There are many
markets and products offered in the world today that have quite a significance
impact on a countries economy, politics, and even in some cases structure. A
lot of these products are viewed to either be beneficial to the world or quite
the opposite. Whether it is the key to nuclear energy or the next super weapon
these products hold value. Probably one of the most reliable and important of
these markets is the market for oil. This essay will be discussing the importance
of oil in the U.S., the techniques that are used today to extract this
resource, and cleaner more eco friendly solutions to mining.
To start off it is
important to know the history behind oil and the original method that was used
to mine for it. First of all there has always been oil in America. It was
reported by early Europeans that the Native Americans had discovered various
oil pits across the country that they used for religious purposes for hundreds
of years. However it wasn’t until the 19th century where oil was
mined and used for modern technology.
The first people
to start one of the first major drilling extractions of oil in the U.S. were
two men by the names of George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake (Society 2012). They
created the first successful drilling rig at a site in Oil Creek, Pennsylvania
and struck oil within the first couple of days of setting up their drill. As
previous miners had come across oil in similar cases, they had done it
accidently with no intent to extract it. Instead and in most cases these
“accidental” discoveries were made in their attempt to search for salt brine
(Society 2012). So when the Drake well was discovered the market for oil began
to flourish allowing businesses and enterprises to grow through this seemingly
limitless supply of oil.
As this was one of
the first techniques for extracting oil, there have been countless more
proficient ways of improving this method as well as some newer techniques to
drill as well. One of these newer more technologically advanced methods is one
called fracking. Fracking was created in the 1860’s and has been a very popular
method for extracting oil and gas in today’s world especially that of the U.S. Extracting
oil through fracking is a lengthy process and to set up one rig can take months
and millions of dollars to do. However, once a site is created the process is
quite simple. The first step in extracting oil through fracking is to drill
vertically. Once a company has drilled about a mile downwards the drill will
gradually turn horizontally and continue thousands of more feet until there is
space proficient enough to set up a well (BBC, 2015).
The most important
part of setting up a well is to make sure that it is stable enough to allow the
fracking to begin. So to ensure this stability the well will be cased and then
cemented so it is safe enough to proceed. Following this, to start extracting
the oil and gas the drill has to create small perforations in the horizontal
area of the well pipe. Once this is done a stream of water, sand, and other
mixtures will be applied at a high pressure to fracture the rock and to begin
the extraction of oil and gas (BBC 2015).
This method is
widely used and has plenty of pros as well as cons regarding the process. To
start the list of pros one of the main reasoning fracking is used is because it
can reach oil and gas deposits that typical mining methods can’t reach. As well
as this tapping into those hard to reach rich deposits sets up the U.S. to
possibly be self reliant for energy regarding oil, which would be very
beneficial. Also this natural gas and fuel practically replaces the use of
coal, which has proven to have more carbon emissions when used as an energy
source. The final benefit of this method is the jobs that it provides. Gas is
one of the largest industries in the world and fracking has not slowed down its
need for jobs. Fracking has actually provided jobs to thousands within the past
100 years and many families are based around the oil industry (Rinkesh, 2009).
Now
as there are plenty of benefits of fracking there is also quite an amount of
negatives. One of these negatives is the popular belief that pumping so much
water, sand, and chemicals in the ground could have a negative effect on the
surrounding fresh water. This has been a major issue especially regarding locals
living near fracking operations and environmentalist who claim that the
surrounding water near fracking has been contaminated (Rinkesh, 2009). Another
con of this type of drilling is the chemicals used. Companies have the right to
retain any information to the public regarding the chemicals used in this
process of drilling and so therefore the chemicals that they do not share with
the public could be poisonous and even lethal.
The final con to
this method of drilling is the water used. Many cities water sources are used
for fracking and more then 35 million gallons of freshwater are exported per
fracking site. There is fear among people that this excess use of water could
lead to water depletion as well as other environmental concerns (Rinkesh, 2009).
So the main question regarding this type of mining is whether or not it poses
severe environmental hazards to areas surrounding the site.
Majorities of
people believe that there has been no damage done that relates to drilling why
others say quite the opposite. Now it would appear that earlier on in the
development of fracking that water sources had not been affected by fracking.
However, states all over the country that use fracking as a main source of
mining near cities and towns have claimed that fresh water sources, which were
clean before these operations have in fact now been contaminated. As there has
been no real evidence regarding this it does come as quite a surprise to most
that this may be an issue.
This isn’t the
only case either. There have been numerous reports from locals claiming that
their water is polluted, that it tastes and smells bad, and some have even
reported getting quite ill to the point where they were hospitalized for it.
Now if there have been so many reports and claims regarding this why is nothing
being done? It is often viewed that fracking should be abandoned all together
and that it poses too much of a risk to locals. This may be a common belief but
there are actually some solutions to this problem. One of these solutions
relates to the wastewater used in mining operations. Now fracking creates
millions of gallons of waste water so what if there was a way to reduce this
number and maybe even find a way to conserve most of this water for future
fracking operations?
If there was to be
proof behind claims of pollution of major water sources in relation to fracking
why should major oil companies take the risk of shutting down an operation
before it even gets started? There have been many solutions regarding this issue
and the best one to be pushed forward is water treatment. Engineers at the
University of Colorado have developed a water treatment technique that
decreases the contaminants and salt in flow back water and cleans it enough
were it can be used again in future operations. Addition to this it runs
through a battery system that is constantly being charged through this process,
which in turn could be used to power equipment at the site (Chilcoat, 2015).
Now as this would appear to be a costly solution to an oil company’s problem it
would be an effective one.
The benefits this
technology could provide to oil companies are endless. These oil companies who
have to worry about the publics opinion and health hazards wouldn’t have to
anymore for this technology would resolve any of these hazards. Also the ability
to power machinery on site, while cleaning flow backwater would literally be killing
two birds with one stone. As this technology is still in its earliest form of
development it could provide quite a positive solution to many of the problems
oil companies face today.
Oil has one of the
largest markets in the world and grows everyday. It provides millions of jobs
and creates a large amount of income for a countries economy. There have been
debates and issues regarding the use of fracking, but for every problem created
there is always a solution. With the development of this technology for safer,
cleaner fracking operations it may provide an ending to disadvantages of
fracking and show oil companies as well as other people that the oil industry
can be beneficial through safe clean means.
Bibliography
BBC. (2015 ,
December 16). What is fracking and why is it controversial? Retrieved
December 15, 2016, from BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-14432401
Chilcoat, C. (2015, March 10). Finding
solutions for a fracking wastewater problem. Retrieved December 15, 2016,
from The Christian Science Monitor:
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2015/0310/Finding-solutions-for-a-fracking-wastewater-problem
Hoffman, J. (2012). Potential Health
and Environmental Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin, Montana.
Retrieved December 15, 2016, from Teach the Earth:
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/hydrofracking_w.html
Rinkesh, (2009). Pros and Cons of Fracking. Retreived
December 15, 2016, from Conserve Energy Future: http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/pros-and-cons-of-fracking.php
Society, A. O. (2012). George
Bissell’s Oil Seeps. Retrieved December 15, 2016, from American Oil and
Gas Historical Soceity:
http://aoghs.org/petroleum-pioneers/george-bissell-oil-seeps/
