Is Shale Gas Good For The Economy?
There are many arguments out there as too how important shale gas is to your economy. First of all, what is shale gas? Shale gas is in reference to the natural gas that is found trapped within a shale formation. Shales are formation of sedimentary rocks and are usually rich in sources for petrol and natural gas. Shale formations containing a considerable amount of natural gas are also referred to a shale play. One question usually asked is how are shale gases extracted? Well, this is usually done through a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, which allows huge volumes of shale gas to be produced at a time, which in the past was uneconomical to produce.
Horizontal drilling consists is used to provide a much more significant opening and access to the gases trapped in the sedimentary formations. This is done by firstly creating long vertical well at the target area, once the desired depth is reach, this drill will then start to drill horizontally, exposing the well to much more of the shale gases. The second most commonly process of extracting is hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. This technique involves sand, water and chemicals being pumped into the well to unlock the gases trapped within the rocks, therefore allowing the natural gas to flow from the shale into the well for easier extraction. Hydraulic fracturing allows the gas producers to extract shale gas at a reasonable cost, when used in conjunction with the parallel drilling. Without these two techniques the process of extracting the natural gases would not be produced in lard quantities.
There are many people who have concerns about the production of shale gas. The production of these types of gases have a lot of environmental issues in play and one of the biggest concerns is the water supply issues. The process of drilling and fracturing the wells requires huge amounts of water, in some areas where shale gas is produced, the availability of water for other uses maybe as scarce. Many people also protest that the use of such huge amounts of water ruin the habitats of many living animals. Waste water is also a result of drilling and this water maybe be contaminated with dissolved chemical so it would require treatment before being reused. This can have detrimental costs in itself.
Horizontal drilling consists is used to provide a much more significant opening and access to the gases trapped in the sedimentary formations. This is done by firstly creating long vertical well at the target area, once the desired depth is reach, this drill will then start to drill horizontally, exposing the well to much more of the shale gases. The second most commonly process of extracting is hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. This technique involves sand, water and chemicals being pumped into the well to unlock the gases trapped within the rocks, therefore allowing the natural gas to flow from the shale into the well for easier extraction. Hydraulic fracturing allows the gas producers to extract shale gas at a reasonable cost, when used in conjunction with the parallel drilling. Without these two techniques the process of extracting the natural gases would not be produced in lard quantities.
There are many people who have concerns about the production of shale gas. The production of these types of gases have a lot of environmental issues in play and one of the biggest concerns is the water supply issues. The process of drilling and fracturing the wells requires huge amounts of water, in some areas where shale gas is produced, the availability of water for other uses maybe as scarce. Many people also protest that the use of such huge amounts of water ruin the habitats of many living animals. Waste water is also a result of drilling and this water maybe be contaminated with dissolved chemical so it would require treatment before being reused. This can have detrimental costs in itself.
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