Energy and Opportunity

The link between hydraulic fracturing and U.S. global
leadership in oil and natural gas production is direct:
Without fracking, there’d be no American energy
renaissance – or the array of benefits it is providing
to our economy, to individual households, U.S.
manufacturers and other businesses. Modern hydraulic
fracturing – fracking has been used commercially for
nearly 70 years – is the technological engine behind
surging U.S. oil and natural gas output. According to the
U.S. Energy Department, up to 95 percent 1 of new wells
drilled today are hydraulically fractured, accounting for
two-thirds 2 of total U.S. marketed natural gas production
and about half 3 of U.S. crude oil production.

Modern hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal
drilling allows multiple wells to be drilled from one spot,
reducing the size of the drilling area above ground
by as much as 90 percent.4 Fracking is the key to
unlocking vast U.S. shale resources, freeing up oil
and natural gas that previously was inaccessible while
protecting groundwater supplies and the environment.
America’s shale energy revolution is privately financed
and technologically driven. It’s also an economic
dynamo; shale natural gas and oil projects in just one
region, the Marcellus shale, were responsible for more
than 72 million man hours 5 of direct and indirect labor
construction hours from 2008 through the first half of
2014. By helping to lower power and materials costs,
as well as stimulating economic activity for a variety of
businesses like service and supply companies, fracking
has supported growth across an economy that has
struggled in recent years.

Hydraulic fracturing is a modern technology, safely and
responsibly developing vast reserves of oil and natural
gas from shale and other tight-rock formations. It’s the
backbone of an energy renaissance that’s making the
U.S. more prosperous and safer in the world today.
The combination of industry standards, best practices
and effective state and federal regulation is protecting
communities and the environment – while making
available increasing volumes of cleaner-burning natural
gas that is allowing the U.S. to lead the world in reducing
carbon emissions from electricity generation.