Hydraulic Fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" is a process used to "stimulate" well production in the oil and gas industry.
It is not a new process, but its use has increased significantly in recent years because of new horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracking (or "completions") technologies that improve access to natural gas and oil deposits.
Fracking involves pumping large volumes of water and sand into a well at high pressure to break up or fracture shale and other tight formations, allowing oil and gas to flow into the well. The diagram to the right shows the hydraulic fracturing and flowback process.
As you can see from the diagram, hydraulic fracturing generally involves the following activities:
- Rig up
- Well and equipment testing
- Perforating
- Fracturing fluid blending and pumping
- Isolation
- Flowback
We will discuss each of these processes throughout the remainder of this module.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
2-1. Why has hydraulic fracking increased in recent years?
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