Potential natural gas resources in the Devonian shales in Ohio

Book · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

OSTI ID:5475633

Janssens, A; de Witt, W Jr

This report considers the potential natural gas resources of the Devonian shales of eastern Ohio. Under cover of younger rocks these shales increase in thickness eastward from less than 500 ft near the outcrop in central Ohio to more than 4000 ft in Jefferson County. Their base, exposed in central Ohio, decreases in elevation eastward to more than 4300 ft below sea level in Belmont County. Commercial (perhaps marginally so) production of gas has been obtained from the dark-colored portions of the shales in several areas in eastern Ohio, where representative wells have produced about 350 million cubic ft of gas each in 40 yrs. Gamma ray log cross sections show the stratigraphic and geographic distributions of four major radioactive zones, consisting principally of black and dark-brown shales, found in the Devonian shale sequence. Both oil and gas have been produced from siltstones found in the upper part of the Devonian shales in the eastern third of Ohio. By extrapolation from the long-established and well-documented production of natural gas in the Big Sandy field in eastern Kentucky, it is calculated that the dark-colored portions of the Devonian shales in Ohio may yield approximately 28 trillion cubic ft of gas; if the entire shale sequence is considered productive, the Devonian shales may yield approximately 67 trillion cubic ft of gas. Both estimates assume significant improvement in the production rates of shale wells through new or improved stimulation techniques. 10 figures, 2 tables.

• OSTI ID: 5475633
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
030200* -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
04 OIL SHALES AND TAR SANDS
040201 -- Oil Shales & Tar Sands-- Site Geology-- (-1989)
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
BLACK SHALES
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHATTANOOGA FORMATION
DEVONIAN PERIOD
DIMENSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPLOITATION
EXPLORATION
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GAMMA-GAMMA LOGGING
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGY
GREAT LAKES REGION
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
KENTUCKY
MAPS
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
NATURAL GAS WELLS
NORTH AMERICA
OHIO
OIL SHALES
PALEOZOIC ERA
RADIOACTIVE TRACER LOGGING
RADIOACTIVITY LOGGING
RESOURCES
SOUTHEAST REGION
STRATIGRAPHY
THICKNESS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
USA
WELL LOGGING
WELLS