Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
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Many have profited financially from hydrofracking, from George Mitchell, who
made billions of dollars by inventing “slickwater” fracturing, to truck drivers in
North Dakota, who saw their earnings jump to $2,000 a week hauling fracking
fluid, to rural landowners in New York State, who leased their land for $5,000 to
$6,000 an acre with 20 percent royalties, which could translate into hundreds of
thousands of dollars per year.
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Or consider Terry Pegulia, who founded a company called East Resources with
$7,500 borrowed from friends and family. Starting with one well in the Marcellus
Shale region of western Pennsylvania, Pegulia eventually got the assistance of Ral-
ph Eads III, a banker and a legendary salesman and a vice chairman at Jefferies &
In 2010, Pegulia sold East Resources to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion.
Floyd Wilson, a Texan who created Petrohawk Energy in 2003, drilled his first
well in the Haynesville Shale in 2008, and sold the company to BHP Billiton, an
Australian energy firm, in 2011 for $15 billion. Wilson and his executives earned
$304 million.
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So for a lucky few, hydrofracking has been a highly lucrative gamble. Not
everyone profits and the business remains volatile, yet the tales of quick riches are
one of the things that keep others so feverishly interested.
In a word: revolutionary. As proponents point out, hydrofracking has helped to cre-
ate new jobs, higher incomes, and tax windfalls for cash-strapped states.
