Hydraulic fracturing; an environmental topic

First in a series

On the minds of many and in the spotlight of many media debates is the method of mining for oil and natural gas called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.”

With this method of mining many people are concerned with the possibility of contamination of drinking water and local wells, sink holes and onset of seismic activity.

Stan Belieu, Deputy Director of Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Sidney Office, broke this information on mining down.

“Hydrolic fracturing is the process of allowing oil, gas or water in rock, to make its way out. Through use of water and sand, as well as other ingredients, opening the formation up and putting artificial permeability into a reservoir or rocks that didn’t have it before. It is used to produce oil and gas.”

He said this “trapped” natural resource would otherwise not be obtainable due to the hardness of the rock surrounding it, therefore would not be accessible for human use without mining for it.

Not every one of the 223 oil wells in Cheyenne County was reached through hydrologic fracturing; however within this area fracturing was used for the 99 natural gas wells.

Belieu said depending on the formation where the pocket sits within will be a determining factor if fracturing is used to reach the pocket.

“Our gas wells are from the Niobrara formation, so all the wells are hydraulic re-fractured and have been for the past 60 to 70 years.”

Within the state of Nebraska there are about 150 wells a year being drilled, with about 50 percent being drilled within the panhandle.

The state produces on average of over a half a billion barrels of oil in a year, according to Belieu.

In other words, the oil and gas business creates a workforce within the state, and according to Belieu it is approxamately10,000 jobs.

There is a difference between the process used in the eastern part of the United States and the process used in Cheyenne County.

“The volumes aren’t as big,” Belieu began, “we don’t use near the amount of water, nearly the amount of sand or chemicals they use back east.”

This is because straight hole drilling, or fracking, is done in this area right now, whereas the holes being drilled around the Marcelluce formation are horizontal wells.

Belieu admitted the process is complicated and there are still unknowns despite the longevity of its use, about 60 years, likely the misinformation about this specific process is what has the public fearing its use.

“Hydraulic fracturing has become the catch all for all types of operations, drilling completions everything, it has become this term that means ‘new oil gas’ development,” Belieu said.

The major difference between now and 60 years ago is the development of horizontal drilling.

“The reservoirs they are doing this in (horizontal drilling) were never developed for oil and gas before the last 10 years,” he said.

Even though horizontal fracturing is something starting in this area, Belieu said one of the reasons it is a safer method for this area is because having the reservoirs within these formations in a vacuum the lack of movement makes fracturing safer to do around aquifers.

“Plus we have within Cheyenne County about 3,000 ft. of shale that separates the zone where the oil and gas is produced from the drinking water we have here – be it the Ogallala or Brule aquifer. So you have this massive shale that is impermeable, so you couldn’t fracture through that.”

Belieu said, as long as regulations for drilling companies are followed, there is no real danger of a contamination of the aquifers.