AskChesapeake

These one-minute educational videos provide a brief overview of each step of the natural gas production process. View downloadable print versions of the virtual tour here.

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  Educational Series Overview This on-the-scene tour shows what happens from the time a rig goes up, to hydraulic fracturing and saltwater disposal, to pipeline construction and site completion. Click on the videos below to take the tour.
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  Part 1 - Drilling Rigs are temporary. Perhaps the biggest misconception about natural gas drilling in the Barnett Shale is that the rig is a permanent (or even long-term) fixture.
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  Part 2 - Pipelines Natural gas pipelines are needed to move gas from the wellhead to a compressor station — then through natural gas lines to homes and businesses.
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  Part 3 - Fracturing Hydraulic pressure creates micro-cracks, releasing the gas from the shale. Typical duration: three to five days.
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  Part 4 - Saltwater Disposal For saltwater disposal wells, seven protective layers of steel and cement — plus 1.5 miles of impervious rock — create a solid barrier to protect our aquifers, returning saltwater deeper into the earth then where nature formed it.
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  Part 5 - Completed Wellsite After all drilling operations are completed, production equipment is installed at the padsite, including a wellhead and tank batteries. The well will produce clean-burning natural gas for decades.
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  Part 6 - Compressor Station Newly produced natural gas flows from the wellhead through pipelines that lead to a compressor station. Compressors pressurize the gas in order to move it from point A to point B.