Oil sprices have surged 7% so far in 2018 and hit a three-year high of $64.81 a barrel on Monday, reflecting confidence that an epic supply glut may finally be over because of production cuts by OPEC and Russia.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/15/investing/oil-prices-shale-fracking/
The Swarthmore College Environmental Studies website has a good explanation of fracking, with this link taking you to an analysis of fracking wastewater. Large quantities of water are needed for the fracturing process. This water is most likely obtained locally, competing with nearby sources. Millions of gallons of water is injected into the well at high pressure with proppants such as sand and aromatic compounds.
Major oil discoveries have fallen to their lowest levels in more than seven decades, as drillers across the world wrestle with stubbornly low prices and the tantalizing draw of quick returns in U.S. shale fields.
Shale gas as a viable and economic source of energy fuel is a largely debated matter in the United Kingdom. It has met opposition from environmental groups, but the government has supported the development of the industry. In the recent budget and flagship climate plan, the U.K. government did not mention shale gas, and it was taken as a hint that its support for fracking is cooling down.
HOUSTON (Reuters) – Shale oil engineer Oscar Portillo spends his days drilling as many as five wells at once – without ever setting foot on a rig.
A group of residents in Lancashire will soon receive £2,070 each for living near a fracking site, in the first payments made direct to British householders by a shale gas company.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/06/fracking-payouts-shale-gas-cuadrilla-lancashire
The fracking boom did more than boost oil and gas production in areas where shale drilling was most intense. It also led to an increase in the the number of babies born, according to a new study.
http://www.chron.com/business/texanomics/article/The-fracking-baby-boom-11146688.php
Wall Street is throwing the most money at U.S. energy companies since at least 2000 amid growing confidence that the industry is emerging from the worst downturn in a generation.
The cost of drilling and fracking wells in the nation’s hottest oil fields is quickly rising — that’s if you can book the crews to do the work. The Permian Basin that lies beneath western Texas and southeastern New Mexico is ground zero for the U.S. shale drilling revival. The basin’s geology allows producers to extract oil economically, but contractors are jacking up prices as drillers pile into the region.
A chemical firm is set to carry out initial fracking tests in Staveley, it can be revealed. Industry giant Ineos have been given permission by The Chatsworth Settlement Trustees (CST) to conduct a seismic survey on the Scarcliffe and Staveley estates, between Chesterfield and Worksop.
http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/fracking-tests-to-be-carried-out-in-staveley-1-8376513