due to fracking for oil being the lower budget means to obtain oil and gas. It is easy to understand why oil and gas companies will tend to consider oil fracking as a viable method of bringing oil to the surface so that it can be processed. When it is possible to do it needs less resources than most other kinds of extraction and refining operations.
Oil fracking is actually known as Hydraulic Fracturing. The process of hydraulic fracturing was an extraction technique first discovered in the mid 1940’s. Its discoverers quickly grasped the engineering and mining possibilities of fracturing and the process has been used commercially since 1950. The basic concepts behind fracking for oil is actually simple enough to grasp, and just as straightforward to to put into practice on a scale to make it commercially viable time after time.
Water and something to propel it out at high speed as well as high pressure is what is needed to put oil fracking into operation and get the extraction of oil and gas underway. Oil fracking works due to high pressure jets of water being aimed at the ground or at rock faces to break up the rocks into smaller fragments, whilst freeing up oil and releasing gas. The water used in fracking for oil therefore not only breaks up the ground it separates oil and gas from the rocks as well as the soil.
Over all hydraulic fracturing and oil fracking are considered to be cost effective means of extracting oil and gas from places, which would be difficult to use drilling rigs in, or that would be far too expensive to operate. The key to the effectiveness of the oil fracking technique is entirely due to the very high levels of pressure used to blast the water mixture at the specific rock face or mining seem been worked on at that time. The water mixture has to come out quickly as well as at high pressure to achieve its aim.
Origins of Fracking
Fracking was originally developed to remove precious metals yet the ability of the process to separate oil and gas from rocks or compacted soil meant it was rapidly applied for the extraction of oil. What makes
Oil frackings appeal is that water jets can cut through rocks and stones just as well as drilling with drill bits or power tools yet require less effort from people to do so. After all drill bits and miles and miles of piping are expensive. The drill bits have to be really sharp to break up rocks. However water mixture jets at high pressure are equally as effective at a fraction of the cost.
Good For The Economy
Generally oil fracking is a good thing for the economy as it boosts the supply of both oil and gas, which are vital for consumers, companies, and producers alike. The rationale behind oil fracking is that it increases the production levels of oil and often hand in hand with it gas. Over all then oil fracking lowers gas prices, and helps to stimulate the economy.
Cheaper oil produced as a result of fracking for oil benefits everybody linked to the economy as it helps to keep the cost of living down. It means consumers pay less for their fuel, as do companies, and producers. Lower fuel costs mean that producers can maintain their prices instead of increasing them as they frequently have to when gas prices increase.
Thus oil fracking means that oil can be produced locally at a lower cost than when it is shipped in from the Middle East, or from offshore oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, or off the North Sea. Fracking for oil gives consumers and businesses the opportunity to use local oil and gas supplies instead of more expensive imports. That means people benefit from lower fuel costs, so the cost of living will decrease whilst the standard of living can improve.
Further more depending on how much oil or gas is available determines how long each site can realistically be used to obtain oil from. However oil companies quickly move from fracking site to perspective new sites to ensure that they are constantly able to produce enough oil and gas that can be refined and sold on for large profits. Energy companies thus need to be constantly searching for new sites to carry out oil fracking operations. As long as new sites are found and then rapidly put into operation the revenues of the energy company are assured whilst consumers are able to take advantage of lower fuel costs.
There are documentaries that show the negative impact that fracking can have on our environment by leaching oil and gas in to clean water supplies.
To summarize the practice of oil fracking is becoming an increasingly common one. Increased oil and gas production especially that produced locally lowers fuel costs, meaning a lower cost of living and lower operating costs for businesses and producers. Fracking costs a great less than drilling for oil using traditional rigs, whether on land or offshore.