Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is a process to extract oil and natural gas deposits from tight rock formations. A mixture of pressurized water, sand, and chemicals is pumped into the formation creating tiny fissures in targeted areas of the source rock. These tiny fissures allow oil and natural gas to escape and flow through piping up to the surface. First tried 70 years ago, hydraulic fracturing became widely used in the last two decades after horizontal drilling began to replace vertical drilling. The combination of horizontal drilling and fracturing allows more efficient recovery of resources with a much smaller environmental footprint than drilling multiple vertical wells. Over 95 percent of the wells in the U.S. are hydraulically fractured at some point during their lifetime.

The oil and natural gas industry prides itself on finding constructive solutions to complex issues that arise with developing Colorado’s energy resources in rapidly urbanizing areas. One such issue was the buffer zone between schools, child care facilities, and oil and natural gas drilling.

Colorado’s oil and natural gas companies are working hard every day to make a safe industry that much safer. By keeping our employees safe at the wellhead and beyond, we keep Colorado communities safe as well. Below are some of the ways Colorado’s energy industry is prioritizing public safety.

Siting an oil and natural gas facility involves several factors, starting with mineral ownership and an operator’s ability to physically access that property with modern horizontal drilling practices, and ending with conditional requirements often required by local governments.

Oil and natural gas is one of the most regulated industries in the nation, and statistics prove that it continues to be an industry with a good safety record. The oil and gas industry holds itself to extremely high standards and is always working to improve upon its safety record.