Transcript Document

Hydraulic Fracturing 101
What is Hydraulic Fracturing?
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the
process of drilling and injecting fluid into the
ground at a high pressure in order to break or
fracture the shale rocks to release natural gas
inside.
What is hydraulic fracturing?
This is an old technique for
increasing oil production from
worked-out oil wells, but a new
technique for obtaining methane
(natural gas).
Hydraulic Fracturing Process
• 1. Drill the well
o
Vertical till the shale is reached and then horizontal lateral
• 2. Case and Cement possible hazard areas
o
o
Pressure zones
Ground Water Areas
• 3. Perforate casing and cementing with Perforating Gun
o
Begins fracture process in rock formation
• 4. Pump fracturing fluid down hole
o
High pressured fluid extend fractures
• 5. Production
Hydraulic Fracturing
Water laced with chemicals is pumped down to fracture the shale
and releases the gas, which can be pumped up.
Casing and Cementing
• Casing and cementing a wellbore is used
to:
o Protect groundwater from contamination
o Keep integrity of well-bore
• Casing is steel pipe that is designed to
handle:
o over- or under-pressured zones
o high tensile stresses down hole
and
• Casing is cemented in place to safely
deliver hydrocarbons to the surface
Perforating the Formation
• Perforated using a “perf gun”
o Perforating
fracture:
o Casing
o Cementing
o Formation
guns use explosive charges to
Pennsylvania has considerable coal and considerable gas in
shale formations. The coal is relatively “dirty”—high in
contaminants such as sulfur. The gas is far below the surface
in the Marcellus and Utica shales.
Marcellus shale