The Deep Carbon Observatory is an initiative dedicated to achieving a transformational understanding of Earth’s deep carbon cycle, including its poorly constrained reservoirs and fluxes, the unknown role of deep biology, and unexplored influences of the deep carbon cycle on critical societal concerns related to energy, environment and climate.
“An estimated 18,500 southern Arizonans are without natural gas to heat their homes and service may not be restored until next Tuesday. The problem appears to be huge demand for gas nationwide due to the massive storm affecting most of the country. [...] Meanwhile, plans are under review to create huge caverns in salt deposits below the Picacho basin in Pinal County north of Tucson, to store natural gas under pressure to use during times of peak demand.” Quoted from the Arizona Geology Blog.
Even in Texas, a state that is producing natural gas in many areas, the extremely cold weather has stressed natural gas supplies. Similar conditions are being seen in many parts of the United States according to the Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Transportation Update.
The Pennsylvania Geological Survey published their “Oil and Gas in Pennsylvania” in 2002. Although this publication date was before horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing were being applied to shales the booklet still contains a lot of interesting information related to oil and gas formation, rock units and drilling.
Working natural gas in storage set another new all-time record increasing to 3,843 billion cubic feet (Bcf) as of Friday, November 12, according to the Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Natural Gas Update. The implied net injection for the week was 3 Bcf.
LNG or liquefied natural gas is natural gas that has been temporarily converted into a liquid. This is done to save space – 610 cubic feet of natural gas can be converted into a single cubic foot of LNG. Converting natural gas into LNG makes it easier to store and easier to transport where pipelines are not available. More at Geology.com.
The US Energy Information Administration reports that the amount of natural gas held in United States underground storage facilities reached a record high volume (8,087 billion cubic feet) in October, 2009.
