Shale gas in the United States is rapidly increasing as a source of natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production from conventional gas reservoirs, and has led to major increases in reserves of US natural gas. Largely due to shale gas discoveries, estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States in 2008 were 35% higher than in 2006.[1]
In 2007, shale gas fields included the #2 (Barnett/Newark East) and #13 (Antrim) sources of natural gas in the United States in terms of gas volumes produced.[2]
The economic success of shale gas in the United States since 2000 has led to rapid development of shale gas in Canada, and, more recently, has spurred interest in shale gas possibilities in Europe, Asia, and Australia.
U.S. shale deposits also cross over into Canadian provinces, such as Ontario.[3]
US shale gas production has grown rapidly in recent years as the natural gas industry has improved drilling and extraction methods while increasing exploration efforts.[4] US shale production was 2.02 trillion cubic feet (57 billion cubic metres) in 2008, a jump of 71% over the previous year.[5] In 2009, US shale gas production grew 54% to 3.11 trillion cubic feet (88 billion cubic metres), while remaining proven US shale reserves at year-end 2009 increased 76% to 60.6 trillion cubic feet (1.72 trillion cubic metres).[6] In its Annual Energy Outlook for 2011, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) more than doubled its estimate of technically recoverable shale gas reserves in the US, to 827 trillion cubic feet (23.4 trillion cubic metres) from 353 trillion cubic feet (10.0 trillion cubic metres), by including data from drilling results in new shale fields, such as the Marcellus, Haynesville, and Eagle Ford shales. Shale production is projected to increase from 14% of total US gas production in 2009 to 45% by 2035.[7]
| "The development of shale gas is expected to significantly increase U.S. energy security and help reduce greenhouse gas pollution." -- White House, Office of the Press Secretary, 17 November 2009 [8] |
The availability of large shale gas reserves in the US has led some to propose natural gas-fired power plants as lower-carbon emission replacements for coal plants, and as backup power sources for wind energy.[9][10]
In 2011, though, a news report found that "not everyone in the Energy Information Administration agrees" with the optimistic projections of reserves, and questioned the impartiality of some of the reports issued by the agency. Two of the primary contractors, Intek and Advanced Resources International, which provided information for the reports also have major clients in the oil and gas industry. "The president of Advanced Resources, Vello A. Kuuskraa, is also a stockholder and board member of Southwestern Energy, an energy company heavily involved in drilling for gas" in the Fayetteville Shale, according to the report in The New York Times. The current EIA administrator, Richard G. Newell, a vocal supporter of the industry prospects, announced in June his plans to resign to take a job at Duke University.[11] The news report and one from the previous day on the same general subject by the same journalist attracted critiques from bloggers at Forbes and the Council on Foreign Relations, to name two.[12][13] Diane Rehm had Urbina; Seamus McGraw, writer and author of "The End of Country"; Tony Ingraffea, a professor of engineering at Cornell; and John Hanger, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; on a radio call-in show about Urbino's articles and the broader subject. The associations representing the natural gas industry, such as America's Natural Gas Alliance, were invited to be on the program but declined.[14]
In 1996, shale gas wells in the United States produced 0.3 trillion cubic feet (8.5 billion cubic metres), 1.6% of US gas production; by 2006, production had more than tripled to 1.1 trillion cubic feet (31 billion cubic metres) per year, 5.9% of US gas production. By 2005 there were 14,990 shale gas wells in the US.[15] A record 4,185 shale gas wells were completed in the US in 2007.[16]
In January 2008, a joint study between Pennsylvania State University and State University of New York at Fredonia professors Terry Engelder and Gary Lash increased estimates as much as 250 times over the previous estimate for the Marcellus shale by the U.S. Geological Survey.[17] The report circulated throughout the industry.[18] In 2008, Engelder and Nash had noted a gas rush was occurring[18] and the New York Times' "There’s Gas in Those Hills" was an in-depth look at the development, noting investments by Texas-based Range Resources and increased leasing amongst Anadarko Petroleum, Chesapeake Energy and Cabot Oil & Gas.
