When natural gas drilling resumes in the state of New York the counties most likely to see heavy activity are Broome, Tioga and Chemung. These areas are thought to have the best geological characteristics, which include organic content and thickness.
More in The Ithaca Journal.
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.
Don’t know the vertical sequence of rocks in the Marcellus Shale gas play? The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey has published a stratigraphic nomenclature chart for the Marcellus Shale and associated rocks in West Virginia.
Mainland Resources announced that they spent $9.5 million to drill a Haynesville Shale well to 22,000 feet, recover 21 feet of Haynesville core from a depth of 20,415 feet and set production casing. This was one of the deepest on-shore wells drilled during 2010 and may be the deepest production casing ever set in a gas shale play. The well was drilled in Jefferson County Mississippi.
A rock layer below the Marcellus Shale could prove to be another incredible source of natural gas. The Utica Shale is thicker, more geographically extensive and has already proven its ability to support commercial production.
An abstract of a paper titled” Shale Gas Potential in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia by Mario Garcia-Gonzalez, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia, has been posted on the AAPG Search and Discovery website.
An article on the NewsOK.com website gives you a glimpse of what Ryan Miller, a geophysicist with Devon Energy Company, does on the job. He works on a team that investigates subsurface rock units for oil and natural gas.
The fine-grained, laminated, fissile, sedimentary rock that is quickly transforming the energy industry and regional economies. A Geology.com article about the use of shale as a reservoir rock, a construction material and a raw material for manufacturing.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources claims that “the territory of Ukraine enjoys the biggest shale gas supply in the world.” Quoted in a Worldwide News Ukraine press release.
An interesting article on the EnergyTribune website is titled “The (Shale) Gas Renaissance”. It reviews how shale gas has gone from an insignificant commodity to the accelerating force of the US energy scene.
Graph modified from the Energy Information Administration.
This video provides an overview of shale gas, starting with the first gas well near Fredonia, New York in 1821 up through January 2010 and the major shale gas plays. The speaker is John Curtis, Professor of Geochemistry and Director of the Potential Gas Agency at the Colorado School of Mines.
An article in the Williamsport (PA) SunGazette.com summarizes a very optimistic assessment (with qualifiers) for natural gas production from the Utica Shale from a presentation given by Penn State faculty.
“Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations. Over the past decade, the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has allowed access to large volumes of shale gas that were previously uneconomical to produce. The production of natural gas from shale formations has rejuvenated the natural gas industry in the United States.”
Encana recently announced that they are finished drilling the Marcellus Shale in Luzerne and Columbia Counties, Pennsylvania. Other companies are still considering the area or trying to sell their leases. A geologist at the Pennsylvania Survey says that at least some of the rocks there have been heated enough to advance the coal seams to anthracite rank. The Marcellus Shale was buried deeper than the coal. More at CitizensVoice.com.
Encana Oil and Gas announced that their two Marcellus Shale wells in Luzerne County were not commercial and that they will immediately stop drilling in Columbia County and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. They have 25,000 acres under lease in those counties. More at The Times Leader.
Columbia and Luzerne counties are in the eastern part of the state where the rocks have been metamorphosed to a level where much of the natural gas has probably been driven off or destroyed.
Is there another Marcellus Shale or Haynesville Shale waiting to be discovered somewhere in the United States? Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy believes that the important basins have been thoroughly investigated. More at RigZone.com.
Success in the Barnett, Marcellus, Haynesville and other gas shales of the United States has caused geologists in all parts of the world to reconsider shale as a natural gas reservoir. This video explores the shale gas potential in the United States and other parts of the world, environmental challenges, the role of LNG, competing energy sources and the politics of energy.
The Canadian Province of Quebec has a wealth of hydropower resources – enough that they export surplus electricity to Ontario and the United States. Many people there are not very excited that shales in the subsurface might yield a supply of natural gas that could last for decades. More at the Winnipeg Free Press.
Shale wells that produce natural gas liquids or natural gas and light oil can be much more profitable than a well that produces only natural gas. An article on the Seeking Alpha website explores the “hybrid” production model.
The Montreal Gazette has published an article titled: A Guide to Quebec’s Shale Gas Controversy. It is a question-answer piece that might serve as a good introduction to people who are new to the topic.
The North Dakota Geological Survey has a series of maps showing organic geochemical patterns in the Bakken Formation of North Dakota.
Data presented includes: well locations, structural contour, total organic carbon, hydrogen index, oil index and more. View maps.
Some people believe that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will increase the amount of interest in natural gas – both as a more attractive fuel and as a more attractive way to produce energy. More on the Financial Times website.
Although the Marcellus Shale is the hot target today it is sandwiched between other rock units with the potential of producing natural gas. The Rhinestreet above the Marcellus and the Utica below it have both produced natural gas in some areas. More on the Observer-Reporter.com website.
The development of shale gas plays in Europe could redefine the economics and politics of energy in that part of the world. An article on the BBC website explores the impact on Gazprom, the Russian energy company.
How Much Shale Gas at What Price?
Does the US have an unlimited supply of inexpensive natural gas from shale that will be quickly produced or will the resource be produced more slowly and sold for higher prices? An essay in the Financial Times explores this question.
From the Alabama Geological Survey’s Conasauga Formation Shale Gas Play website.: “The Conasauga Shale Gas Pool should initially be defined as that interval of the Conasauga Shale productive of hydrocarbons between 1,946 feet and 6,944 feet as indicated on the Array Induction-GR Density-APS log of the Dominion Black Warrior Basin, Inc. Newman 27-07-06 Well, Permit No. 14495 including those strata productive of hydrocarbons which can be correlated therewith, and all zones in communication therewith, and productive extensions thereof. However, the upper and lower productive limits of the Conasauga Shale Gas Pool in the proposed field have yet to be fully defined. Said pool constitutes a separate and distinct gas producing pool in said field, separate and distinct from any other producing pool in said field.”
From the Alabama Geological Survey website: “To assist in the development of emerging gas shale plays in Alabama, the Geological Survey of Alabama is conducting a three-year study on the geology and development potential of gas shale in the Black Warrior basin and Appalachian thrust belt of Alabama. These areas contain a diversity of emerging gas shale plays in Cambrian through Mississippian strata.”
