The United States will be surpassing current leaders, Saudi Arabia and Russia, in oil production by the year 2017. That is the prediction of the International Energy Association, which released a report yesterday. This is beneficial for Oklahoma as once abandoned oil fields will soon be utilized again.
“Those same oil field technologies are being used here in Oklahoma in our historic oil fields, rejuvenating life in northern Oklahoma, and southern Oklahoma, and across the state, where oil fields were at sometimes considered all but depleted,” says Cody Bannister with the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association.
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracking are now the industry norm for extraction. These techniques are pumping life into the forgotten oil fields.
Bannister says, “That’s a boom for the state because gross production taxes are one of the biggest contributors to the state tax base.”
Some environmentalists have blamed fracking for water quality issues and seismic events. However, Bannister says hydraulic fracking was pioneered in Oklahoma and is a well established practice in the state. He also says it is heavily regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission.