Posted on 03/02/2011 11:20:52 AM PST by Army Air Corps
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Two weeks ago we told you about oil and gas companies taking a growing interest in properties south of Lubbock. After our story aired, viewers came to us with questions about how the advanced drilling methods could affect the environment.
Tuesday, we spoke with the chair of Texas Tech's Petroleum Engineering Department to get some answers.
As we reported, geologists are looking for natural gas and oil in a large rock formation more than a mile below the surface. They'll inject a combination water, sand, and sometimes chemicals into the rock called shale. When it breaks, companies hope to use horizontal drilling to extract any oil or gas from the tiny fractures, but many ask, is it safe?
In a scene from the documentary "Gasland," a man holds a lighter up to his sink, and eventually the small ember bursts into flames. Environmentalists say it can happen when impurities in natural gas reach our drinking water.
Texas Tech Petroleum Engineering Department Chair Mohamed Solimon has researched the advanced drilling method called hydraulic fracturing. "It's like any other industry. People can make mistakes, but if you do it right there should not be an issue or any problem," he said.
Geologists think the shale formations are in Lynn, Terry, Gaines, Dawson, Hockley, and other South Plains counties. They estimate the formation could be thousands of feet below the earth's surface.
Many land owners are concerned that drilling could release gas and impurities that could contaminate groundwater in the Ogallala Aquifer. The Ogallala supplies drinking water to several West Texas cities. Solimon doesn't think it's an issue.
"We're talking about formations that may be several thousands of feet deep," he continued. "And you're talking about contaminating an aquifer that is 200 feet deep, the fluid will not move that distance and there are many variables in between," he said.
The Environmental Protection Agency reported water contamination in the Fort Worth area from natural gas drilling. On its website, the EPA said they recognize natural gas as a vital resource, but they want to make sure development is safe, and they're studying the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water. Solimon says people need to educate themselves on the issues.
"I think that the issue is that people are not familiar with fracturing or production of oil. This is something new," Solimon told us. "Once they realize how safe it can be, they will lose that fear."
As of March, there were no reports of any new wells, but experts tell us that process could begin as early as this summer.
Ping.
Already, “concerns” arise from the usual suspects as companies take greater interest in oil and natural gas on the Texas plains.
???????
We haven't stopped drilling in Texas.
I think that the author meant the South Plains (especially the counties mentioned in his previous article on the subject). Sloppy writing/reporting.
Well, you know the answer to that one. BAAAD.
Or: It might possibly be OK, but we need a hundred years to do a thorough study of the environmental ramifications before giving the required permissions to proceed.
You need an interdepartmental panel for that kind of work. Possibly create a Blue Ribbon commission.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Maybe someone in the energy business knows why. What I've been hearing is that even though the moratorium on offshore drilling was lifted due to court order, the permit process was changed. What Hussein and the EPA did was make the process so convoluted and difficult that it effectively killed any new drilling.
Again, if someone in the energy business knows different please correct me.
*** a man holds a lighter up to his sink, and eventually the small ember bursts into flames. Environmentalists say it can happen when impurities in natural gas reach our drinking water.***
Bunkum. Many water wells have natural occuring methane in them. One woman was killed over in Oklahoma a few years ago when wasps plugged up the water well vent used to bleed off natural occuring methane. Her well house exploded when she was in there.
That would be Texas District 8A
Go to the interactive link above. There is an oil well being drilled in Lynn; 5 in Gaines, 3 in Dawson, 3 in Hockley. Those are just last week for a count.
I think the author just doesn’t know how to get the information.
This is onshore, not offshore.
I think that you are correct. According to some relatives in the oil and gas industry, this part of Texas is ripe for further development.
I think an e-mail to author is in order...
For the love of God. No other industry has come under more attack than the oil industry. Yet they always innovate their way around roadblocks. Imagine what they could do if they didn’t have to put up with leftist nonsense?
Imagine what all of us could do without leftist intervention.
Yes, but did the process for all new drilling suddenly become much more complicated?
They’re just referring to new wells in the local area sout of Lubbock where they are exploring for deep gas that could be recovered through fracturing the rock formations. Not a reference to drilling in general
Frack em. Drill!
Mohamed Solimon, who joined Texas Tech’s faculty last month as chairman of the Whitacre College of Engineering’s petroleum engineering department, said of the effect of a spreading unrest: “Even if the U.S. does not buy oil directly from that country, somebody else buys from the Middle East. If production is disrupted, there is less oil to everybody, so the price will go up everywhere.”
Since the onset of Egyptian demonstrations, unrest has been reported in Iran, the world’s fourth-largest oil-producing nation, along with Bahrain and Yemen.
Egypt’s geopolitical role in the region is a critical one because “it has always been the cultural heart of the Arab countries,” Solimon said. “Egypt is the cultural center, the trendsetter for other countries.”
Solimon, an Egyptian native with a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Cairo University, noted the nation’s level of education gives a chance for democracy to flourish after a 59-year dictatorship that has seen three presidents — Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat, then Mubarak for the past 30 years.
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