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U.S. oil companies, Canadian pipelines companies and investors are spending a lot of money to open the next hydrocarbon frontier. Since the domestic supplies of fossil fuels is continually getting smaller, energy companies are turning to new sources located in reserves contained in the sands and shale of the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountain West and Canada.
Wyoming, Colorado and Utah contain enough shale to produce between 1.2 to 1.8 trillion barrels of oil; however, only one-half is recoverable. A region in Alberta Canada contains tar sands oil reserves estimated at 175 million barrels. Gas-bearing shale in the Great Plains, Great Lakes Northeast and Rocky Mountain West contains countless feet of natural gas. These reserves could power the United States for another 100 years.
However, mining for these unconventional energy sources can cause other problems for the environment. There can be threats to waters supplies because of an increase amount of water needed to release these oil and gas containing shale and sands and an increase in CO2 emissions when compared to conventional drilling. It usually takes 4 times more water to produce one barrel of tar-sands oil; multiple numbers of large trucks carrying water must travel to these sometimes remote areas to provide the water for the extraction process. Tar-sand oil creates three times as much carbon emissions as conventional drilling.
Some experts are concerned that exploring these options are sending the energy industry in the wrong direction by not spending resources on renewable energy sources. The oil industry feels that this exploration is improving national security; it is profitable for these companies as well. This drilling also has been creating an economic boom in these parts of the country but can be dangerous as well.
This practice will remain controversial and more investigation is ongoing.
