Posted on 03/23/2014 11:15:57 AM PDT by Kaslin
Side note, does anyone know (realistically) how long a well can actually produce for? (broad question, I know, just looking for an average is all).
Twenty to thirty years for nat gas (don’t know about oil), but there is a marked dropoff after about 6 months and a slow decline from then on.
The price of gas makes more difference to my checks than the decline now that I’m well past the first 6 months and about 4 years into the production under my rights.
I worked in the oilfield circa 1982. Trust me, they had fracking back then. So it’s been around for at least 30 years.
Fracking is not going to end unless everyone is willing to live in the stone age, because....
90% of all new wells are fracked. The easy stuff has been drilled in general.
Local fracking bans are just money in the bank that will get withdrawn later.
The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters Hardcover
by Gregory Zuckerman (Author)
And one more... Before the extraction of oil began off the coast of California the beaches were all but unusable in some areas because of the “natural” seepage that occurred. Now, because the oil is being removed from offshore? Pristine beaches. Fracking no doubt also removes oil from other underground water sources.
Yep, fracking been around a long time. Over 1.2 million wells have been fracked.
The real breakthrough was when George Mitchell (Mitchell Energy, since sold to Devon) invented the drill bit that allowed drilling down and then turning and going horizontal. My Dad’s family business (with me in the field) staked wells for George in the 60’s and 70’s. He just passed away a couple of years ago.
Shale oil and gas are deposited in somewhat narrow horizontal layers, vertical drilling won’t work. But you can go through miles of the layer by going horizontal. My current paying wells go several miles through 18-21 owners of acreages of various sizes.
In PA I beleive fracking is more viable due to the ability to drill horizontally.
Was that available back then or is it the reason it is more viable now?
Just curious.
See post 26.
Should have noted that the wells we staked in the 60’s 70’s were vertical. They were west of Ft Worth, Texas.
George Mitchell invented the rotating drill bit later, perhaps in the 90’s, can’t remember. That set off the boom.
Oh, I see SaxxonWoods just answered my question.
Never mind.
The debate is over!
They get their information from Saudi financed Propaganda.
Frack, baby, frack.
For those who want to see a 6 minute video showing how horizontal drilling and fracking is done, Northern Gas and Oil has done a great one.
It includes a visual piece on how fresh water aquifers are protected from contamination.
http://www.northernoil.com/drilling-video
Knowledge is power, keep the link and pass it on.
Agreed, but you know how those enviros lie. Look at the AGW crowd for example #1. Oh, and remember in the 90s when they were going on about rain forests? At the rate they were said to be destroyed, they've all been gone for years now!
I saw on a TeeVee show (network crime drama) that fracking can cause tap water to become flammable. So it MUST be true.
I’m not sure where your wells are. The longest I have worked in the Williston Basin (Bakken formation) were about 12000 ft. of lateral and they were on 2 1/2 section spacings. Most here only go about 9500 ft. of lateral displacement on a 1280 acre spacing with the required setbacks.
Except among the extremist Gerbil Fracking Deniers.
I remember similar scares over:
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