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Fracking and the Eagle Ford Shale

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Submitted By patocalles
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Delivery date: April 19th 2013

NPRE 101 – INTRODUCTION TO ENERGY SOURCES
END OF TERM PAPER
PROF. RUZIC

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING AND THE EAGLE FORD SHALE

Patricio Calles Almeida – UIN 651559726
Everyone knows that the urge to find an alternative to fossil fuels is one of the top priorities of technology researchers and scientists. We also know that the United States is becoming more and more dependable on foreign resources as the national ones are running low. However, fossil fuels are still the only cost-effective sources of them all. You could argue that hydroelectric and nuclear power are on the rise, but the first one does not produce large scale amounts of energy and the latter requires a huge initial investment with long waits until returns and profits; all the previous makes these sources not really convenient in developing countries, the ones that ironically need is the most. That’s why fossil fuel sources will continue to dominate the energy scene for the next decades, at least. In this context, I want to focus my paper on hydraulic fracturing, fracking. Actually, more specifically, the absolute focus will be to relate this modern method of oil and natural gas extraction with the Eagle Ford Shale, located in South Texas. Specifications and characteristics that make this shale so appealing for fracking will be a part of the following analysis. Overall, the shale is one that could be the biggest production center of oil and natural gas of the US and bring lots of economic benefits to the region. The objective of this paper is demonstrated how the nature of fracking is the appropriate one to make this true, and to estimate the extents of these benefits in terms of both production and revenue.

Hydraulic Fracturing
The formal definition of hydraulic fracturing, conceived and patented by R. F. Farris in 1953, describes it as “a method for increasing

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