Hydraulic fracturing, the technology that made the United States the world’s top oil and gas producer, has earned a really bad rap. Much of this ill reputation has had to do with increased seismic activity in shale oil and gas regions. But research cited by the U.S. Geological Survey showed a few years ago that it’s not fracking itself that is the problem. The problem is the disposal of wastewater, and it is not going away. Earlier this month, Rystad Energy warned in a report that the number of seismic events in key oil-producing regions has been on the rise. Since 2017, quakes of a magnitude above 2.0 had quadrupled. Seismic activity will increase further this year, Rystad analysts added, if the U.S. oil and gas industry continued to produce hydrocarbons the same way. The amount of water that is used in the drilling and fracking of shale oil […]