It wasn’t so much the fracing as the directional and horizontal drilling.
. . . but the formations yielding much of the petroleum and NG are tight and have to be fracked. Granted that they also are thin, so that fracking is impractical without the horizontal drilling.
Thats right, and people need to understand that they simply cant run that bore anywhere they want. I had a oil rig supervisor tell me on the plane that they have to stay within a certain line and within a couple feet, or so, of that target.
At that time, he said they had two drill bits broken in the bore they were attempting to drill and that they had to retrieve them.
He was taking a 4 day vacation to Vegas as the crew that did the process took over the rig to get those bits back.
Yes, very true. Also the water containment system design. Lots of innovation in all of it. Took more than 20 years to get it right. Wildcatters are heroes.