Sep 23, 2014 2 min read

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. – Energy companies are using more water and sand to extract natural gas from the Marcellus shale in Marshall and Ohio counties, a new report by a research firm said.

Companies working in what’s called the “wet gas window” of the two counties are using up to 10 million gallons of water for each project, along with 13 million pounds of sand. That’s up from about 4 million gallons of water and 1 million pounds of sand a few years ago, according to the report by Wood Mackenzie.

The use of sand for wells in the two counties increased 58 percent between 2012 and 2013 alone, the report shows.

The drilling technique, called hydraulic fracturing or fracking, uses water, abrasives and chemicals to extract natural gas laced through shale deposits.

“Using more sand and water has allowed us to be able to get a larger return,” Corky Demarco, executive director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, told The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register.

Companies are extending horizontal laterals farther into the Marcellus formation, which calls for more sand and water, DeMarco said.

“We are forcing more sand and more water in there to keep the cracks open,” he said.

Gastar Exploration is averaging 5,000-foot-long laterals in Marshall County, according to a recent company report.

“We are learning as we go along with this formation. I don’t know that is going to change for a while. We are trying different things, especially in that wet area,” Demarco said.

Trucks transport sand and water to the well sites. Briny wastewater left over from the fracking job is transported to disposal, unless companies recycle it.

“We are constantly working to recycle more of the water,” Demarco said. “We don’t want to have to use all these trucks any more than people want them to be out there taking up the roads.”