Shale Boom Going Bust?
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Cleveland.com covered a presentation at the City Club of Cleveland on Wednesday. The presentation was by Deborah Rogers, founder of the Energy Policy Forum. She discussed shale gas.
Rogers, who has experience in the shale fields of Texas, has a differing view on Ohio’s shale gas boom. She said the number the industry provides about jobs, money and the amount of gas are overstated:
“I have never seen a resource more hyped than shale gas,” said Rogers, a former financial consultant for Wall Street investment firms. “What exactly is going on here?”
The article continues:
To sell the play to the public, energy companies promise new jobs and economic impact. But Rogers said her research shows the numbers of jobs created is modest –about 60,000 in 10 years–and that many shale gas wells never turn a profit.
Hopefully Rogers is wrong about the economic impact of shale gas drilling on local communities, but her presentation is sobering.
» Via: Cleveland.com › Shale gas boom may quickly go bust, speaker warns City Club of Cleveland
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.