Oil Production

                Barack Obama and his administration have attacked the oil and gas industry on several different occasions while at the same time ensuring the free flow of energy from the Middle East.  When Mr. Obama addressed the United Nations, he stated, “We will ensure the free flow of energy from the region to the world….  Although America is steadily reducing our own dependence on imported oil, the world still depends on the region’s energy supply, and a severe disruption could destabilize the entire global economy.”

                The irony of this statement is that Mr. Obama promises to stabilize world oil markets while he discourages oil and gas production on federal lands.  In fact, the production of oil and gas on federal lands has steadily declined under his administration while production on state and private lands continues to skyrocket. 

                “Federal lands produced 31 percent less oil in 2012 than they did in 2011, reports the Energy Information Administration, while oil production on state and private lands increased by 15 percent.  Natural gas production on federal lands has also fallen dramatically over the years – falling by 33 percent since 2007.  Natural gas production on federal lands now only makes up 15.5 percent of total U.S. production – down from 24.9 percent in 2009.”  

                Of course, Mr. Obama claims credit for the increase of oil and gas production – even though it takes place on state and private lands and not on lands he controls!

                The United States is producing so much oil and gas now that Saudi Arabia has taken notice.  Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal is a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah and a billionaire businessman.  He recently said that new oil discoveries in the United States and other countries “are threats to any oil-producing country in the world” and that the issue has become a “matter of survival” for Saudi Arabia.

                Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has called for a review of the country’s effective ban on exporting crude oil.  This ban was put in place during the oil crisis of 1973 in an effort to curb price spikes in the United States.  Since U.S. oil production is at a record level, Senator Murkowski “believes that the ban is no longer necessary and only serves to disrupt supply and slow U.S. production.”  She of course has the support of the oil industry’s leading trade group.

                So what happened between the oil crisis of 1973 and the record level of oil in 2013?  Fracking happened.  Fracking is the commonly used name for hydraulic fracturing or fracturing rock by pressurized liquid.  “Some hydraulic fractures form naturally – certain veins or dikes are examples.  Induced hydraulic fracturing or hydro fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is a technique in which typically water is mixed with sand and chemicals, and the mixture is injected at high pressure into a wellbore to create small fractures (typically less than 1mm), along which fluids such as gas, petroleum, uranium-bearing solution, and brine water may migrate to the well.  Hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, then small grains of proppant (sand or aluminum oxide) hold these fractures open once the rock achieves equilibrium.  The technique is very common in wells for shale gas, tight gas, tight oil, and coal seam gas and hard rock wells.  This well stimulation is usually conducted once in the life of the well and greatly enhances fluid removal and well productivity, but there has been an increasing trend towards multiple hydraulic fracturing as production declines….”

                Even though the oil and gas industry began experiment use with hydraulic fracturing in 1947 and commercial applications in 1949, fracking became more popular in recent years.  George P. Mitchell successfully applied the method to the Barnett Shale in the 1990s and is now considered to be the modern “father of fracking.” 

                “As of 2010, it was estimated that 60% of all new oil and gas wells worldwide were being hydraulically fractured.  As of 2012, 2.5 million hydraulic fracturing jobs have been performed on oil and gas wells worldwide, more than one million of them in the United States.”

                Fracking brought the increasing production of oil and gas and can make the United States oil independent.  Proponents of the method point at the economic benefits; opponents point to potential environmental effects.  Fracking will most likely continue to be a controversy.

                I have known about fracking for a number of years and have even discussed it with numerous people who work in the industry, but I have never been concerned enough about it to study it in depth.  When I read that Saudi Arabia is against it, I became a believer in it. 

                Saudi Arabia uses its vast wealth from oil production to support its brand of Islam throughout the world.  I believe that the United States should be oil independent.  I am firmly for this principle.  I am also for doing everything we can do to slow the spread of Islam.  For me, this is a wonderful reason to support continued fracking!