Shale Fracking in Texas

A gas flare on a pipeline in DeWitt County where the shale oil boom is still going strong south of San Antonio. The Eagle Ford shale formation stretches for about 300 miles across south Texas, one of the most prolific oil patches in the United States.

Unique identifier: GP0STOY6C

Type: Image

Shoot date: 22/03/2015

Locations: North America, Texas, United States of America

Credit line: © Les Stone / Greenpeace

Ranking: ★★★★★★ (B)

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Shale Fracking in Texas

The Eagle Ford shale play stretches for about 300 miles across south Texas, one of the most prolific oil patches in the United States. Increasing oil production in the Eagle Ford Shale region, the Bakken formation in North Dakota and gas production in the Marcellus and Utica Shale Formations of Pennsylvania and Ohio made the United States the world's largest hydrocarbon producer for three years including 2014 Hydraulic Fracturing techniques to recover oil and natural gas from the shale, consume an enormous amount of water, as much as three million gallons per well. Resulting tracking fluids polluted with brine, chemicals and minerals, are stored in ponds or injected into underground wells impacting people and livestock.

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