But the cost of fracking means that fuel prices must remain high to keep it economical to do.
And the cost of fuel will rise without it.
Having fracking puts a ceiling on how high OPEC oil prices can go.
It is true- fracking ain’t free. Seems like this was already discussed today, but yes, in order for a well to be economical certain production targets have to be met due to extraction and other costs. But the good news sucessful operators are learning how to levarage new processes or refining techniques either independently thru experience and/or via sharing of institutional knowledge in a given area.
Not all formations are the same and there is a learning curve involved in new plays. But the key thing is they are getting more effecient and the extraction costs will drop, but how fast it declines is unkown. We will see the value at the pump sooner or later. Alternatively we could leave all that oil locked up in formation and unreachable via tradtional vertical drilling and keep playing sweetly with our ME enemies forever. And wating for cold fusion to come to fruition, i suppose.