Hydraulic Fracturing
Click here to launch interactive animation
Unconventional Gas Production Video
Click here to launch interactive animation
About unconventional gas
Unconventional gas is the collective term used for shale gas, tight gas and coal bed methane (CBM). There is nothing unconventional or unusual about the gas itself; rather the rocks in which the natural gas is trapped are unique. Though industry has known about these resources for years, it is only with recent technological advances that exploration of these reservoirs has become economically viable. Read More
Unconventional Gas: Through a lens
Drilling
A single drilling rig 30-50 meters high is used to drill down to the target formation and then horizontally to multiple reservoirs.
Groundwater Protection
To protect the groundwater aquifer, multiple layers of steel and cement casing line the wellbore to create several impermeable barriers.
Hydraulic Fracturing
Once drilling is complete, the drilling rig is removed and the hydraulic fracturing equipment is brought in.
Perforating
A series of small holes are made in the production casing along the horizontal section of the wellbore to allow the fracturing fluid to create small fractures in the rock.
Fracturing Fluid
A mixture of water, sand and a small amount of chemical additives is injected at high pressure in the wellbore.
Rock Stimulation
The frack fluid creates a series of hairline fractures in the rock formation.
Proppant
The fractures are held open by grains of sand that are mixed into the hydraulic fracturing fluid, allowing the natural gas to escape from the tight rock and flow back up through the well.
Production
Once the fracturing process is complete, the equipment is moved off site and replaced by a production wellhead, a device to separate the water from the natural gas, and a water storage tank.
Transportation
The gas is transported from the site to customers via an underground pipeline.