In 2005, energy exploration of the Barnett Shale in Texas, resulting from new technology, inspired an economic confidence in the industry as similar operations soon followed across the Southeast, including at Arkansas' Fayetteville Shale and Louisiana's Haynesville Shale.[17]
Between 2005-2008, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection cited 518 Marcellus-specific drilling permits.[19]
West Virginia reported a doubling of natural gas and oil drilling permits between 2000–2008,[20] and a tripling between 2007–2009.[21]
New York reported oil and natural gas drilling permit growth doubling from 2000–2008,[22] contributing to 36,000 employment positions and an $8 billion economic impact in 2008.[23]
The number of permits issued by Pennsylvania tripled[24] between 2008–2009, including $3.5 billion in land acquisitions and 44,000 new employment positions related to the shale development.[25]
In 2009, West Virginia and Pennsylvania combined to add 57,000 Marcellus-related employment positions.[26] West Virginia's economy grew $1.3 billion in 2009 as a result of the rush.[27]
Royal Dutch Shell's $4.7 billion acquisition of East Resources in 2010, with acreage in four Marcellus states,[28] stood out amongst a flurry of acquisitions,[29] and by the end of the year National Geographic's special report on the developments was titled "The Great Shale Gas Rush."[30]
In July 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a $5 million grant to train workers for Marcellus shale drilling.[31]
In 2010, Range Resources' Marcellus Shale Division reported producing 200 million cubic feet (5.7 million cubic metres) of gas, anticipating the figure to double in 2011.[32] The Marcellus Shale Coalition has predicted 88,000 new employment positions in 2011 as a result of the rush.[32]
By the end of that year, it was reported that more drilling rigs were moving into Ohio,[33] where the shale is more shallow.[34] Chesapeake Energy was cited as making "big plans" for development in the state in 2011,[35] as rural reports from West Virginia indicated the infrastructure was overwhelmed by the growth.[36]
A June, 2011 New York Times investigation of industrial emails and internal documents found that the financial benefits of unconventional shale gas extraction may be less than previously thought, due to companies intentionally overstating the productivity of their wells and the size of their reserves.[37]
Planning for infrastructure projects was reported in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio to accommodate the growth during this period, including for pipeline and water treatment services.[38][39][40][41][42]
In August 2010, Kinder Morgan announced plans to construct a 230-240 mile-long underground pipeline, which would transport recovered natural gas supplies in Western Pennsylvania from West Virginia to Toledo, ultimately connecting with existing pipelines in Michigan and Southern Ontario.[43][44] In September, Warren, Ohio's water treatment facility announced plans to become the first in the state to accept waste water from shale drilling, while at the 2010 Marcellus Summit in State College, Pennsylvania, state officials announced they were working with local officials on bonding issues for new infrastructure.[45]
Laurel Mountain Midstream announced in October plans to expand its pipeline collection system,[46] and later that month Texas-based El Paso Midstream Group and Spectra Energy signed a memorandum of understanding to construct their Marcellus Ethane Pipeline System to connect existing Ohio and Pennsylvania pipelines with Gulf Coast destinations.[47]
The Antrim Shale of Upper Devonian age produces along a belt across the northern part of the Michigan Basin.[48] Although the Antrim Shale has produced gas since the 1940s, the play was not active until the late 1980s. During the 1990s, theal drilling is not widely used. Unlike other shale gas plays such as the Barnett Shale, the natural gas from the Antrim appears to be biogenic gas generated by the action of bacteria on the organic-rich rock.[1]
In 2007, the Antrim gas field produced 136 billion cubic feet (3.9 billion cubic metres) of gas, making it the 13th largest source of natural gas in the United States.[2]
The first Barnett Shale well was completed in 1981 in Wise County.[49] Drilling expanded greatly in the past several years due to higher natural gas prices and use of horizontal wells to increase production. In contrast to older shale gas plays, such as the Antrim Shale, the New Albany Shale, and the Ohio Shale, the Barnett Shale completions are much deeper (up to 8,000 feet). The thickness of the Barnett varies from 100 to 1,000 feet (300 m), but most economic wells are located where the shale is between 300 and 600 feet (180 m) thick. The success of the Barnett has spurred exploration of other deep shales.
In 2007, the Barnett shale (Newark East) gas field produced 1.11 trillion cubic feet (31 billion cubic metres) of gas, making it the second-largest source of natural gas in the United States.[2] The Barnett shale currently produces more than 6% of US natural gas production.[50]
The Caney Shale in the Arkoma Basin is the stratigraphic equivalent of the Barnett Shale in the Ft. Worth Basin. The formation has become a gas producer since the large success of the Barnett play.
