What is Fracking

Dr. Thomas Morris  is a Professor of geology at Brigham Young University. He was also a Senior Petroleum Geologist with Exxon's Eastern Production Division in New Orleans from 1986 to 1990. Fracking is the process of drilling that the U.S. has commercially used for almost 65 years. Fracking has been responsible for much of the surge in U.S. oil and natural gas production. In fact, here in Utah, 45,000 acres of public land was approved for fracking in 2015. However, fracking has become a hot topic in the last few months with great opposition from many environmental groups, and many of the European countries banning it entirely. So what exactly is fracking? What are the benefits and downsides to drilling? And what does the future for oil and gas look like? Dr. Morris explains.