Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a process that involves injecting water deep into the ground to create tiny cracks in shale formations, which allows more oil or natural gas to flow for production.

Fracking is a process used to obtain oil and natural gas from shale formations deep in the ground.

While natural gas can not be replaced as fast as needed by demand, the fuel is much cleaner than other fossil fuels, such as coal, making it an affordable and environmentally friendly option for meeting energy demand.

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, along with other hydrocarbons such as ethane, butane and propane.

The United States has been the top producer of natural gas since 2009.

Natural gas is traditionally measured by volume and is stated in cubic feet. A cubic foot of natural gas is the amount of gas needed to fill a volume of one cubic foot under set conditions of temperature and pressure. For a more specific measurement, industry professionals will measure in British Thermal Units (BTUs), which is the amount of heat needed to raise one pound of water at maximum density through one-degree Fahrenheit. 1 cubic foot of natural gas equates to roughly 1,000 BTUs.

Even though pricing metrics depend on the market, natural gas is usually priced per thousand cubic feet, which is sometimes written as “mcf.”

Natural Gas Liquids

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2018 Texas held the largest proved reserves of any state in the United States, with 19.6 billion barrels. Proved reserves are estimated volumes of hydrocarbon resources that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty are recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions.

On August 27, 1859, George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well, drilled especially to produce oil, at a site on Oil Creek near Titusville, Pennsylvania.

Refineries in the United States produce about 19 to 20 gallons of motor vehicle gasoline for every 42-gallon barrel of crude oil. But it’s not just gasoline being produced in the refining process. A barrel of oil also yields other fuel types and important products, like diesel, jet fuel, asphalt, heavy fuel oil, lubricants and waxes, and petrochemical compounds that are used as the basis for plastics and other materials.

Drilling has not stopped in the Permian! There are currently 141 active rigs in the Basin right now, and applications for new well permits are on an upward trend. That means even more rigs could soon come online to continue delivering affordable energy to the United States and the rest of the world.

There are a number of reasons for today’s low oil prices. The COVID-19 pandemic drastically brought oil demand down as people started traveling less, and a flood of new supply into the global market from foreign nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia brought prices down even further. The market has started to correct itself, although there is still a long road ahead.

Pipelines are critical for an efficient energy market, and expanded pipeline infrastructure like the Permian Highway Pipeline (PHP) will be a key part of that. Building more pipelines will ensure that resources are safely transported across the entire energy supply chain and will reduce sources of emissions like methane along the way. By connecting fuels to demand centers, pipelines will play a key role in the price recovery, as the oil and natural gas will no longer be “trapped.”

There are too many variables to provide a singular answer to this question. Royalty agreements are private contracts between the production company and the property owner, and each agreement will have different stipulations on royalties and operational requirements. We recommend reaching out to royalty owner group on this question, such as the Texas Royalty Council.