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Analyzing the Risks of Fracking

Shale Drilling in Eastern Europe

By IGI Global on Aug 29, 2013
Contributed by Sam Primak, Marketing Assistant

Risk Analysis for Prevention of Hazardous Situations in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering While the concept and process of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, continues to be a controversial subject in the United States, Chevron, a top energy corporation, is preparing to bring shale drilling to Eastern Europe. Through the obtainment of leases and licenses, the corporation plans to explore 5.6 million acres for shale gas throughout Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Ukraine, as well as 600,000 acres in Lithuania (SFGate). It is speculated that a successful result would help reduce the countries’ dependence on Russian energy sources.

However, environmental concerns have plagued the success of past projects in the region, and these same issues may threaten future plans. Many opponents believe that fracking pollutes water and land, which has also been a concern in the United States.

In an upcoming IGI Global chapter, entitled, “Risk Analysis in the Process of Hydraulic Fracturing”, authors Sonja Koscak Kolin and Marin Cikes (both of the University of Zagreb, Croatia) analyze the environmental risk from fracking operations. They acknowledge that much of the public’s fear of fracking stems from a “recent exposure […] to this technology, particularly as practiced with large volume of water...”

Further addressing the concern over contaminated water sources, Kolin and Cikes write, “Although the fracturing process is more than a thousand meters away from the water table, methane is showing up in residential water wells, but this contamination in water wells is caused by other natural and manmade causes […] however, part of the increasing methane content in water wells may be coming from near-by improperly constructed gas or oil wells. These older wells predate the invention of hydraulic fracturing and most predate any significant well construction regulations.”

The chapter contains a fracturing risk analysis where Kolin and Cikes come to the following conclusion:

“With proper well construction, there was no documented case located of fracturing chemical migration to a fresh water aquifer or to the surface from a zone deeper than 600 m. Cases of suspected contamination by chemicals in shallower zones are known, with many, if not all, linked to poor isolation of the well during the well construction phase.”

This chapter is part of the upcoming IGI Global title, Risk Analysis for Prevention of Hazardous Situations in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, edited by Professors Davorin Matanovic, Nedilijka Gaurina-Medimurec, and Katarina Simon of University of Zagreb, Croatia. The publication explains the potential hazards of petroleum engineering activities, emphasizing risk assessments in drilling, completion, and production, and the gathering, transportation, and storage of hydrocarbons. Designed to aid in decision-making processes for environmental protection, this book is a useful guide for engineers, technicians, and other professionals in the petroleum industry interested in risk analysis for preventing hazardous situations.

Risk Analysis for Prevention of Hazardous Situations in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, scheduled for release in November 2013 and now available for pre-order, is part of IGI Global’s Advances in Environmental Engineering and Green Technologies Book Series, which publishes books that discuss topics within environmental engineering or that deal with the interdisciplinary field of green technologies.
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