Shale Resources and Water Risks

How It Works

Hydraulic fracturing -- or hydro fracking, or just plain fracking -- is one way that we can get at "hidden" reserves of natural gas, petroleum -- even water. It sounds extremely complicated (and is, in fact, a pretty cool feat of science and engineering), but fracking is a fairly simple process. Way far underground (we're talking some 7,000 feet/2,133 meters below the surface), rocks like shale can hold gases, water or oil in their pores. Hydraulic fracking moves that resource from the pores of the rocks to production wells

Global Shale Gas Development: Water Availability & Business Risks

Experts from the World Resources Institute (WRI), Apache Corporation, and Natural Resources Defense Council will host a press call to discuss key findings from a new report, Global Shale Gas Development: Water Availability & Business Risks, the first-ever public analysis of water availability across all potential commercial shale resources worldwide. The press call will take place on Tuesday, September 2, 2014.

• 38 percent of shale resources are in areas that are either arid or under high to extremely high levels of water stress;
• 19 percent are in areas of high or extremely high seasonal variability; and
• 15 percent are in locations exposed to high or extremely high drought severity.

Eight of the top 20 countries with the largest shale gas resources face arid conditions or high to extremely high baseline water stress where the shale resources are located; this includes China, Algeria, Mexico, South Africa, Libya, Pakistan, Egypt, and India.

Eight of the top 20 countries with the largest tight oil resources face arid conditions or high to extremely high baseline water stress where the shale resources are located; this includes China, Libya, Mexico, Pakistan, Algeria, Egypt, India, and Mongolia.

Shale basin and water stress in USA

Today shale development is rapid in USA, however there is medium to high risk to water resources.

Shale basin and water stress in Russia

Let go to Russia, shale basin found in less water risk zone. It means potentially to developing shale extraction.

Shale basin and water stress in China

China has largest shale resources in the world, and energy demand is high and growing 60% annual. Although China is rated as High risk, when zoom in to the country, some shale basin found in less water risk zone, like Sichuan （四川）, Hubei （湖北）.

Shale basin and water stress in SEA

How about South East Asia (SEA), some shale basins are found in Thailand and Indonesia, and they are in low risk zone.

An Inconvenient Truth: Fracking Shale

Fracking is required mix water with chemical to improve the performance well. The chemical content VOC (volatile organic compound), heavy metal, radioactive substance, etc. How to 100% ensure it wont leak and contamination to ecosystem?

Summary & Opinion

Shale extraction is the trend of Oil and Gas industry. The development of any shale field has considered technology, economic, and environmental risk.

As per data, USA is not suitable to develop shale field due to water resource risk. In money dominated era, everything is driven by money, other things (environment) can be put it aside.

Shale oil changes the world energy landscape, even leading the oil price down recently. It seem beneficial to US as oil importer. The shale oil and gas are booming and change the world, but what price to the people?

As a politician, authority, organisation, engineer, or people, everyone must has responsibility to the people, community, country, world, animals and plants. We have duty to preserve resource for next generation.

Oil price Jan - Dec 2014

References:

1. How Hydraulic Fracking Works, http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/hydraulic-fracking.htm
2. Animation of Hydraulic Fracturing (fracking), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY34PQUiwOQ
3. An Inconvenient Truth: Fracking Shale, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uokmsSi7LTY
4. World Resources Institute, http://www.wri.org/