Texas—Hydraulic fracturing. Fracking. It sounds like an epithet, and
many environmentalists blame it for earthquakes and poisoned drinking
water. But fracking has supporters—especially consumers who are spending
less to heat their homes because the controversial technology has
increased natural gas supplies and lowered prices. So what is fracking?
Does it deserve the invective aimed its way? I set off for Midland,
Texas, to find out.
Mark Merritt climbs out of his dusty F150 pickup, hands me a hard hat and safety glasses, and leads me on a tour of a gas well where a "frac" job is taking place. The lanky, soft-spoken Texan is the director of oil and gas operations at Fasken Oil and Ranch, an exploration and production company based in Midland. We're surrounded by equipment: tractor trailers filled with water, sand, miles of steel and composite tubing, hoses and wires snaking along the dusty ground. I can't hear above the steady, incessant thrumming of a dozen heavy diesel compressors pumping thousands of gallons of water and sand deep beneath the earth.
We get some relief from the noise only when we step inside the portable office trailer that serves as control room, operations center, and small kitchen. Technicians in fireproof coveralls monitor computer terminals that continuously spit out data: pressure, temperature, fluid mix, flow rate, and micro-seismic activity around the well bore. All this bustle and noise is temporary. In less than a week the frac job will end, and the crew will haul the equipment to the next job.
Read more: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/19561
Mark Merritt climbs out of his dusty F150 pickup, hands me a hard hat and safety glasses, and leads me on a tour of a gas well where a "frac" job is taking place. The lanky, soft-spoken Texan is the director of oil and gas operations at Fasken Oil and Ranch, an exploration and production company based in Midland. We're surrounded by equipment: tractor trailers filled with water, sand, miles of steel and composite tubing, hoses and wires snaking along the dusty ground. I can't hear above the steady, incessant thrumming of a dozen heavy diesel compressors pumping thousands of gallons of water and sand deep beneath the earth.
We get some relief from the noise only when we step inside the portable office trailer that serves as control room, operations center, and small kitchen. Technicians in fireproof coveralls monitor computer terminals that continuously spit out data: pressure, temperature, fluid mix, flow rate, and micro-seismic activity around the well bore. All this bustle and noise is temporary. In less than a week the frac job will end, and the crew will haul the equipment to the next job.
Read more: http://www.worldmag.com/articles/19561
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