page_title: Hydraulic fracturing in the United States
section_title: Oil and gas supply
hierarchical_section_title: Hydraulic fracturing in the United States / Economic impact / Oil and gas supply
caption_attribution_description: English: US natural gas production, historical and projected, by type of gas reservoir.
context_page_description: Hydraulic fracturing in the United States began in 1949. According to the Department of Energy, by 2013 at least two million oil and gas wells in the US had been hydraulically fractured, and that of new wells being drilled, up to 95% are hydraulically fractured. The output from these wells makes up 43% of the oil production and 67% of the natural gas production in the United States. Environmental safety and health concerns about hydraulic fracturing emerged in the 1980s, and are still being debated at the state and federal levels.
  New York banned massive hydraulic fracturing by executive order in 2012. Vermont, which has no known frackable gas reserves, banned fracking preventatively in May 2012. In March 2017, Maryland became the first state in the US with proven gas reserves to pass a law banning fracking. On May 8, 2019 Washington became the fourth state to ban fracking when Governor Jay Inslee signed SB 5145 into law after it passed the State Senate by a vote of 29-18 and the House 61–37. Washington is a non-oil and gas state that had no fracking operations when the bill was passed.
context_section_description: The National Petroleum Council estimates that hydraulic fracturing will eventually account for nearly 70% of natural gas development in North America. In 2009, the American Petroleum Institute estimated that 45% of the United States natural gas production and 17% of oil production would be lost within 5 years without usage of hydraulic fracturing.
  Of US gas production in 2010, 26% came from tight sandstone reservoirs and 23% from shales, for a total of 49%. As production increased, there was less need for imports: in 2012, the US imported 32% less natural gas than it had in 2007. In 2013, the US Energy Information Administration projected that imports will continue to shrink and the US will become a net exporter of natural gas some time around 2020.
  Increased US oil production from hydraulically fractured tight oil wells was mostly responsible for the decrease in US oil imports since 2005 (decreased oil consumption was also an important component). The US imported 52% of its oil in 2011, down from 65% in 2005. Hydraulically fractured wells in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and other tight oil targets, enabled US crude oil production to rise in September 2013 to the highest output since 1989.
  Proponents of hydraulic fracturing touted its potential to make the United States the world's largest oil producer and make it an energy leader, a feat it achieved in November 2012 having already surpassed Russia as the world's leading gas producer. Proponents say that hydraulic fracturing would give the United States energy independence.  In 2012, the International Energy Agency projected that the United States, now the world's third-largest oil producer behind Saudi Arabia and Russia, will see such an increase in oil from shales that the US will become the world's top oil producer by 2020. In 2011 the US became the world's leading producer of natural gas when it outproduced Russia. In October 2013, the US Energy Information Administration projected that the US had surpassed Russia and Saudi Arabia to become the world's leading producer of combined oil and natural gas hydrocarbons.
  Globally, gas use is expected to rise by more than 50% compared to 2010 levels, and account for over 25% of world energy demand in 2035. Anticipated demand and higher prices abroad have motivated non-US companies to buy shares and invest in US gas and oil companies, and in the case of the Norwegian company Statoil, to buy an American company with hydraulic fracturing expertise and US shale oil production.
  Some geologists say that the well productivity estimates are inflated and minimize the impact of the reduced productivity of wells after the first year or two. A June 2011 New York Times investigation of industrial emails and internal documents found that the profitability of unconventional shale gas extraction may be less than previously thought, due to companies intentionally overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves. The same article said, "Many people within the industry remain confident." T. Boone Pickens said that he was not worried about shale companies and that he believed they would make good money if prices rise. Pickens also said that technological advances, such as the repeated hydraulic fracturing of wells, was making production cheaper. Some companies that specialize in shale gas have shifted to areas where the gas in natural gas liquids such as propane and butane. The article was criticized by, among others, The New York Times' own public editor for lack of balance in omitting facts and viewpoints favorable to shale gas production and economics.
caption: EIA forecast for US gas production through 2040.[43]:2
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