Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked the oil and natural gas that geologists have long known was buried in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in northeast Colorado.
While the controversy over fracking has become a hot topic in the last few years, horizontal drilling is a technological feat.
Horizontal wells are drilled vertically down several thousand feet, then turned to run parallel to the surface. Workers use computers to monitor the drill bit as it churns through the earth.
The…
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have unlocked the oil and natural gas that geologists have long known was buried in the Denver-Julesburg Basin in northeast Colorado.
While the controversy over fracking has become a hot topic in the last few years, horizontal drilling is a technological feat.
Horizontal wells are drilled vertically down several thousand feet, then turned to run parallel to the surface. Workers use computers to monitor the drill bit as it churns through the earth.
The…