All over the world, there are millions of tanks in industries like oil and gas exploration and production. They have numerous uses, including storage, processing, transportation, and others. Each and every one of these tanks needs to be cleaned every once in a while. Mostly, they are located in outdoor oilfields, with no access to oilfield fuel tank polishing equipment such as a pump. Some companies have devised ingenious devices, including pumps that run on diesel, to solve this problem. Horizontal drilling is growing, and so will the demand for tank-cleaning protocols.
New technologies in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have opened up the possibility of exploiting vast reserves of oil and gas trapped inside densely-packed, sedimentary shale rock deposits deep within the Earth's crust. Without this resource, the country faced a complete fuel drought in the next decade.
After only a few years of shale exploration, not only does America have access to fuel for the remainder of this century, it is now the top oil producer in the world, having surpassed Russia. This success has come at a price. There are concerns that hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking, " contaminates drinking water and causes earthquakes.
The process of hydraulic fracturing involves drilling a hole deep into the Earth's crust into underlying shale rock formations and then powerfully forcing a slurry of sand, water and chemicals into the rock to create fractures through which gas and oil flow up to the surface once the downward pressure is released. There are so far seven main shale oil plays throughout the country. These are: Marcellus, Granite Wash, Eagle Ford, Niobrara, Andarko-Woodford, Bakken and Permian.
Two shale plays, Bakken and Eagle Ford, have so far attracted more than half of the total investment in shale oil and gas development. The Bakken field is found in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota at a depth of approximately 10,000 feet. Down in southern Texas, Eagle Ford is drilled down to depths between 4,000 and 14,000 feet.
One quarter of investment has been distributed fairly evenly between the Permian Basin and the Marcellus Shale. The Permian Basin is largely contained within Eastern New Mexico and Western Texas. It gets its name from being one of the world's thickest deposits of rock from the Permian geologic period. The Marcellus Shale is located in Pennsylvania. One of the shallowest deposits, Marcellus shale is drilled at a depth of around 6,300 feet.
The remaining fraction of the shale oil investment pie is divided amongst Granite Wash (Oklahoma-Texas panhandle), Andarko-Woodford (Oklahoma), and Niobrara (Nebraska). Granite Wash reserves are the deepest reserves, at approximately 15,000 feet.
As the industry grows, so do traffic fatalities and serious injuries from road traffic accidents. Between the Permian and Eagle Ford deposits, there were a total of 696 traffic fatalities and 8,600 accidents in which occupants were either seriously injured or killed. The busiest time of day for serious accidents is for an hour around 5 o'clock in the morning. Most occur between routine traffic and 18-wheelers associated with oil drilling.
New technologies in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have opened up the possibility of exploiting vast reserves of oil and gas trapped inside densely-packed, sedimentary shale rock deposits deep within the Earth's crust. Without this resource, the country faced a complete fuel drought in the next decade.
After only a few years of shale exploration, not only does America have access to fuel for the remainder of this century, it is now the top oil producer in the world, having surpassed Russia. This success has come at a price. There are concerns that hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking, " contaminates drinking water and causes earthquakes.
The process of hydraulic fracturing involves drilling a hole deep into the Earth's crust into underlying shale rock formations and then powerfully forcing a slurry of sand, water and chemicals into the rock to create fractures through which gas and oil flow up to the surface once the downward pressure is released. There are so far seven main shale oil plays throughout the country. These are: Marcellus, Granite Wash, Eagle Ford, Niobrara, Andarko-Woodford, Bakken and Permian.
Two shale plays, Bakken and Eagle Ford, have so far attracted more than half of the total investment in shale oil and gas development. The Bakken field is found in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota at a depth of approximately 10,000 feet. Down in southern Texas, Eagle Ford is drilled down to depths between 4,000 and 14,000 feet.
One quarter of investment has been distributed fairly evenly between the Permian Basin and the Marcellus Shale. The Permian Basin is largely contained within Eastern New Mexico and Western Texas. It gets its name from being one of the world's thickest deposits of rock from the Permian geologic period. The Marcellus Shale is located in Pennsylvania. One of the shallowest deposits, Marcellus shale is drilled at a depth of around 6,300 feet.
The remaining fraction of the shale oil investment pie is divided amongst Granite Wash (Oklahoma-Texas panhandle), Andarko-Woodford (Oklahoma), and Niobrara (Nebraska). Granite Wash reserves are the deepest reserves, at approximately 15,000 feet.
As the industry grows, so do traffic fatalities and serious injuries from road traffic accidents. Between the Permian and Eagle Ford deposits, there were a total of 696 traffic fatalities and 8,600 accidents in which occupants were either seriously injured or killed. The busiest time of day for serious accidents is for an hour around 5 o'clock in the morning. Most occur between routine traffic and 18-wheelers associated with oil drilling.
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