Energy from Shale

Frontier Drilling fracking unit in Deadhorse Canyon in the land of Thelma and Louise

Have you traveled around the Rocky Mountain area lately?

This summer I had the distinct priviledge of visiting many states in the Mountain time zone.  I saw beauty beyond belief. The western lands of United States of America continued to mesmerize me on my journey with its unsurpassed varied beauty and incredible natural resources.

From Nebraska to Montana to Utah to New Mexico, I saw not only the obvious: the expansive sand hills of western Nebraska, the towering Bitterroot mountains of Montana, the magical canyons of southern Utah, the stunning high desert sky of New Mexico and everything in between.  I also saw hundreds of what is pictured above: drilling stations. 

These drilling stations known as hydraulic fracturing units dotted the western landsape seemingly everywhere I traveled.  These units are drilling way down under almost 5,000 to 10,000 feet to shale rock that is the imprisoned home of huge reserves of natural gas and petroleum. Simply, the 'fracking'  technique is used to release natural gas and petroleum from the shale rock layer. 

The fracking process introduces high pressure water and sand inside a double-encased concrete steel lined pipe casings that "frees" the oil and the gas from the shale layer. The oil and gas is then returned to the surface for collection, transport and refinement. Presently, there are over 500,000 active wells in the United States extracting oil and gas from deep inside the earth.  Supposedly, there is a 100 plus year supply of natural gas reserves buried in shale for generations of Americans.  In fact, presently, there is a glut of natural gas that has caused prices to collapse and its revenues to erode. However, amidst this overabundance of energy produced in our own country, fracking appears to be a growth industry for years to come unless the government shuts it down.

The opposition to fracking comes from the liberal anti-using of natural resources Green Party.  They oppose on reasons ranging from water aquifer contamination to release of methane gas into the atmosphere.   The drilling industry has been drilling these wells for over 60 years and to date there is no evidence of aquifer poisoning from hydraulic fracturing.

Little did I know that after viewing these vertical drill rigs in the open spaces of western America, they were producing the lion's share of usuable energy for our country. With very little visual annoyance above ground, they work miles into the earth securing much needed energy independence from the volatile Middle East.  Let us hope our government continues to allow the safe and efficient energy drilling throughout our country for years to come.

Lord knows we need to be free from the chains of the Mideast and continued fracking is part of the solution.