Hydraulic Fracturing
(“Fracking”)

LAS 432 – Technology, Society, and Culture
Team B
Michael Griffin
Mark Hartwick
Alena Hutson
Kansas Gentry
Kevin Gracia

Professor Douglas McCoy
8/24/12

Contents
Thesis…………………………………………………………………………………Page 3
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….Page 3
Hydraulic Fracturing Description…………………………………………………….Page 4
History of Fracking.....................……………………………………………………..Page 5
Cultural Context………………………………………………………………………Page 8
Pros……………………………………………………………………………………Page 8
Cons…………………………………………………………………………………..Page 11
Context Summary…………………………………………………………………….Page 16
Media Influence………………………………………………………………………Page 17
Fracking Fluids……………………………………………………………………….Page 18 …show more content…

By acidizing the rocks it would allow the fracture to remain open creating a “pressure-parting” inside the well. Pressure-parting increased the flow to the well along with increasing the overall productivity (Montgomery, 2010). Eventually this new technology lead to engineers trying water as an agent to break the rock while squeezing cement around the barrier to keep the well open. In the late 1930’s, Floyd Farris of Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation, also known as Amoco conducted a study between the relationship of well performances and treatment pressures. Mr. Farris was particularly curious about the “formation breakdown” and the specific results when acid, water or squeeze cementing was used. At the end of the study, Mr. Farris conceived the idea of hydraulically fracturing the well to increase production from both gas and oil wells (Montgomery, 2010). In 1947, the first official hydraulic fracturing procedure took place in Hugoton Gas Field, Grant County, Kansas by Stanolind Oil Company (Suchy, 2012). On the Klepper No. 1, about 1,000 gallons of naphthenic-acid and palm oil, also known as napalm, was mixed in a thickened gasoline mixer and injected at 2,400 feet, followed by a gel breaker that was used to stimulate the limestone formation (Willie, 2011). As with the nitroglycerin, the napalm made the process extremely hazardous for the rig workers. The main goal of this “hydrafrac” was to