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fracking
DCHP-2 (Jul 2016)
Spelling variants:fracing
Non-Canadianism
This is a word that our editors have determined is not a Canadianism.
n. — Mining
a method for extracting oil or gas. Also known as hydraulic fracturing.
This method of drilling was developed in the 1940s in the US, and is now quite common wherever gas or oil is found. See Chart 1.
Because of the importance of mining and oil extraction in some parts of the country, hypotheses existed that the term might be Canadian. It is not by virtue of our definition (Dollinger 2015c)
Quotations
1990
For instance, he said, the Soviets are unfamiliar with the U.S. practice of "fracking," or pumping fluid and sand into a formation to increase the drain of oil, Mosbacher said.
Giving them that expertise might have almost an immediate impact, he said.
1993
Industry sources call the project a natural for Fracmaster. The firm employs about 160 Canadians and 1,000 Russians on expanding Siberian oil projects which are scheduled to hit daily production of 100,000 barrels a day by the end of the year.
Fracmaster is also an equipment maker as a leader in a field known as "fracking." The process fractures or breaks channels into underground rock formations with injections of high-pressure fluids, to help oil and natural gas flow to the surface.
2003
At first glance, the process of extraction appears to be fairly simple. Water is pumped out of the underground coal seams. Then the methane is free to flow through the natural fractures in the coal.
Once at the surface the gas is collected and the water is discarded. In some situations the water is potable and can be saved in holding tanks for future use or it can be sprinkled back onto the land it came from.
Unfortunately, according to many U.S. ranchers, much of the extracted water is contaminated.
Clean surface water is often spoiled when it is mixed with water (which may contain high levels of saline) that is pumped from the bottom of the aquifer.
In some situations a fracking fluid (a compound containing sand and toxic chemicals) is injected into the coal bed to enable the methane to flow better, further contaminating the water.
2005
A technology called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, helps force the resource out of the ground under enormous pressure. The strategy works well for a big company that can spend large sums for land and then mobilize many drilling rigs to achieve economies of scale.
2008
It was oil companies like Halliburton that first developed the technique of fracing, (pronounced fracking) or fracturing coal beds to release the methane that was bound to the surface of the coal.
In the fracing process, a toxic brew of chemicals which may include diesel fuel, benzene, propylene glycol, napthalene, aromatics, etc., are pressure-injected along with explosives to break up and force millions of fissures throughout the coal bed.
2009
Shale gas trapped deep underground is considered one of the most promising sources of U.S. energy, and the biggest city in the United States has joined environmentalists and small-town neighbours of drilling operations in trying to limit its exploitation.
The drilling process, known as hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," involves blasting through rock with a mixture of water, sand and a proprietary list of chemicals that are used to split the shale formation and free trapped gas.
2012
As in other shale formations throughout North America, tapping the Green Point will require hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to unlock the resource. The controversial practice involves injecting a mixture of water, sand and chemicals underground in order to crack the rock.
Fracking has unleashed huge supplies of natural gas and oil from shales across the continent, but it also brings with it concerns over the safety of groundwater supplies near drilling sites.
References
- Dollinger (2015c)
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