Super Fracking: The "Holy Grail" of Natural Gas

Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” as it’s more commonly known, has been a hot topic of conversation for energy companies and environmentalists alike ever since it became highly effective in drawing out natural gas from shale formations in the United States.

Regular fracking consists of injecting sand, water, and chemicals into the shale formations in order to break it apart and release natural gas. Now, some energy companies are presenting even faster ways to obtain the resource by creating more cracks or deeper cracks in the rock, a process that has been dubbed “super fracking.”

"I want to crack the rock across as much of the reservoir as I can," fracking engineer David Pursell told Bloomberg. "That's the Holy Grail."

Those developing these new forms of super fracking say they’re no worse than normal. And some are trying to quell environmental outrage.

Halliburton Co’s (NYSE: HAL) is developing a plan called "frack of the future" aimed at quickening the production and cutting down on materials, while Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI) has unveiled a disintegrating ball to plug the wells that will eliminate the need to dig out a conventional ball. They've compared the material to “an Alka-Seltzer” which would dissolve in less than a day.

Meanwhile, companies like Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) are figuring out how to make cracks bigger to let out more oil and gas. Schlumberger’s technology is called HiWay, and has been used at the Barnett Shale.

Many of these processes are still in the beginner phases, and environmental research is ongoing. But the processes are increasing the production of the shale boom even more than fracking itself already has.

The industry is currently booming. From Mark Perry at Carpe Diem:

The shale gas revolution that has produced record-setting levels of domestic production has been made possible by advanced drilling technology known as "fracking," which has unlocked vast supplies of gas from deep shale formations around the country. As effective and successful as fracking has been for unlocking deep shale gas and tight oil, it might soon get even better with new technologies that are under development and being called 'super-fracking.'"

As these processes clear their environmental hurdles, "super-fracking" may keep this boom going...

*Quotes courtesy of Bloomberg