What is fracking? Things to know about the Texas-born practice, and why the UK's new prime minister has banned it
The high-pressure process unlocked oil and gas embedded in the world’s shale basins, where dense rock required a new method of extraction., developer of The Woodlands, pioneered the modern fracking method in combination with horizontal drilling — which took hold in the early 2000s and is now the primary way oil and gas are extracted from shale basins around the world.
The technique ushered in the so-called shale revolution, which made the U.S. the world’s largest oil and gas producer.Fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, uses a mixture of sand, chemicals and water pumped at high pressure into a well to crack the rock. Sand props open the cracks to help the oil flow freely.Concerns about a connection between fracking and earthquakes are the primary reason Britain and others have banned the practice.
to limit fracking, phasing out the practice ahead of a hard stop to fracking in 2024. Other states that have limited fracking include New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.A world without fracking would threaten the role that the Permian Basin, Texas and the United States could play in oil and gas production. Unless alternative energy sources become more prevalent, such a move would also deal a blow to the world’s energy supplies and cause prices to soar.