Halliburton CFO Mark McCollum did something many environmentalists would cringe at – he took a swing of fracking fluid a few weeks ago.
And he said the new fracturing formulation, called CleanStim, “tastes like beer,” according to a Platts report.
McCollum took a sip of the mix while CEO Dave Lesar spoke at a conference hosted by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association in late August. After talking about public concerns over the technique, Lesar raised a container of CleanStim and then called McCollum up for the first taste.
According to an Associated Press article at the time, the then unnamed executive mocked reluctance before taking the sip.
CleanStim uses ingredients found in everyday foods to break apart shale formulations to recover trapped natural gas and oil. Halliburton is hoping the new fluid will ease the public concerns over fracking.
However, the Platts article notes that Barclays analyst James West wasn’t so keen on the taste of the fluid.
“I can tell you it doesn’t taste like beer,” he said.
Can’t be worse than Bud Light Chelada…
Did Cheney ever drink the stuff too? This could explain a lot.
beer is a also a poison. You drink alittle, Ok. Little too much, you feel really bad in the morning. Too Much….You Die…..
And we all just took his word for it that it was actually fracking fluid he was drinking? I mean, he wouldn’t fib about that… would he?
And Antifreeze tastes really good , so that is why you cannot leave it around for the dog to drink.
Are people really that dumb?
Betcha the answer is yes.
So gather round people uh dranks it so throwa away all thatta stewpid science stuff about some stewpid cancer proven agants . Shoot tasts just like a quart of Havolin muh fav.
And don’t just sit thar, lets chke our children and smother gramps in the mythical belief that these ever caring billionaires are doing this to actually help pump prices and get me that xtra tv ah always wanted in the upstairs bathroom.
This is so dumb that only billy bob and the barin dead would buy it. And sadly they will.
Here Fido.
@ Paul, the enviros wouldn’t fib about the “dangers” of fracking, would they?
Back when I was frac’n wells the common material used for frac gel was guar gum which comes from guar beans. Guar gum is a common food additive. The next time you are eating a big bowl of Blue Bell Ice Cream…think frac gel.
Take a shot of the breaker used in the gel. Elbows up.
Hmmm, why am I hearing Willie Nelson all of the sudden? “Well I gotta get drunk and I sure do dread it, ’cause I know just what I’m gonna do…”
It was never about the fracking fluid’s contents before injection. The problem is the composition of the fluids afterwards with all the organic chemicals that are released along with the natural gas and there are many. Let him drink that glass of liquids. Not all of the fluids are ever recovered, it is simply impossible to recover 100%. What % that escapes will penetrate the water table sooner or later. Those chemicals, such as benzene etc., are known carcinogens.
Have him take a swig of what they’re using now. Not the stuff they say they’re going to use.
I guess it would depend on what kind of beer you drink. It probably does taste like Bud Lite or Bush. LOL
It’s probably less filling though.
I’ll wait until they come out with Frac Light.
It’s still more unsafe than marijuana. Know what I’m saying America?
Have him take a swig of what they’re using now. Not the stuff they say they’re going to use.
I think you got the idea, richard. Diesel fuel, acids, alkalies, butoxyl compounds, various alcohols (some toxic) are also used. Let’s see him drink some corrosion inhibitors used right now, as well.
@Brian,
Don’t think so. What’s there to lie about? They don’t even know what’s in the fracking fluid and they say so.
Somebody should have asked McCollum to hand over the glass of fluid he drank from for analysis to see what it really was.
@coug6666 It’ll get into the groundwater sooner or later? These wells are 10s of thousands of feet into the ground and all but a small amount of that space is pure rock. The porosity and permeability is low enough that this stuff isn’t going to move up easily or quickly (as in not in our grand-children’s lifetimes), or we’d have pools of oil sitting around on the ground everywhere. Granted the API of the fracking fluid is lower than the oil, but its not lower than the gas that they’re collecting.