Reply to Lyle

Reader comment on: Sununu on Energy
in response to reader comment: The original fracking research was done on the government dime.

Submitted by Michael Greenberg (United States), Dec 10, 2012 21:06

I looked up fracturing in Wikipedia and saw this:

"The relationship between well performance and treatment pressures was studied by Floyd Farris of Stanolind Oil and Gas Corporation. This study became a basis of the first hydraulic fracturing experiment, which was conducted in 1947 at the Hugoton gas field in Grant County of southwestern Kansas by Stanolind.^[1][16] For the well treatment 1,000 US gallons (3,800 l; 830 imp gal) of gelled gasoline and sand from theArkansas River was injected into the gas-producing limestone formation at 2,400 feet (730 m). The experiment was not very successful as deliverability of the well did not change appreciably. The process was further described by J.B. Clark of Stanolind in his paper published in 1948. A patent on this process was issued in 1949 and an exclusive license was granted to the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. On March 17, 1949, Halliburton performed the first two commercial hydraulic fracturing treatments in Stephens County, Oklahoma, and Archer County, Texas.^[16] Since then, hydraulic fracturing has been used to stimulate approximately a million oil and gas wells.^[17"

This doesn't seem to conform to what you wrote, that the DOE did the pioneering. And as far as your comment that government did the risky work, how on earth can you say that using other people's money (taxpayers) is risky?

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