Devonian shale frac
Devonian gas shales of the Appalachian Basin, often called black and/or brown shales, underlie 160,000 square miles in 13 eastern states and range in thickness from a few feet to over 8,500 feet. Much of this shale contains natural gas. Current estimates range from 460 to as much as 1,200 trillion cubic feet. Even though more than 600,000 and possibly 750,000 wells have been drilled in the area, few have tested the eastern portion of the Basin where the shales are thickest. The U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration, with support of the 13 states in the Appalachian region, has initiated an eight-year program, ''The Eastern Gas Shales Project,'' to stimulate increased commercial production of natural gas by providing reliable resource (geologic) data and developing economic extraction (fracturing) alternatives for the low-permeability shale formations. The project consists of the following elements: an inventory of the natural gas resource and recoverable reserves; a characterization of the nature of the shales in the three sedimentary basins in the East (Appalachian, Illinois, and Michigan); exploration methods for locating fractured shale and other gas reservoirs associated with shale; R and D studies on methods for improving gas recovery from shales; implementation of a concurrent field-test program to transfer technology concepts to the natural gas industry; environmental assessments to assure acceptable environmental impacts from exploratory and demonstration activity; economic analyses to indicate commercial viability of various options; and transfer of developed technology to the private sector as rapidly as possible by timely publication of information. The Devonian shale program can be a test of the joint efforts of a government agency and the producing industry to solve the impending oil and gas shortage. (MCW)
- OSTI ID:
- 5285034
- Journal Information:
- Pet. Indep.; (United States), Vol. 49:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Geology of the Devonian Black Shales of the Appalachian basin
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