Hydraulic fracturing is a safe and proven technology that has been used in more than a million wells to extract oil and natural gas. The technology is now being combined with sophisticated horizontal drilling to reach previously untouchable supplies of natural gas that lie in shale rock deposits deep below the Earth’s surface.
Hydraulic fracturing is a process that creates fractures, or fissures, in underground geologic formations that allow natural gas to flow into a wellbore and be brought to the surface for collection. A special fracturing fluid consisting primarily of water and sand is pumped under high pressure into the rock formation. The high pressure creates fractures in the rock, which are then propped open by sand, allowing the natural gas to move freely from the rock. [i]
For more detailed information about the hydraulic fracturing process, watch the video:
[i] US Department of Energy, Hydraulic Fracturing, diagram.