Marcellus Shale Web Resources Highlight Facts About Hydraulic Fracturing
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WEXFORD, Pa., July 13 /PRNewswire/ — The Marcellus Shale Committee today announced a new feature on its Web site, www.pamarcellus.com, which provides factual information on all aspects of hydraulic fracturing, including a step-by-step summary of each phase of the process, third-party reports and letters from several state regulators regarding the safety of what is often called “fracing” a natural gas well.
The Web page, “A Focus on Hydraulic Fracturing,” is featured prominently on the committee’s homepage.
“Hydraulic fracturing has been used to produce oil and natural gas in this country for more than 60 years, and has been continuously improved through research and investment,” said Ray Walker, MSC Co-Chair and Vice President of Range Resources. “Hydraulic fracturing is a safe technology that has been applied successfully at more than one million oil and gas wells, and this resource provides a significant amount of information on this and other misrepresented aspects of the fracture process.”
The Web page includes a list of the additives used in the process, along with common consumer uses of those ingredients, such as food additives, soaps, lubricants and other products people use daily. The site also provides links to reports regarding fracturing and natural gas development by government agencies and other national groups, as well as letters from several regulatory agencies refuting claims that cite groundwater contamination from hydraulic fracturing.
“It is important to address the truth about hydraulic fracturing, the composition of the fluids used in the process and the safety and reliability record this technology has demonstrated over the past six decades,” said Rich Weber, MSC Co-chair and President and Chief Operating Officer of Atlas Energy Resources. “A detailed list of chemicals used by the five primary well service companies operating in Pennsylvania was provided to the state Department of Environmental Protection, and is available on the agency’s Marcellus Shale webpage.”
Visitors to this featured Web page can view detailed reports from the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Energy Technology Laboratory and industry groups about the importance of natural gas to our country’s energy needs and the safety of fracture stimulation. Letters from five state regulatory agencies, including the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, to the Groundwater Protection Council cite the lack of evidence of impacts to groundwater from the fracture process.
Editor’s Note: The links to all third-party reports and informational resources on the Marcellus Shale Committee’s hydraulic fracturing Web page can be found below.
About the Marcellus Shale Committee: Formed in 2008, the Marcellus Shale committee represents the oil and gas industry in Pennsylvania on matters pertaining to the acquisition, exploration, drilling, and development of the Marcellus Shale natural gas resource and provides a unified voice before all state, county, and local government or regulatory bodies. The committee, sponsored jointly by the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association and the Independent Oil and Gas Association of Pennsylvania, includes independent producers with historical expertise in the Pennsylvania oil and gas fields and national companies dedicated to bringing their industry experience and resources to achieve common goals.
Hydraulic Fracturing and Natural Gas Development Information Sources:
- Letters from State Regulatory Bodies on Environmental Protections and Safety Records of Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation in Oil and Gas Wells http://www.energyindepth.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/state-letters_hf-and-gwpc.pdf
- Modern Shale Gas Development: A Primer http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/publications/naturalgas_general/Shale_Gas_Primer_2009.pdf
- IPAA’s “Energy In Depth” Web site about Hydraulic Fracturing http://www.energyindepth.org/in-depth/frac-in-depth/
- Environmental Benefits of Advanced Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Technology http://www.fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/publications/environ_benefits/env_benefits.pdf
- EPA Study to Evaluate the Impacts to USDWs by Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/uic/wells_coalbedmethanestudy.html
- Policy Facts on Hydraulic Fracturing Shale Gas Development
Courses on Hydraulic Fracturing