Offshore fracking raises questions

Published: Monday, November 3, 2014 at 5:08 p.m. Last Modified: Monday, November 3, 2014 at 5:08 p.m.

Fracking, the drilling technique thats driven a boom in land-based shale gas production, has sparked environmental concerns and public outcry, from Pennsylvania to the Louisiana coast.

But fracking is also expanding offshore, in the Gulf of Mexico, with hardly anyone noticing.

A year after California imposed new regulations requiring oil and gas companies to notify state regulators and the public whenever they perform hydraulic fracturing, environmental groups and policy experts are suddenly and belatedly learning about offshore fracking in the Gulf and expressing frustration with a lack of information from regulators.

People dont know this is happening, said Jonathan Henderson of the environmental advocacy group Gulf Restoration Network. Nobody I talk to has any idea, much less the process thats used to get at those reserves.

Theres very little public information on the practice, and to date, we just simply dont know a great deal about where and when its taking place, said Jayni Hein, policy director at New York Universitys Institute for Policy Integrity.

Fracking refers to the shooting of chemicals, water and sand into the bottom of a well to stimulate the flow of oil and gas from the surrounding formation, so it can be sucked up more quickly and easily. The process has been around for about 70 years on land and in commercial use offshore for about 20 years.

The most common type of fracking offshore is less about breaking up bedrock as is the practice on land and more about clearing out sand and mud that can gum up the path of precious hydrocarbons. Tools are used deep in the well to shoot gravel or pellets, along with seawater, acid and other chemicals to break up and filter out impediments.

Industry representatives and others who have studied fracking closely say environmentalists are blowing the dangers both on land and offshore out of proportion. They say the process is very well understood by those who have been doing it for decades.

There are questions, however, about how well the procedures are being tracked by regulators.

Read the original post:
Offshore fracking raises questions