Fracking to the Rescue as US Oil Production Hits 20 Year High
From The Telegraph
By Garry White, and Emma Rowley
Peak oil, the theory that we have passed the moment of maximum global oil production, was described 40 years ago by former Royal Dutch Shell geophysicist Marion Hubbert.
Essentially, Mr Hubbert said that once all the easily extractable oil had been pumped out of the ground, production would go into terminal decline. This increasing scarcity of oil would then cause energy prices to soar, plunging the world into an energy crisis. Peak oil devotees have argued that we passed that peak in the 1970s and the only way for the oil price was up.
However, the fracking boom that sent US gas prices plunging could be about to do the same for oil.
Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is a process that can be used to extract oil or gas from rock formations. It involves the injection of water, chemicals and sand into rock formation to cause cracks that release the oil.
US oil production has now surged to a 20-year high, boost by production of shale oil from places such as the Bakken formation in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford formation in Texas.
