I dunno about fracking. We are having ground water problems here that can be traced to the practice. I'm all for U.S. producers getting this stuff out of the ground, but water is necessary too.
Fracking or not, shale oil extraction takes a hell of a lot of water. And if you look at the areas where the greatest concentrations of shale oil/tar sands are located, guess what ISN'T in abundant supply. I've lived not far from where longview lives, and on the western slope of CO. Rainfall/precipitation in that area is pretty sparse, and there isn't much in the way of significant bodies of water or areas where reservoirs can be created.
Yeah, either way the next 20-30 years are gonna be pretty interesting.