Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is the creation of fractures in the rock formations in the earth using pressurized fluid generally for the purpose of extracting natural gas. Today’s graphic is an in depth look at how the fracking process works.

Drilling companies are hiring and dispatching brokers to cut deals with local land owners for their mineral rights. The mission of these so-called “land men”: Close the deal quickly. Reuters travelled to Carroll County, Ohio, to find out more about this unregulated aspect of the hydraulic fracturing boom.

Watch more Reuters Investigates episodes and read the full special report.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, is the creation of fractures in the rock formations in the earth using pressurized fluid, generally for the purpose of extracting natural gas. Today’s graphic diagrams the process, highlights the possible risks and presents a few graphs showing the significant growth of the practice.

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