Bob Novell introduced our speaker for today. Dick Weaver was born and raised in Colorado. He attended the Colorado School of Mines where he earned his BS and Master’s Degrees in Petroleum Engineering. He began his 35 year career as an operation’s engineer in the oil fields in the hills of Whittier, LA Habra, Montebello, and the Urban area of downtown Los Angeles. He worked in Alaska for ARCO on the vary large Prudhoe Bay Field. His work included reservoir engineering, personnel, planning, and management. After leaving ARCO in 1994, he worked for international independent oil companies with operations in Columbia, West Africa, and Gulf of Thailand and retired after consulting for four years with a start-up International independenr which made the largest oil discovery in offshore West Africa in the last 25 years. He has been married to wife Jane for 38 years and they have grandchildren. Dick is active in the Newport Beach/Corona Del Mar Kiwanis Club.

Why Fracking, and What Is It? Dick Weaver explained that Fracking has been around for years, and when this process atually started, there was no fanfare. Fracking has played a major role in the development of America’s oil and natural gas resources for nearly 70 years. Since 1940 over one million wells have been hydraulically fractured. He continued his talk by explaining what fracking is. He did bring a video, but due to circumstances, the video could not be seen. There is a good video on Google which details the operation of Fracking.

It is estimated that in the next decade, that up to 80% of natural gas wells will require hydraulic fracturing to properly complete well setup. Fracking is the process that makes it possible for shale oil extraction to produce oil and natural gas in places where conventional technologies are ineffective. Hydraulic fracturing involves the use of water preassure to create fractures in rock that allow the oil out of a well. This process takes place under tight regulatory control.

There are risks, of course, and there have been moratoriums in some U.S. states until strict regulations and rules are approved.

We should be reminded that there has been a 70 year safety record. Presently, the production of the Fracking Drilling has increased and the price of a barrel keeps increasing.

The future of regulated fracking and our production in the U.S. makes us more amd moee independent of other countries selling to us and charging exorbitant prices.

The use of hydraulic fracking to drill veritcal wells has been around for a long time. Horizontal drilling combined with hydraulic fracturing is very new and began in Ohio. The use of horizontal fracking requires millions of gallons of fresh water, acres of land per well pad, and the use of undisclosed chemicals.

Hydraulic fracturing is the use of the above materials and at high pressures to blast open shale rock to release the trapped gas inside. Horizontal drilling is just like it sounds; after the well drill reaches a certain vertical depth in the ground, the well is then drilled horizaontally. This drilling process takes up to a month, while the drilling teams go more than a mile into the Earth’s surface. The well is cased with cement to ensure groundwater protection, and the shale is is hydrauically fractured with wanter and other fracking fuilds.

As Dick Weaver concluded his talk he asked if there were any questions. Many questions came forth. We thanked Dr. Weaver for his talk on such an important subject, one that is important for current affairs, but also for the future.

By Phyllis Corliss