Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking)
A technique that injects high-pressure fluid into rock formations to create fractures, allowing oil and natural gas to flow to the wellbore. Combined with horizontal drilling, fracking unlocked vast shale oil and gas resources in the U.S.
Why It Matters
Fracking transformed the U.S. energy landscape — making the country the world's largest oil and gas producer and driving down natural gas prices, which in turn displaced coal from power generation.
Related Topics
Related Terms
Shale Gas
Natural gas trapped within fine-grained sedimentary rock (shale) formations. Previously considered unrecoverable, shale gas became accessible through hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling — the "shale revolution" of the 2000s-2010s.
Horizontal Drilling
A drilling technique where the wellbore turns from vertical to horizontal, running laterally through a thin rock formation for thousands of feet. This accesses far more of the resource than a vertical well alone.