Letter to the editor: Article got the facts right on water use in the Oil Patch

Amy Dalrymple’s recent article, “Water for oil: Industry used 5.4 billion gallons of water in 2012,” provided some much-needed context to an important issue in domestic energy production. As she correctly points out, hydraulic fracturing does consume a great deal of water. But her willingness to put those seemingly large numbers in perspective — comparing them to the demands of irrigation, for example, or usage in a typical Midwestern city — is something we don’t often see in the drilling debate.

Too often, the facts on shale oil and gas get lost in the sometimes-heated dialogue between fracking advocates and critics. By providing a clear, even-handed explanation of how — and how much — water is used in fracking, Dalrymple made a substantial contribution to the energy conversation.

(Luellen is a managing partner at Burleson LLP, a law firm that specializes in energy issues)

Tags: opinion, letters, energy