The Wall Street Journal recently ran a very informative article on a somewhat controversial industry practice called fracking. The practice of hydraulic fracturing has been around for more than 60 years.
Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals into a well at high pressures to loosen shale and release natural gas.
In 2001, engineers came up with the idea of combing hydraulic fracturing with horizontal drilling in natural gas wells that are trapped in shale formations. As of 2000, only 1% of all natural gas came from shale wells; in 2011 that number has risen to 25%.
There are many issues that can be argued about the practice of hydraulic fracturing. Here are but three: fracking contaminates the water supply, fracking releases toxic chemicals, and fracking causes cancer.
It doesn’t seem logical that fracking could contaminate the water supply for the simple fact that the average shale formation is thousands of feet below the surface. Most drinking water supplies are more like hundreds of feet below the surface, not thousands. Even the U.S. EPA has no known cases of water contamination due to fracking.
The argument that fracking releases toxic chemicals is also hard to follow. The fact is that 99.5% of the fluid injected in the shale is water and sand. The other .05% of the chemical fluid is required by law to be reported in the states where the majority of fracking is conducted.
Finally, there seems to be no credible study or report that shows that fracking causes cancer. State health officials in Texas recently determined that the level of benzene, a common chemical used in fracking, was similar to those measured in the general U.S. population.
The effect of this procedure is that it has introduced a fresh supply of natural gas on the market. This, among other things, can help explain why natural gas pricing has remained relatively steady while the price of oil has risen. This steady pricing is in spite of a marked rise in demand for natural gas.
Now could be a great time to look at locking in your rate for the next year. We invite you to compare natural gas rates and terms as we rapidly approach the fall and winter.
FireSide Natural Gas is committed to educating consumers about the advantages of using natural gas. For more information, you can contact them at 678-872-0250 or visit their website at www.FireSideNaturalGas.com
