The B.C. government is being urged to make oil and gas companies pay more for their use of billions of litres of water in fracking operations, as provincial officials review royalties collected by the province from the industry.
Several public advocacy organizations say the government’s ongoing review is “flawed” because it has failed to consider “outdated” water-use policies that are allowing some companies to extract fresh water for free.
Almost all the natural gas in B.C. is produced through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a process in which a slurry of water, chemicals and sand is pumped into horizontal wells, creating cracks underground. These cracks are kept propped open by the sand, allowing gas to flow through the fractures in the earth to the surface.
Source: B.C. urged to make oil and gas pay more for fracking’s ‘copious’ water usage
