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How Hydraulic Fracturing Works

How Hydraulic Fracturing Works

See how hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, releases petroleum or natural gas trapped in shale rock formations.

Grades

5 - 12

Subjects

Earth Science, Geology, Engineering, Geography, Human Geography, Physical Geography

The video above is from the March 2013 iPad edition of National Geographic magazine. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a drilling method used to extract petroleum (oil) or natural gas from deep in the Earth. In the fracking process, cracks in and below the Earth's surface are opened and widened by injecting water, chemicals, and sand at high pressure. Some resources extracted through fracking are called “tight oil” or “tight gas,” because these pockets of fossil fuels are tightly trapped in hard shale rock formations. By accessing tight oil and tight gas, the sophisticated technologies used in fracking are rapidly expanding petroleum and natural gas production in the United States. This video explains the technology of fracking using the example of the Iverson oil well, which drills into the Bakken shale formation near Williston, North Dakota. 

Fast Fact

  • One of the first places hydraulic fracturing technology was used was the Barnett shale formation in northern Texas.

Fast Fact

  • Fracking is used to extract natural gas from the Marcellus shale formation in the northern Appalachian Basin, extending through the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.

Fast Fact

  • One of the most active sites of fracking for oil is the Bakken shale formation, stretching from western North Dakota and Montana through the southern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

Fast Fact

  • A handful of other nations are investing in hydraulic fracturing to extract petroleum and natural gas.
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Writer
National Geographic Society
Editor
Samantha Zuhlke, National Geographic Society
Producer
National Geographic Society
other
Last Updated

September 27, 2022

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