VIDEO
VIDEO
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 planet. In the fracking process, cracks in and below 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 the U.S. city of Williston, North Dakota.
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Writer
Editor
Producer
other
Last Updated
August 25, 2026
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