Wells are currently being drilled to produce gas from the Cambrian Conasauga shale in northern Alabama.[51] Activity is in St. Clair, Etowah, and Cullman counties.[52]
The Mississippian Fayetteville Shale produces gas in the Arkansas part of the Arkoma Basin. The productive section varies in thickness from 50 to 550 feet (170 m), and in depth from 1,500 to 6,500 feet (460 to 2,000 m). The shale gas was originally produced through vertical wells, but operators are increasingly going to horizontal wells in the Fayetteville. Producers include SEECO a subsidiary of Southwestern Energy Co. who discovered the play, Chesapeake Energy, Noble Energy Corp., XTO Energy Inc., Contango Oil & Gas Co., Edge Petroleum Corp., Triangle Petroleum Corp., and Kerogen Resources Inc.[53]
The Floyd Shale of Mississippian age is a current gas exploration target in the Black Warrior Basin of northern Alabama and Mississippi.[54][55]
Bill Barrett Corporation has drilled and completed several gas wells in the Gothic Shale. The wells are in Montezuma County, Colorado, in the southeast part of the Paradox basin. A horizontal well in the Gothic flowed 5,700 MCF per day.[56]
Although the Jurassic Haynesville Shale of northwest Louisiana has produced gas since 1905, it has been the focus of modern shale gas activity only since a gas discovery drilled by Cubic Energy in November 2007. The Cubic Energy discovery was followed by a March 2008 announcement by Chesapeake Energy that it had completed a Haynesville Shale gas well.[57] Haynesville shale wells have also been drilled in northeast Texas, where it is also known as the Bossier Shale.
The Devonian-Mississippian New Albany Shale produces gas in the southeast Illinois Basin in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. The New Albany has been a gas producer in this area for more than 100 years, but recent higher gas prices and improved well completion technology have increased drilling activity. Wells are 250 to 2,000 feet (610 m) deep.[2] The gas is described as having a mixed biogenic and thermogenic origin.
Operators have completed approximately 50 wells in the Pearsall Shale in the Maverick Basin of south Texas. The most active company in the play has been TXCO Resources, although EnCana and Anadarko Petroleum have also acquired large land positions in the basin.[58] The gas wells had all been vertical until 2008, when TXCO drilled and completed a number of horizontal wells.[59]
The upper Devonian shales of the Appalachian Basin, which are known by different names in different areas have produced gas since the early 20th century. The main producing area straddles the state lines of Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky, but extends through central Ohio and along Lake Erie into the panhandle of Pennsylvania. More than 20,000 wells produce gas from Devonian shales in the basin. The wells are commonly 3,000 to 5,000 feet (1,500 m) deep. The shale most commonly produced is the Chattanooga Shale, also called the Ohio Shale.[60] The US Geological Survey estimated a total resource of 12.2 trillion cubic feet (350 billion cubic metres) of natural gas in Devonian black shales from Kentucky to New York[3]
The Marcellus shale in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York, once thought to be played out, is now estimated to hold 168-516 trillion cubic feet (14.6 trillion cubic metres) still available with horizontal drilling.[61] It has been suggested that the Marcellus shale and other Devonian shales of the Appalachian Basin, could supply the northeast U.S. with natural gas.[62] In November 2008, Chesapeake Energy, which held 1.8 million net acres of oil and gas leases in the Marcellus trend, sold a 32.5% interest in its leases to Statoil of Norway, for $3.375 billion.[63]
In October 2009, the Canadian company Gastem, which has been drilling gas wells into the Ordivician Utica Shale in Quebec, drilled the first of its three state-permitted Utica Shale wells in New York. The first well drilled was in Otsego County.[64]
The Devonian Woodford Shale in Oklahoma is from 50 to 300 feet (15 – 91 m) thick. Although the first gas production was recorded in 1939, by late 2004, there were only 24 Woodford Shale gas wells. By early 2008, there were more than 750 Woodford gas wells.[65][4] Like many shale gas plays, the Woodford started with vertical wells, then became dominantly a play of horizontal wells. The play is mostly in the Arkoma Basin of southeast Oklahoma, but some drilling has extended the play west into the Anadarko Basin and south into the Ardmore Basin.[66] The largest gas producer from the Woodford is Newfield Exploration; other operators include Devon Energy, Chesapeake Energy, Cimarex Energy, Antero Resources, St. Mary Land and Exploration, XTO Energy, Pablo Energy, Petroquest Energy, Continental Resources, and Range Resources.
Complaints of uranium exposure and lack of water infrastructure emerged as environmental concerns for the rush.[67][68] In Pennsylvania, controversy has surrounded the practice of releasing wastewater from "fracking" into rivers which serve as consumption reserves.[69]
|
||||||||
