Microbial Ecology of Hydraulic Fracturing: Implications for Sustainable Resource Development

The economics of oil and gas production from deep, tight, hydrocarbon-rich shale formations has been considered unfavorable until recently. Advancements in drilling and stimulation technologies have greatly improved the economics of production from deep from these reservoirs. The exploitation of these natural resources has led to greatly increased domestic production volumes of natural gas and oil in the United States. Similar unconventional resources in Australia, Europe, South America and China are poised transform global fossil energy markets through localized production of fuels for transportation, heating, and electricity generation. However, as the industries associated with unconventional oil and gas production migrate into regions without a history of production, new challenges arise and in particular with regard to the management of wastewater that is coproduced at the surface and the microbial communities that drive geochemical processes and ultimately management strategies. The focus of this article is on the microbial ecology and biogeochemical processes that impact production of oil and gas, management of wastewater, and product quality from hydraulically fractured wells. Hydraulic fracturing is discussed from the perspective of water management, including the volume and make-up of fracturing fluids that give rise to produced wate