NEED TO KNOW
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING (FRACKING)
WHAT IS FRACKING?
Hydraulic Fracturing, or “fracking,” is a process of breaking up rock
thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface that contains oil or natural gas.
The process works by pumping a fluid, 99% water and 1% sand and
chemicals, at extremely high pressure into a resource-rich layer of rock. The
pressurized fluid then creates tiny fissures in the rock to release trapped oil
or gas. The released energy reserves and much of the fracking fluid is then
pumped out of the ground and trucked to the appropriate storage or
refinement installations.
Fracking has been industry standard practice for over 60 years because it is
a safe, effective method of acquiring energy. Throughout the twentieth
century, almost all fracking was practiced in vertically drilled wells. Around
the turn of the century, new technology expanded drilling capabilities to
include horizontal drilling, allowing drillers to extract resources that were
impossible or uneconomical to reach using previous vertical drilling
techniques. Thanks to horizontally drilled wells, natural gas production has
rapidly increased in the past 15 years, most notably in shale rock formations.
These recent developments have sparked a natural gas revolution,
dramatically increasing supply and employment and reducing consumer
costs. However, misinformed and reactionary opponents are trying to block
fracking, despite its economic advantages.

ECONOMIC IMPACT: EMPLOYMENT, ENERGY, AND
PRODUCTION
Natural gas production has been a major component to U.S.
economic growth in the last ten years. Recent development has
simultaneously increased employment and reduced the price of
natural gas energy. According to a study commissioned by the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, operations at shale sites alone are
responsible for employing 1.7 million people. As these processes are
pursed at more shale sites across the country, an additional 2.3
million jobs can be created by 2020. Investment in natural gas
operations has not only bolstered employment, but significantly
contributed to economic growth as well ($238 billion added value in
2012) (4).
Increased production from shale rock has greatly increased the
national supply of natural gas. As supply has increased, prices of
natural gas utilities have fallen significantly. From 2007 to 2012,
production from shale gas has increased 400%, cutting natural gas
power rates for American families in half (5). In 2012 alone, American
households saved $17 billion on lower natural gas power bills.

QUICK FACTS
Hydraulic fracturing has been
a standard industry practice
since the 1940s.
Sodium fluoride, found in the
majority of toothpastes, is far
more hazardous and toxic
than any chemical used in
fracking fluid (1).

NOTABLE & QUOTABLE
“There are thousands of feet
of rock between deep-shale
formations and shallow
aquifers, and it’s precisely that
barrier that keeps these fluids
miles away from shallow
drinking-water sources.”
- Simon Lomax, research
director of Energy in Depth
(2)

 Natural gas is also used to produce countless other
goods. Steel, glass, paper, clothing, fertilizer, paints,
plastics, antifreeze, dyes, photographic film, medicines
and many more goods require natural gas as a
component or energy source in their production
processes (7). Increased natural gas supply has
reduced the cost of production of these many essential
products.

FRACKING AND THE ENVIRONMENT: CLEAN
RECORD, SULLIED REPUTATION
The most persistent myth that opponents pedal is that
fracking causes water contamination. To the contrary,
there has never been a recorded instance of drinking
water being polluted by fracking (8). According to a
study by the Pennsylvania State University, rare
instances of contamination are the fault of poor well
construction, not the fracturing of rock. In fact, the
majority of water contamination complaints allegedly
linked to fracking have actually been pre-existing
problems or caused by other non-drilling activity (9).
While the process does leave chemicals in the fractured rock, there are thousands of feet of
impermeable rock between fracture zones and water stores that prevent injectant migration.
Furthermore, the most commonly used chemicals can be found in the typical home and make up a very
small percentage of the fracking fluid.

CONCLUSION
Fracking has played a pivotal role in stimulating economic growth and employment in recent years,
primarily through increasing natural gas production. Despite opponent’s accusations, fracking is a
time-tested, safe process that has been extremely beneficial to American households and businesses
alike.
Endnotes:
1.
Dr. Barry Stevens, “The Truth about Fracking Fluid and its Disposal,” OilPrice.com and CNBC (May 2012),
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Facts-about-Fracking-Fluid-and-its-Disposal.html
2.
Jim Efstathiou Jr., “Fracking Fluids May Migrate to Aquifers, Researcher Says,” Bloomberg (May 2012),
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-03/fracking-fluids-may-migrate-to-aquifiers-researcher-says.html
3.
“Fracturing,” Penn Virginia Corporation, http://www.pennvirginia.com/operations/Fracturing/default.aspx
4.
“America’s New Energy Future: The Unconventional Oil and Gas Revolution and the US Economy,” U.S. Chamber of
commerce (December 2012),
http://www.energyxxi.org/sites/default/files/Americas_New_Energy_Future_State_Main_Dec12.pdf
5.
“Natural Gas Data,” U.S. Energy Information Administration (February 2013),
http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/ngm_epg0_fgs_nus_mmcfm.htm, http://www.eia.gov/dnav/ng/hist/n3045us3m.htm
6.
Jonathan Zasloff, “Is California Fracking Regulation Out of Focus?” Legal Planet (February 12, 2013),
http://legalplanet.wordpress.com/2013/02/12/is-california-fracking-regulation-out-of-focus/
7.
Michael B. McEclroy and Xi Lu, “Fracking’s Future,” Harvard Magazine (Jan-Feb 2013),
http://harvardmagazine.com/2013/01/frackings-future
8.
Nicolas Loris, “Hydraulic Fracturing: Critical for Energy Production, Jobs, and Economic Growth,” The Heritage
Foundation (August 2012),
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2012/08/hydraulic-fracturing-critical-for-energyproduction-jobs-and-economic-grow
th
9.
“Water Facts 28: Gas Well Drilling and Your Private Water Supply,” Pennsylvania State University College of
Agricultural Sciences (2008), http://www.lhup.edu/mkhalequ/Geology%20Seminar/gasdrilling.pdf

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