Water and energy are interdependent with water being essential to energy resource development. Conversely, energy resources are needed for producing, processing, distributing and using water resources. A typical Chesapeake deep shale natural gas well will produce between 2 and 6.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas during its lifetime, so the amount of water used to produce the gas equates to approximately 0.8 to 1.7 gallons for every million British thermal unit (MMBTU - one MMBTU equals about a thousand cubic feet of gas) of energy. To put this in perspective, this is less than 20% of the water needed to produce one MMBTU of coal ready to burn in a power plant, or less than 0.1% of the water needed to produce the same energy equivalent of corn-based ethanol for fuel. The following table compares water use per unit of energy for several energy sources.
Energy Resource1 |
Range of Gallons of Water Used
per MMBTU of Energy Produced |
Chesapeake deep shale natural gas* |
0.84 - 3.322 |
Conventional natural gas |
1 - 3 |
Coal (no slurry transport)
Coal (with slurry transport) |
2 - 8
13 - 32 |
Nuclear (uranium ready to use in a power plant) |
8 - 14 |
Chesapeake deep shale oil** |
7.96 - 19.25 |
Conventional oil |
8 - 20 |
Synfuel - coal gasification |
11 - 26 |
Oil shale petroleum |
22 - 56 |
Oil sands petroleum |
27 - 68 |
Synfuel - Fisher Tropsch (from coal) |
41 - 60 |
Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) |
21 - 2,500 |
Biofuels (Irrigated Corn Ethanol, Irrigated Soy Biodesiel) |
> 2,500 |
1Source: "Deep Shale Natural Gas: Abundant, Affordable, and Still Water Efficient", GWPC 2011
2The transport of natural gas can add between zero and two gallons per MMBTU
*Includes processing which can add 0-2 gallons per MMBTU
**Includes refining which consumes major portion (90%) of water needed (7-18 gal per MMBTU)
Solar and wind not included in table (require virtually no water for processing)
Values in table are location independent (domestically produced fuels are more water efficient than imported fuels) |
Chesapeake uses water for drilling, where a mixture of clay and water is used to carry rock cuttings to the surface, as well as to cool and lubricate the drillbit. Drilling a typical Chesapeake deep shale gas well requires generally less than 500,000 gallons of water.
Water is also used during the completion phase of a well in hydraulic fracturing operations where a mixture of water and sand is injected into the deep shale at a high pressure to create small cracks in the rock that allow natural gas or oil to freely flow to the surface. Performing a hydraulic fracturing job on a typical Chesapeake horizontal deep shale natural gas well requires approximately 4.5 million gallons of water per well, the same amount of water a typical golf course uses in about 22.5 days.
Regardless of the source, water used by Chesapeake in the drilling and hydraulic fracturing process is purchased and, if necessary, properly permitted. This permitting ensures that water usage takes into consideration the available supply for other consumers or users. It also ensures that it does not adversely affect stream flow, aquatic life, recreational resources or sensitive environments. Chesapeake works collaboratively with federal, state and local agencies to ensure that water used for deep shale natural gas and oil development is consistent with water use plans for the relevant watershed.
In addition to these efforts, Chesapeake’s innovative Aqua Renew® program focuses on water recycling and conservation.