[Antoninus II]

fracking is a production enhancement technique, not a drilling procedure.

Very true. Horizontal drilling has been around a lot longer than fracking. But then again I'm in the business. I work for Schlumberger. Used to work for Baker-Hughes INTEQ. INTEQ makes downhole evaluations tools that measure formation density, porosity, resistivity, and acoustic properties.

[nascarnation]

Well thank you for helping break our dependence on mideast oil! Drill baby drill!

[Smokin' Joe]

Well, fracking as we know it today is a recent development (multistage horizontal well frac jobs). But hydraulic fracturing was done even on vertical wells, and acid fracs, explosive fracs, and others go back 70+ years.

I'm in the industry, too, and have been working horizontal wells since 1990, vertical and directional wells before that in carbonate, clastic, and fractured volcanic reservoirs (since 1979). A lot has changed as far as tech goes, and one thing is certain--it will keep changing.