16-10-2015 FRACKING

INTERNATIONAL BOOM

ARROYO MATIAS-JARAMILLO MARCOS-SEGOVIA FACUNDO

without analyzing the controversy of hydraulic fracturing seems impossible.

So, what is Fracking?

Fracking is the method by which hydrocarbones are extracted by

means of hydraulic fracturing. This process has been used commercially for

over 40 years. Today the combination of advanced hydraulic fracturing and

horizontal drilling, employing cutting-edge technologies is mostly

responsible for surging U.S. oil and natural gas production.

The process involves drilling tight-rock formation for a mile or more below

the surface and then gradually turning horizontal for several thousand

metres more. Thus, a single surface site can accommodate a number of wells.

Once the well is drilled, cased and cemented, small performations are made

in the horizontal portion of the well pipe. Then, through that pipe, a typical

mixture of water (90 percent), sand (9,5 percent) and additives (0.5 percent)

is pumped at high pressure to create micro-fractures in the rock ,that are

held open by the grains of sand. Additionally, additives play a number of

roles, including helping to reduce friction and prevent pipe corrosion, which

in turn help protect the environment and boost well efficiency.

On the other hand, fracking have evidenced plenty of dangers. They

have been registered by scientists for the last years. For example; from

September 2014 Well leaks, not fracking, have been linked to

contaminated water. A study of tainted drinking water in areas where

natural gas is produced from shale, shows that the contamination is most

likely caused by leaky wells rather than the process of hydraulic fracturing

used to release the gas from the rock. It is said,that water wells had been

contaminated by methane and other hydrocarbon gases.. Some environmental

groups have suggested that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, could cause the
gas to migrate into drinking water aquifers. What is more in July 2013, it

was found that over a 20-year period, one pound of methane traps as much

heat as at least 72 pounds of CO2. Its potency declines, but even after a

century, it is at least 25 times as powerful as CO2.

Furthermore, the health risks are increasing according to latest

surveys, such as in December 2014. In which a new study links shale oil and

gas development what researchers called "our most vulnerable

population”, children, and developing fetuses. So,it was found a Study that

links fracking to infertility and birth defects. . In April 2014, a New study

says that fracking is bad for climate and health.Hydraulic fracturing and

oil and gas production affect the climate, environment and public health. In

January 2014: Study shows fracking is bad for babies. hydraulic fracking is

safe for people who live nearby. New research suggests this is not true for

some of the most vulnerable humans: newborn infants. Back in April 2011: it

was discovered its Carcinogens threat. 650 of the chemicals used in

fracking were carcinogens.

But is Fracking considered a waste or is its waste the problem?

Jeff Keller, a natural resource manager for the Army Corps of Engineers,

reports oil companies are spilling and dumping drilling waste onto the region's

land and into its waterways with increasing regularity.

What is even more worrying is that Fracking and earthquakes are

connected. Massive injections of wastewater from the oil and gas industry

are likely to have triggered a sharp rise in eartquakes. The scientists found

that the disposal of water in four high-volume wells could be responsible for

a swarm of tremors up to 35km away.

Nationwide is the first major insurance company to announce that it will not

cover damages related to natural gas fracking operations, stating that after

months of research and discussion, they determined that the exposures

presented by hydraulic fracturing are too great to ignore.

However, in January 2011 an investigation found Clean Air Act

violated in fracking. Oil and gas service companies injected tens of millions

of gallons of diesel fuel into onshore wells in more than a dozen states from

2005 to 2009. In February 2010, two of the largest companies involved in

natural gas drilling have acknowledged pumping hundreds of thousands of

gallons of diesel-based fluids into the ground in the process of hydraulic

fracturing of hydraulic.

This is why, most landowners turn against leasing for

fracking. Nearly half of the landowners who have leased their ground to

shale gas developers in the north-east of America regret doing it, despite

the money they wouldn't repeat the experience. Meanwhile, 48% said they

would advise family and friends against leasing their land for "fracking", a

process which blasts sand, chemicals and water into shale rocks to release

the oil and gas they contain.

Despite all these drawbacks, The fracking boom is hitting all over the

world.Though fracking is used worldwide to extract gas and oil, a fracking

boom has occurred recently in the United States, partly driven by concerns

over energy security and the costs associated with imported oil and other

fossil fuels. In 2000, there were about 276,000 natural gas wells in the

United States. But by 2010, that number had almost doubled to 510,000,

according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). And every year, about

13,000 new wells are drilled. According to a 2014 a study, at least 15.3 million
Americans have lived within a mile of a fracking well that has been drilled

since 2000. The areas where fracking is most profitable include the Great

Plains from Canada south into Texas, the Great Lakes region and an area

known as the Marcellus Shale, which reaches from central New York into

Ohio and south to Virginia, according to the U.S. Energy Information

Administration (EIA).

How safe is fracking? Proponents of fracking claim that the drilling

technique is a safe and clean method of securing essential sources of power

that will meet U.S. energy needs for decades."Fracking has unlocked massive

new supplies of oil and clean-burning natural gas from dense deposits of shale

— supplies that increase our country’s energy security and improve our ability

to generate electricity, heat homes and power vehicles for generations to

come," according to EnergyFromShale.org, an alliance of oil and gas industry

groups.

Unfortunately falling oil prices will affect fracking. With oil prices

continuing to fall, the US shale revolution is "unaffordable" and "simply

unsustainable". Fracking is "astronomically" expensive, requiring huge

amounts of investment, with the cost of just one well ranging from $3-$12

million and supply from it declining rapidly. Opec has decided against cutting

back oil production despite a global surplus, which is likely to cause yet lower

oil prices. That has led to predictions that the fracking bubble will burst,

leading to fracking operators defaulting on an estimated $200bn of debt and

"turmoil on the international markets similar to that in 2008," warns The

Guardian.

Finally, it is only left to say that by expanding so rapidly, "fracking has

become a victim of its own success."

5 PASSIVE VOICE

are extracted

has been used

is drilled

is pumped

is produced

5 ANTECEDENTS

landowners who have leased their ground

the north-east of America regret doing it,

they wouldn't repeat the experience.

Nationwide is the first major insurance company to announce that it,

they determined

5 NOUN PHRASES

cutting-edge technologies

natural gas production.

tight-rock formation

high-volume wells

fracking well

10 LINKERS

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