Water Usage in Hydraulic Fracturing
A 5.6-fold increase in water consumption per well, 2011-2025
Analysis of 241,960 chemical disclosures from the FracFocus Registry
The hydraulic fracturing industry has undergone a fundamental transformation in water usage over the past 14 years. Our analysis of chemical disclosure data reveals that the average water volume per well has increased from 3.52 million gallons in 2011 to 19.85 million gallons in 2025—a 5.6-fold increase.
This trend reflects the industry's shift toward longer lateral lengths and more intensive stimulation designs to maximize recovery from unconventional formations.
National Trend: Water Per Well
| Year | Wells | Mean (M gal) | Median (M gal) | Total (B gal) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 616 | 3.52 | 3.51 | 2.2 |
| 2012 | 8,727 | 2.50 | 1.66 | 21.8 |
| 2013 | 28,078 | 2.77 | 1.86 | 77.9 |
| 2014 | 28,850 | 3.80 | 2.55 | 109.6 |
| 2015 | 17,131 | 5.19 | 4.20 | 89.0 |
| 2016 | 10,138 | 7.81 | 6.59 | 79.1 |
| 2017 | 14,634 | 9.94 | 9.15 | 145.5 |
| 2018 | 17,710 | 11.00 | 10.13 | 194.8 |
| 2019 | 16,153 | 12.63 | 12.10 | 204.0 |
| 2020 | 8,256 | 14.75 | 14.64 | 121.8 |
| 2021 | 11,494 | 14.57 | 14.87 | 167.5 |
| 2022 | 13,830 | 15.52 | 16.00 | 214.6 |
| 2023 | 13,520 | 16.88 | 17.48 | 228.2 |
| 2024 | 12,249 | 18.79 | 19.15 | 230.1 |
| 2025 | 9,534 | 19.85 | 20.03 | 189.3 |
Note: Mean and median converge in recent years (2020+), indicating a symmetric distribution. Early years show mean > median, suggesting some very large completions pulled averages up.
Average water per well (million gallons)
Basin-by-Basin Analysis
Water intensity varies significantly by geological formation. The Haynesville Shale in Louisiana requires the most water per well, while the Bakken formation in North Dakota uses the least among major US shale plays.
| Basin | Trend (2015-2025) | 2015 | 2025 Mean | 2025 Median | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haynesville | 7.6M | 34.4M | 34.4M | +351% | |
| Appalachia | 9.5M | 26.5M | 25.5M | +178% | |
| Permian Basin | 5.1M | 21.8M | 21.2M | +328% | |
| Anadarko | 8.5M | 20.9M | 20.2M | +146% | |
| DJ Basin | 4.9M | 20.1M | 19.7M | +311% | |
| Eagle Ford | 7.4M | 17.5M | 16.5M | +137% | |
| Bakken | 4.4M | 11.7M | 10.2M | +166% |
Mean and median track closely across all basins, confirming findings are not skewed by outliers. The Bakken shows the largest gap (11.7M mean vs 10.2M median), suggesting a few high-water completions.
Key Observations
Haynesville leads in water intensity
At 34.4 million gallons per well in 2025, the Haynesville Shale in Louisiana uses nearly 3x more water than the Bakken. This reflects the formation's depth (10,000-13,000 feet) and the longer lateral lengths common in natural gas wells.
Appalachia shows steepest growth
The Marcellus and Utica shales saw a 178% increase in water use per well, rising from 9.5M gallons (2015) to 26.5M gallons (2025). Operators have extended laterals beyond 15,000 feet in some cases.
Permian dominates by volume
While not the highest per-well usage, the Permian Basin's scale makes it the largest consumer of frac water in absolute terms. With 4,321 wells completed in 2025, the basin consumed approximately 94 billion gallons.
Bakken remains efficient
North Dakota's Bakken formation uses the least water among major shale plays at 11.7M gallons per well. The formation's geology allows for effective stimulation with lower water volumes.
Methodology & Data Sources
This analysis is based on 241,960 chemical disclosure records from theFracFocus Chemical Disclosure Registry, spanning from 2011 to 2025. FracFocus is the national hydraulic fracturing chemical registry, managed by the Ground Water Protection Council and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission.
Filters applied: Records with water volumes between 0 and 100 million gallons were included to exclude data entry errors. Years with fewer than 100 wells were excluded from annual averages.
Basin mapping: Disclosures were mapped to major shale basins based on county names in the disclosure records. County-to-basin mappings follow standard industry definitions.
References
Access This Data via API
OilPriceAPI provides programmatic access to FracFocus chemical disclosure data, including water volumes, chemical constituents, and operator information.
curl -H "Authorization: Token YOUR_API_KEY" \ https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/fracfocus/disclosures?basin=permian&year=2025