Hydraulic fracturing — commonly called fracking — is a well-completion technique in which fluid and a proppant such as sand are pumped into a well at high pressure to create and hold open fractures in the rock, opening pathways for trapped oil and gas to flow to the well, and it is the process that, combined with horizontal drilling, made shale formations economically productive.
Some rock — especially shale — holds enormous amounts of oil and gas but is too tight for it to flow out on its own. Hydraulic fracturing solves that. After a well is drilled, fluid (mostly water) carrying a proppant like sand is pumped down the well at very high pressure, cracking the rock. When the pressure is released, the sand props the fractures open, leaving pathways through which oil and gas can travel to the wellbore.
Fracking is a completion step — what makes a drilled well actually produce — not the drilling itself. A modern well is drilled, then completed by fracturing it in multiple stages along the lateral.
On its own, fracturing has been used for decades. What transformed the industry was combining it with horizontal drilling: drilling a long lateral through the shale and then fracturing it in many stages exposes a vast amount of rock to a single well. That combination turned formations once considered uneconomic — the Barnett, Bakken, Marcellus, Permian shales — into major producers and launched the unconventional boom.
For mineral owners, this is why acreage that was worthless for decades can suddenly become valuable: the technology to produce it arrived.
Fracking is why modern wells are capital-intensive and front-loaded: a large completion cost, then a strong initial production that declines steeply along its decline curve. It is also why wells can sometimes be re-fractured (a workover) later to boost production. Regulation covers water use, disposal of returned fluid (often via saltwater disposal wells), and well integrity to protect groundwater.
The completion cost falls on the working interest, not the royalty owner — a royalty owner benefits from the production a frac unlocks without paying for it.
Because fracking makes shale produce, the value of minerals in shale plays depends heavily on completion quality and the number of wells an operator will frac across your acreage. Better completions and more wells mean more production from the same ground — a central part of the undeveloped upside a buyer weighs alongside existing production.
Buckhead Energy accounts for completion technology and remaining well potential when valuing minerals in shale plays. This page is educational information, not financial advice.
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Educational information only — not legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult a qualified attorney, CPA, or landman about your specific situation.
A well-completion technique in which fluid and a proppant such as sand are pumped into a well at high pressure to crack the rock and hold the fractures open, creating pathways for trapped oil and gas to flow to the well. It is commonly called fracking.
No. Drilling creates the wellbore; hydraulic fracturing is a completion step performed after drilling to make the well actually produce. A modern well is drilled, then completed by fracturing it in multiple stages along the lateral.
Because combining it with horizontal drilling exposes a vast amount of tight rock to a single well, turning shale formations once considered uneconomic — the Barnett, Bakken, Marcellus, Permian — into major producers. It launched the unconventional boom and made previously worthless acreage valuable.
No. The completion cost, including fracturing, falls on the working interest. A royalty owner benefits from the production a frac unlocks without paying for it.
In shale plays, value depends heavily on completion quality and how many wells an operator will frac across your acreage — better completions and more wells mean more production from the same ground. That undeveloped upside is central to a modern valuation.
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