Historical Texas fracking information, 1866-2015
 in Texas |
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This page contains historical information about fracking in Texas. For more current information about fracking in Texas, see this article.
As of 2012, 13,540 wells had been fracked in Texas, according to the Environment America Research and Policy Center.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3][4]
History
The first oil producing well was drilled by Lyne T. Barret in 1866. The first commercial oil field followed this discovery in Nacogdoches County.[5]
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing were first combined in Texas during the late 1980s and early 1990s in wells in the Barnett Shale, located in northern Texas. By 1999, fracking was used in Texas to open up previously inaccessible natural gas reservoirs.[6]
Production
The tables and graphs below detail oil and natural gas production in Texas from 2000 to 2013.[7][8][9][10]
| Texas natural gas production | |
|---|---|
| Year | Production in MCF |
| 2000 | 4,776,483,547 |
| 2001 | 4,819,912,750 |
| 2002 | 4,781,077,461 |
| 2003 | 4,832,295,310 |
| 2004 | 4,892,609,499 |
| 2005 | 5,012,083,535 |
| 2006 | 5,390,179,617 |
| 2007 | 5,715,537,597 |
| 2008 | 6,539,009,146 |
| 2009 | 6,804,617,582 |
| 2010 | 6,421,714,842 |
| 2011 | 6,144,991,447 |
| 2012 | 5,935,203,512 |
| 2013 | 6,246,415,524 |
| Texas oil production | |
|---|---|
| Year | Production in MBBLs |
| 2000 | 398,678 |
| 2001 | 378,849 |
| 2002 | 364,314 |
| 2003 | 357,240 |
| 2004 | 349,233 |
| 2005 | 344,226 |
| 2006 | 340,885 |
| 2007 | 336,222 |
| 2008 | 346,632 |
| 2009 | 344,527 |
| 2010 | 356,911 |
| 2011 | 393,880 |
| 2012 | 533,141 |
| 2013 | 703,119 |
Fracking at the ballot box
The City of Denton approved a ballot initiative that banned fracking in the city on November 4, 2014. The measure did allow other types of oil and natural gas extraction to continue. This measure made Denton, which at that time was home to 121,000 residents and featured more than 270 natural gas wells, the first major city in Texas to prohibit the use of fracking within its city limits. The measure was never enforced, however, and by June 17, 2015, the Denton City Council had repealed the initiative. This repeal came after a bill was signed into law that prohibited cities from banning fracking.[11][12]
Read more about fate of the fracking ban here.
Fracking in the 50 states
Click on a state below to read more about energy in that state.
See also
External links
- U.S. Energy Information Administration "Texas Profile"
- Frac Focus, "National Hydraulic Fracturing Chemical Registry"
Footnotes
- ↑ Environment America Research & Policy Center, "Fracking by the Numbers," October 2013
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Texas Almanac "Oil and Texas: A Cultural History," accessed June 30, 2014
- ↑ Headwater Magazine, "A History of Hydraulic Fracturing," accessed September 9, 2014
- ↑ Texas Railroad Commission, "Texas Monthly Oil & Gas Production," accessed July 29, 2014
- ↑ Texas Railroad Commission, "Crude Oil Production and Well Counts (since 1935)," accessed July 29, 2014
- ↑ Texas Railroad Commission, "Texas Monthly Oil & Gas Production," accessed July 29, 2014
- ↑ Texas Railroad Commission, "Natural Gas Production and Well Counts (since 1935)," accessed July 29, 2014
- ↑ Denton Record Chronicle, "Group seeks ban on fracking," February 18, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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