I have always viewed politicians that promise to ban hydraulic fracturing — commonly known as “fracking” — with some level of suspicion. In fact, a year ago as candidates were making these promises I explained Why A Ban On Fracking Will Never Happen . Those promises have always signaled one of three things to me. The Significance of Fracking First, the candidate may not understand the significance of fracking to U.S. oil and gas production. So let’s review that significance. Fracking has actually been around since the late 1940s and has been used extensively to promote higher production rates from oil and gas wells. Fracking involves pumping water, chemicals and typically sand down an oil or gas well under high pressure to break open channels (fractures) in the reservoir rock trapping the deposit. Oil and gas do not travel easily through these shale formations, which is why they need […]