World Systems Framework for Oil and Gas Industry 7

FIGURE 1.5
Private small-scale “pecking” oil well on private land in Oklahoma.

largest untapped deposits of oil and gas. Technical challenges abound in

many of the exploration fields because they often exhibit diverse topo-
graphical, geographical, geological, and environmental properties with far-
reaching social implications. For this reason, no oil and gas project can be
undertaken in isolation. World system considerations must be brought to
bear on all projects, using SoS approaches. The lessons learned from Arctic
and subarctic operations can serve as starting templates for other projects
around the world.
A large sinkhole that formed in south Texas’s oil and gas region in 2008 is
an example of the interrelationships of several factors dealing with human
issues, technology availability, and economic development. The incident
renewed questions about the effects of enormous volumes of barrels of
saltwater injected into the ground each year as a by-product of oil and gas
drilling. High energy prices have led to a surge in drilling across Texas and
other states, much of it in older oil fields that tend to produce large volumes
of saltwater along with crude oil. Meanwhile, new technologies for produc-
ing natural gas use millions of gallons of water to crack open gas-bearing
rocks—yielding contaminated water that must then be disposed of, usu-
ally underground. This process, called fracking (hydraulic fracturing), has
generated a lot of debate and concerns in many communities. Most notable
in recent times is the case of fracking in Ohio. Hydraulic fracturing, known
as fracking for short, involves injecting water, sand, and chemicals deep
into the ground at high pressure to crack the shale and allow the oil or