"Fracing is sending a specially designed fluid down the oil or gas well at high pressure and blowing it out into the reservoir rock to create cracks and channels through which the hydrocarbons can get to the well. How big an impact has multi-stage fracing [MSF] had? Once the industry figured out how to frac the shale rock formations to get at all the natural gas they hold, it opened up huge new reservoirs across North America, and is the leading reason on the supply side as to why the price of natural gas has plummeted."
"The industry hasn’t hit the end of what MSF can do; innovation is still happening. And they’re fracing tighter and narrower reservoirs or payzones. One of the largest oil discoveries in North America is the Bakken play, which straddles the Dakotas and Saskatchewan (the U.S. Geological Society estimates over billion barrels are there) - but the zone can often be as narrow as 3 metres, or 9.5 feet. And a properly fraced horizontal well greatly improves economics. A frac can create kilometers of contact area for the oil or gas to flow into the well. Even though it costs twice as much as a vertical well, production can increase 400-700% and give payback to the operator in only a few months."
FUT Price at posting:
0.6¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
