Hydraulic Fracturing

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a suite of regulatory requirements designed to reduce air emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. EPA has proposed new standards for several processes associated with oil and gas production that have not previously been subject to federal regulation.

Hydraulic fracturing is an essential well completion technology for the development of unconventional resources, such as natural gas that is trapped in shale rock formations.

Induced seismicity is the phenomenon of human activities, such as large engineering projects, causing energy release in the earth.

See details on federal agency activities relating to hydraulic fracturing.

Shale energy is the answer. It creates jobs, stimulates the economy and provides a secure energy future for America. Learn more about shale resources and how it impacts your life.

The economic impacts of developing shale gas resources are revolutionary. Hydraulic fracturing will account for nearly 70 percent of natural gas development in the future. Find out more in this Q&A.

Hydraulic fracturing is a technology used in the United States to help produce more than 7 billion barrels of oil and 600 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

The U.S. economy could suffer a severe blow if federal regulators demand duplicative oversight of hydraulic fracturing, a commonly used well-stimulation and completion technology already regulated by the states, part two of a three-part study by IHS Global Insight has found.

This standard provides environmentally sound practices, including reclamation guidelines, for domestic onshore oil and gas production operations.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance and highlight industry recommended practices for well construction and integrity for those wells that will be hydraulically fractured. The guidance provided here will help to ensure that shallow groundwater aquifers and the environment will be protected, while also enabling economically viable development of oil and natural gas resources.