xx
Fig. 2.6 A post-completion, production wellhead known as a “Christmas
tree” installed on a shale gas well in Pennsylvania.
(Photographed in 2012 by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fig. 2.7 The components of hydraulic fracturing fluid; chemical additives
are less than 1% of the total. (Source: Adapted from FracFocus
webpages) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Fig. 3.1 Distribution triangle for most natural resources.
(Original sketch by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Fig. 3.2 Advertisement from the 1850s for Kier’s Genuine Petroleum
as a patent medicine that supposedly cured nearly everything.
(Source: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
Drake Well Museum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Fig. 3.3 A natural oil seep in an otherwise dry gully, Salt Creek Oil Field,
Wyoming. (Photographed in 2019 by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Fig. 3.4 Colonel Edwin Drake (at right with beard) poses with financial
backer Peter Wilson in front of the replacement derrick and engine
house constructed at Brewer Farm on Oil Creek,
Pennsylvania in 1859. (Source: U.S. Library of Congress
public domain photos) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Fig. 3.5 The iconic Lucas gusher in January 1901 at Spindletop Hill,
Texas. (Source: Wikimedia Commons public domain;
original photo by John Trost) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Fig. 3.6 History of U.S. domestic crude oil production, imports,
and exports, 1859–2015. (Source: Wikimedia Commons
public domain, USEIA webpages and reports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Fig. 4.1 Vehicles lined up waiting for gasoline during the 1973–1974
energy crisis. (Source: D. Falconer, U.S. National Museum
of American History; public domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Fig. 4.2 Abandoned, 1980s era coal-to-liquids (CTL) pilot plant south
of Rapid City, SD. (Photographed in 2019 by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . 72
Fig. 4.3 Map of EGSP well locations designated by DOE number
and shown within counties in the central and eastern United States.
(Source: Cliffs Minerals, Inc., 1982 (public domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Fig. 4.4 The ten major shale gas and tight oil plays in the United States
(Source: Summarized from Soeder and Borglum 2019
(NGL = natural gas liquids; bio = biogenic gas). Many of these
formations outcrop at the surface, but a minimum production
depth of 2500–3000 feet is required for fracking) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Fig. 6.1 An abandoned well discharges a 30-foot (10 m) geyser of water
after communicating with a Marcellus Shale hydraulic
fracture in 2012. (Source: National Public Radio, StateImpact,
public domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
List of Figures
Fig. 2.6 A post-completion, production wellhead known as a “Christmas
tree” installed on a shale gas well in Pennsylvania.
(Photographed in 2012 by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fig. 2.7 The components of hydraulic fracturing fluid; chemical additives
are less than 1% of the total. (Source: Adapted from FracFocus
webpages) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Fig. 3.1 Distribution triangle for most natural resources.
(Original sketch by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Fig. 3.2 Advertisement from the 1850s for Kier’s Genuine Petroleum
as a patent medicine that supposedly cured nearly everything.
(Source: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission,
Drake Well Museum) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Fig. 3.3 A natural oil seep in an otherwise dry gully, Salt Creek Oil Field,
Wyoming. (Photographed in 2019 by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Fig. 3.4 Colonel Edwin Drake (at right with beard) poses with financial
backer Peter Wilson in front of the replacement derrick and engine
house constructed at Brewer Farm on Oil Creek,
Pennsylvania in 1859. (Source: U.S. Library of Congress
public domain photos) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Fig. 3.5 The iconic Lucas gusher in January 1901 at Spindletop Hill,
Texas. (Source: Wikimedia Commons public domain;
original photo by John Trost) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Fig. 3.6 History of U.S. domestic crude oil production, imports,
and exports, 1859–2015. (Source: Wikimedia Commons
public domain, USEIA webpages and reports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Fig. 4.1 Vehicles lined up waiting for gasoline during the 1973–1974
energy crisis. (Source: D. Falconer, U.S. National Museum
of American History; public domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Fig. 4.2 Abandoned, 1980s era coal-to-liquids (CTL) pilot plant south
of Rapid City, SD. (Photographed in 2019 by Dan Soeder) . . . . . . . . 72
Fig. 4.3 Map of EGSP well locations designated by DOE number
and shown within counties in the central and eastern United States.
(Source: Cliffs Minerals, Inc., 1982 (public domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Fig. 4.4 The ten major shale gas and tight oil plays in the United States
(Source: Summarized from Soeder and Borglum 2019
(NGL = natural gas liquids; bio = biogenic gas). Many of these
formations outcrop at the surface, but a minimum production
depth of 2500–3000 feet is required for fracking) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Fig. 6.1 An abandoned well discharges a 30-foot (10 m) geyser of water
after communicating with a Marcellus Shale hydraulic
fracture in 2012. (Source: National Public Radio, StateImpact,
public domain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
List of Figures