Over the last couple of years, significant attention has been paid to the practice of “fracking” in which a slurry of water, sand, and chemicals are injected at high pressure to crack open rock formations which hold natural gas and oil. The use of fracking has fueled the boom in natural gas production and could help the U.S. achieve energy independence by 2030 or sooner. The boom in natural gas production from fracking has kept natural gas, and therefore energy prices, lower than expected. In the mid-2000s, most analysts predicted natural gas prices would reach the $10-11/MMBTU range as compared with the current price of less than $3.50/MMBtu. In short, technology improvements have allowed producers to unlock previously uneconomic or unavailable natural gas and oil deposits in the U.S. Fracking provides substantial economic benefits across the entire U.S. economy; however, there are concerns about fracking’s environmental impact which are currently being addressed to determine if this technology is to fuel future energy independence for the U.S.
