Fracking is believed to be highly toxic to the environment, but in terms of oil production it's doing the trick.
Oil production in the U.S is at its highest since 1992, Bloomberg News reported.
The jump in production last week brought America closer to independence from foreign oil. The process of hydrualic fracturing (fracking) was included in the production of 134,000 barrels of oil this year.
"It adds to supply in a world where demand continues to grow, and it certainly reduces our reliance on [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries]," Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates LLC which expects to produce 7.75 million barrels of oil a day by the end of this year, said.
Fracking is the "process of extracting natural gas from shale rock layers deep within the earth," according to whatisfracking.com.
"Horizontal drilling (along with traditional vertical drilling) allows for the injection of highly pressurized fracking fluids into the shale area. This creates new channels within the rock from which natural gas is extracted at higher than traditional rates," the website reported.
The U.S. was able to fulfill 89 percent of its own energy needs, which was the highest monthly rate since 1986, Bloomberg reported.
In 2005 the U.S. was importing 12.5 million barrels of crude oil a day, that number is expected to fall to 5.7 barrels by 2014.
Fracking is a controversial subject, and some are not happy to see more of it taking place on American soil.
The process is said to cause air pollution, groundwater contamination, and even earthquakes, the Catskill Mountainkeeper reported.
People who live above frackable land on the other hand, have the opportunity to reap the benefits of oil production.
Fracking wells can make millions of dollars in royalties for property owners. Among those are the Amish communities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, that are located above the Utica and Marcellus Shale rock formations.
Donald B. Kraybill , a historian, told the Huffington Post the Amish accept drilling because the oil is "God's creation," and made for man.
"If they can find ways to capitalize on the resources under the ground, they don't see a problem with that," he said. "[To the Amish], the world was created for the benefit of man. And nature, as we see it, is made to be used as long as it's kept in proper perspective."
Many Amish residents don't have a problem with the drilling, as long as their morals stay in check.
"The inflow of all the money is going to really expose the spiritual level of the community," Jerry Schlabach, an Amish resident of Berlin, Ohio, said. "If it does corrupt in a big way, then we know we have drifted spiritually."
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