Use of Hydraulic Fracturing Technology to Extract Shale (Unconventional) Oil and Gas and Predict the Economic Impacts and Negative Repercussions on the Environment

Abstract

The past few years have witnessed a revolution in the production of oil and gas from unconventional sources and in unconventional ways in the United States of America, as the United States of America was able to extract oil and gas from confined rock reservoirs from which it was not possible to extract oil and gas in economically useful quantities. It used the technique known as hydraulic fracturing, which works to cause tremors inside regular and twisted wells with some catalysts to break the rock layer surrounding the oil or gas and stimulate it to rush upwards. This rock revolution has attracted all countries of the world, which made this industry develop, especially with the discovery of huge reserves of these sources in various countries of the world, which led to the expansion of the production of these sources and took their place in the global energy structure to contribute to diversifying the global energy mix in addition to establishing reliability in extending the life of crude oil and natural gas threatened with depletion in the long term. However, the hydraulic fracturing technique carries with it great risks in environmental pollution, including pollution of groundwater and running water with air and soil pollution on the one hand, and on the other hand, pollution through hazardous chemicals used In this way, as catalysts with the possibility of earthquakes occurring due to rock crushing operations in the interior of the earth, this, in turn, requires following sharp steps and strict policies to reduce the risk of environmental pollution through this technology, taking into account the importance of these sources.