The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters
by Gregory Zuckerman
View on GoodreadsWho turned shale rock into an American energy boom? About half a dozen independent wildcatters, grinding through a decades-long dry spell until horizontal drilling and fracking finally worked together. Zuckerman follows George Mitchell, Harold Hamm and Aubrey McClendon, and you watch many of the new billionaires lose control of the companies they founded.
Core ideas
- Five years to transform output: Once the method worked, US oil and gas production surged fast enough that projections had the country passing Saudi Arabia by 2020.
- Fortunes won and lost: Hamm's outgrew Steve Jobs's estate, while one failed McClendon venture cost about $2 billion.
- Environment in the afterword: Zuckerman addresses misconceptions about water contamination and earthquakes, yet backs disclosure of fracking fluids and stricter regulation.
Published2013
Pages416
ISBN9781591846451
ReadJul 2026
