(CBS News) President after president has called for energy independence for America, but somehow it never seems to happen. CBS News correspondent Anna Werner talked to an oil man who predicts it's coming and in just a few years.
The boom times are back in Seminole, Oklahoma. Oil producers are drilling 20 new wells a day here.
Melvin Moran is a second generation oil man. His production has soared 50 percent in the last five years.
"Since this new technology has come along," he said, "there have probably been 100 wells drilled within 2 or 3 miles from where we are standing."
The new technology lets oil producers drill not just vertically but horizontally into layers of black shale -- rock that is rich with oil. Once there, they use the method called 'fracking' -- pumping in water under intense pressure along with sand and chemicals -- to crack open the rock and release the oil.
Fracking is controversial and some question its impact on the environment. Moran believes if done responsibly, it's safe.
"This new technology with these large fracks has increased both oil and gas production enormously," he said.
CBS News
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