The oil extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing is much different in California than in other states. As Amy Quinton reports from Sacramento, that’s the finding of the first independent scientific assessment required under the state’s new fracking regulations.
California has shallow, vertical fracking wells that require about 140,000 gallons of water per well to extract oil. That’s millions of gallons less than other states. But the fluids contain more concentrated chemicals.
The study found 20 percent of oil production in the state is fracked, and the vast majority occurs in Kern County. Doctor Jane Long is with the California Council on Science and Technology, which led the study. She says California’s Monterey Formation isn’t likely to be fracked for decades.
Long: “It’s not like in New York where we know the Marcellus Shale goes into New York and we know how to produce the Marcellus Shale because they’ve been doing it in Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc and they know how to do it. It’s not like that. We don’t really know how much oil is there and we don’t really know what would work to produce it.”
The assessment was based on currently available peer-reviewed studies. The authors say they found gaps in available data and areas where further investigation is needed.
