The Frackers, Gregory Zuckerman
The Frackers, Gregory Zuckerman
10 Rating(s)
List: $39.98 | Sale: $27.98
Club: $19.98

The Frackers
The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters

Author: Gregory Zuckerman

Narrator: Sean Pratt

Unabridged: 15 hr 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 11/01/2013


Synopsis

Everyone knew it was crazy to try to extract oil and natural gas buried in shale rock deep below the ground. Everyone, that is, except a few reckless wildcatters - who risked their careers to prove the world wrong.

Things looked grim for American energy in 2006. Oil production was in steep decline and natural gas was hard to find. The Iraq War threatened the nation’s already tenuous relations with the Middle East. China was rapidly industrializing and competing for resources. Major oil companies had just about given up on new discoveries on U.S. soil, and a new energy crisis seemed likely.

But a handful of men believed everything was about to change.

Far from the limelight, Aubrey McClendon, Harold Hamm, Mark Papa, and other wildcatters were determined to tap massive deposits of oil and gas that Exxon, Chevron, and other giants had dismissed as a waste of time. By experimenting with hydraulic fracturing through extremely dense shale—a process now known as fracking—the wildcatters started a revolution. In just a few years, they solved America’s dependence on imported energy, triggered a global environmental controversy—and made and lost astonishing fortunes.

No one understands these men—their ambitions, personalities, methods, and foibles—better than the award-winning Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory Zuckerman. His exclusive access enabled him to get close to the frackers and chronicle the untold story of how they transformed the nation and the world. The result is a dramatic narrative tracking a brutal competition among headstrong drillers. It stretches from the barren fields of North Dakota and the rolling hills of northeastern Pennsylvania to cluttered pickup trucks in Texas and tense Wall Street boardrooms.

Activists argue that the same methods that are creating so much new energy are also harming our water supply and threatening environmental chaos. The Frackers tells the story of the angry opposition unleashed by this revolution and explores just how dangerous fracking really is.

The frackers have already transformed the economic, environmental, and geopolitical course of history. Now, like the Rockefellers and the Gettys before them, they’re using their wealth and power to influence politics, education, entertainment, sports, and many other fields. Their story is one of the most important of our time.

About Gregory Zuckerman

Gregory Zuckerman is a Special Writer at the Wall Street Journal and the bestselling author of The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters; and The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History. He appears regularly on CNBC, Fox Business, National Public Radio, BBC, and other major media outlets. He lives with his wife and two sons in West Orange, N.J., where they enjoy the Yankees in the summer, root for the Giants in the fall, and reminisce about Linsanity in the winter.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bob on December 11, 2014

Great book, almost gave it 5 stars. He tells the story of the people who made the fracking revolution in the last 6 to 8 years. There are so many positives for our country from this fracking revolution: 1.It has allow much of our energy supply to move from coal to natural gas. Emissions of U.S. carbo......more

Goodreads review by Socraticgadfly on January 28, 2014

Good technological and business review; just so-so environmentally This book is especially valuable for people wanting to understand the technological issues behind both oil and gas fracking, and, related to that, a bit about petroleum geology and exploration in the "age of shale." Zuckerman could hav......more

Goodreads review by liirogue on June 24, 2018

Bitter-sweet read for me. I picked it up because I worked at Chesapeake for 10 years, including the last 5 years that Aubrey McClendon was CEO. I remember well the frenetic pace the company ran at and the way everything could change on a dime. It was stressful and exciting and everyone couldn't wait......more

Goodreads review by Mike on October 13, 2014

Very well written. Reads like a novel. Readers learn it ain't easy bein' a wildcatter. America's economy, energy independence and future depends on these wildcatters. If you don't know who they are and what they do, this is the book to read.......more

Goodreads review by Breakingviews on November 21, 2013

By Christopher Swann The revolution in U.S. energy came from an unlikely source, as Gregory Zuckerman recounts in “The Frackers: the Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters.” Tiny drillers like George Mitchell and Harold Hamm persisted with shale while deep-pocketed giants such as......more