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Historical Kentucky fracking information, 1818-2015
 in Kentucky |
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This page contains historical information about fracking in Kentucky. For more current information about fracking in Kentucky, see this article.
As of 2014, detailed information about the extent to which fracking was used in Kentucky was limited. The information below describes fracking and oil and gas production in Kentucky generally.
Fracking background
- See also: Fracking
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of oil and natural gas extraction. The process involves injecting fluid into subterranean rock formation at a high pressure, creating a fracture network that allows the crude oil and natural gas inside dense rocks to flow into a wellbore and be extracted at the surface. The fluid used in this process is made up of sand and water, which comprise 95 percent of the fluid, and other chemical additives, which comprise less than 5 percent of the fluid.[1]
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were approximately 23,000 hydraulically fractured wells in the United States in 2000. By 2015, there were an estimated 300,000 hydraulically fractured wells. To learn more about fracking, see this article.[2][3]
History
Oil was discovered in Kentucky in 1818 at a well drilled by a salt company searching for a brine source. Shale gas production in Kentucky began in 1892 in Floyd County. Fracking was first used in Kentucky in the 1960s in eastern Kentucky.[4][5]
Production
As of August 2014, according to the Kentucky Division of Oil and Gas, most gas wells in Kentucky were fracked with nitrogen gas.[6]
The graphs below detail oil and natural gas production in Kentucky from 2000-2011.
Fracking policy in the 50 states
Click on a state below to read more about that state's energy policy.'
See also
External links
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Kentucky Profile"
- Frac Focus, "National Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Registry"
Footnotes
- ↑ Frack Wire, “What is Fracking,” accessed January 28, 2014
- ↑ University of Oklahoma, "Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Resources," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Energy Information Administration, "Hydraulic fracturing accounts for about half of current U.S. crude oil production," March 15, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedhistory - ↑ Kentucky Department for Natural Resources, "Division of Oil and Gas," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ KY Division of Oil and Gas, "Hydraulic Fracturing in Kentucky," accessed July 11, 2014
