Hydraulic Fracturing
Hydraulic fracturing is a technique in which water is mixed with sand and chemicals and the resultant mixture is injected at an extremely high pressure into a wellbore. This creates small fractures in the deep rock formations, typically less than 1mm wide, along which gas, oil and brine may migrate upwards to the well. Hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, then small grains of sand or aluminium oxide hold these fractures open once the rock achieves equilibrium.
The technique is very common in wells for shale gas, tight gas and tight oil wells. This well stimulation is usually conducted once in the life of the well and greatly enhances fluid removal and well productivity, but there has been an increasing trend towards multiple hydraulic fracturing as production declines.
The first experimental use of hydraulic fracturing was in 1947, and the first commercially successful applications were in 1949. As of 2012, 2.5 million hydraulic fracturing jobs have been performed on oil and gas wells worldwide, more than one million of them in the United States.
Contact: 713-239-4000
Hydraulic fracturing is a technique in which water is mixed with sand and chemicals and the resultant mixture is injected at an extremely high pressure into a wellbore. This creates small fractures in the deep rock formations, typically less than 1mm wide, along which gas, oil and brine may migrate upwards to the well. Hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, then small grains of sand or aluminium oxide hold these fractures open once the rock achieves equilibrium.
The technique is very common in wells for shale gas, tight gas and tight oil wells. This well stimulation is usually conducted once in the life of the well and greatly enhances fluid removal and well productivity, but there has been an increasing trend towards multiple hydraulic fracturing as production declines.
The first experimental use of hydraulic fracturing was in 1947, and the first commercially successful applications were in 1949. As of 2012, 2.5 million hydraulic fracturing jobs have been performed on oil and gas wells worldwide, more than one million of them in the United States.
Contact: 713-239-4000
