Technology

For years, the Permian Basin has been the leader in vertical drilling and the state regulators have imposed strict, comprehensive requirements for how oil and gas wells must be constructed.  In addition to the vertical wells, horizontal wells have not become common place in our area. 

Hydraulic fracturing, also know as “fracking” is a proven technology that has actually been used for more than 60 years to safely enhance the production potential of natural gas and oil from more than one million wells in the United States.

For many years, oil and gas deposits in rock formations, like Texas shale formations, were thought to be uneconomic.  Advances in drilling and completion technology like fracking, changed that perceptions and allow operators to develop these natural resources.  Advances in technology allow operators to drill thousands of feet below freshwater supplies and then turn horizontally into rock formations where hydraulic fracturing releases vast oil and gas deposits that were once considered unreachable.  While the fracking technique has been used for decades, the process has been continuously refined to be even more effective.