LetвЂ™s start with hydraulic fracturing itself. So traps, however they were formed, are the key to comprehending not only how economic accumulations of hydrocarbons occur, but also the how and why you literally cannot get here from there with hydraulic fracturing. Where the updip limit of this conversion occurs defines the limits of the stratigraphic traps. Stratigraphic traps, which also require a top seal rock, are also targets, such as conversion of limestone to dolomite through the addition of magnesium rich fluids which ideally can result in creation of up to 11% porosity in the dolostone. The other necessity for a reservoir rock to be a reservoir rock is a top seal or rock of low to minimal porosity and permeability (often also shales), sometimes in association with a structural discontinuity, such as a fault or anticline, which prevent the majority of the migrated hydrocarbons to keep migrating towards the surface. Let me repeat that, the source rocks almost always lie beneath the reservoir rocks. Perhaps the most common reservoirs are sandstones. Reservoir rocks are those rocks which have facilitated this migration through the provision of porosity and permeability necessary to allow the movement of fluids and gases derived primarily from the maturation of hydrocarbons most commonly derived from source rocks such as shales and mudstones which lie beneath them stratigraphically. Until the past decade or so, the search for these traps has been the focus of the O&G industry since its inception.

These seeps represent leakage of these trapped hydrocarbons along predominantly fractures and faults, and to a lesser extent other pathways (such as unconformities etc.). Seeps are natural leaks from traps where migration of hydrocarbons have accumulated predominantly in reservoir rocks in the subsurface. It is fundamental to all arguments which attempt to deal with the effects of oil and gas development to consider the initial discoveries of petroleum: seeps. To this day I remain dumbfounded as to why the argument I am about to present here has never been mentioned before (at least to my knowledge). I had occasion recently to watch several presentations on environmental aspects of hydraulic fracturing at the worldвЂ™s largest oil and gas industry conference. And then I discovered this new miracle of technology. McClenney sent me this post just as I was about to board and I emailed back that I wouldnвЂ™t be able to get to it for hours. IвЂ™m connected to SouthwestвЂ™s new inflight WiFI service. It is the first post IвЂ™ve authored from an airplane cruising about 35,000 feet enroute from Atlanta to Phoenix.

It is the first post where a detailed examination of fracking has been offered to the readers.Дў. This post represents two milestones for WUWT.ДЎ.

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