...What is shale gas and why is it important? Shale gas refers to natural gas that is trapped within shale formations. Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of petroleum and natural gas. 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. Does the U.S. Have Abundant Shale Gas Resources? Of the natural gas consumed in the United States in 2011, about 95% was produced domestically; thus, the supply of natural gas is not as dependent on foreign producers as is the supply of crude oil, and the delivery system is less subject to interruption. The availability of large quantities of shale gas should enable the United States to consume a predominantly domestic supply of gas for many years and produce more natural gas than it consumes. An analysis in the Annual Energy Outlook 2012 (released June 2012) indicates that the uncertainty in the size and economics of the domestic shale gas resources could have a considerable impact on future domestic natural gas production and that 2035 shale gas production could be between 9.7 trillion cubic feet and 20.5 trillion cubic feet. U.S. total natural gas production is projected to range between 26.1 trillion cubic feet and 34.1 trillion cubic feet. Where is Shale Gas Found? ...
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...The Messel Shale Pit is located approximately 35 kilometers southeast of Frankfurt Germany in a town called Hesse. The pit is 1000 meters long, 700 meters wide, and currently, stretches 60 meters deep. It has been dated back to the Eocene age which was fifty four to thirty seven and a half million years ago. Eocene is Greek for “New Dawn”, and is most often recognized as the age of the first large land mammals. The Pit was once a former quarry and was used from 1859 to 1971 for mining oil shale. Oil Shale is a fine grained sedimentary rock in which hydrocarbons or oil shale, can be produced. The area is considered to be a lake that sat within a volcanic crater. The oil shales in the area are said to be the result of a heavy presence of algae. The toxic gases omitted from the volcanic crater are thought to be the reason for such a high number of land animals having been fossilized. It wasn’t until 1875 that the first fossil, a crocodile, had been discovered. Since then, numerous fish and sea creatures, thirty one plant species, 45 mammals, and 43 species of bird have been discovered. Some even had stomach contents and tissue still intact. There is no doubt that the area is extremely important to the world of science. In 1971, the Messel Shale Pit almost became a waste dump, but thankfully the plans for the dump fell through. It wasn’t until 1991 that the site was purchased by the Hessen State for over 35 million marks. The site had contributed so much to science and education...
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...The Burgess Shale What is the geological significance of the Burgess Shale: • The Burgess Shale is famous for its fossils of soft-bodied organisms. It is exceptional to find complete animals preserved, especially ones that had only soft tissues and no mineralized structures. (Typically it is only the hard parts of organisms - shell or bone - that become fossils.) • When this happens palaeontologists can gain a vast amount of ecological and biological information about a particular time in Earth's history. The Burgess Shale is such a site, providing the best window on animal communities during the end of the Cambrian Explosion. When was it deposited: • The story of the Burgess Shale begins more than 500 million years ago. Shortly before the Burgess Shale animals lived, there was an evolutionary “Big-Bang” called the Cambrian Explosion. • These fossils are approximately 530 million years old, and represent an array of life-forms present during the early-middle years of the Cambrian period (545-495 million years ago). What kind of organisms were fossilised: Approximately 120 species are found in the Burgess Shale, including familiar forms as well as several species belonging to previously unknown phyla. Some of the fossilized species are members of groups (phylum) that still exist. These species can be categorized as members of the phyla Porifora (sponges), Annelida (segmented marine flatworms), Arthropoda (insects, crabs, and trilobites), and Echinodermata (sea...
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...run out, with devastating consequences for the global economy and global quality of life. At the same time, the tremendous risk of climate change associated with the use of fossil fuels makes supplying this energy increasingly difficult. While the potential for a crisis if we run out of energy is very real, but there is still time before that occurs. In the past two decades proven gas reserves have increased by 70% and proven oil reserves by 40%. At expected rates of demand growth we have enough for thirty years supply. Moreover, better technology means that new oil and gas fields are being discovered all the time while enhanced recovery techniques are opening up a potentially huge array of unconventional sources, including tar sands, shale gas and ultra-deep water. While in the long term, the use of renewable sources of energy like harnessing wind and solar energy is inevitable, at present the costs associated are high and the efficiency of the power generated is low to make it viable for developing countries like India and China from adopting them on a large scale. In the short term, of all the unconventional sources of...
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...Shale Gas and India Introduction Shale gas has impacted the scenario of Energy market world over. US being the first one to explore and produce shale gas with its indigenous technology, is projected to emerge as an exporter of LNG over the next few years from being a major importer few years back. China has the largest reserves of shale gas followed by Argentina and US, while India has sufficient reserves as well; around 100 trillion cubic feet. Indian Scenario GOI has appointed the public sector companies ONGC and OIL to further explore prospects of the six shale gas basins identified in India. With the shale gas policy to be cleared soon, ONGC has tied up with ConocoPhillips to explore and develop Cambay, Cauvery, Krishna-Godavari and Bengal basins, after the success of a pilot project in Damodar Basin. Also, OIL has hired Schlumberger to evaluate the potential of shale gas reserves in Rajasthan and Assam-Arakan basins. India at present is a net importer of natural gas with the demand supply gap increasing further. Shortage of gas is also aggravated by the lower production levels in KG-D6 block. This has resulted in the under utilization of gas-consuming industries, notably the power and fertilizer industry. Associated issues Shale gas being an unconventional source of natural gas requires unique technology of Hydro-fracking, a method of horizontal drilling using high pressure water along with chemicals. One of the key determinants for implementation of this technology...
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...The Shale Gas Revolution in the U.S. - Aspect of Domestic Market - Prepared for Microeconomics May 6, 2014 "The all-of-the-above energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today, America is closer to energy independence than we’ve been in decades," Obama said during his fifth State of the Union speech on January 2014. In a fact sheet accompanying the speech, the White House called on Congress to establish "sustainable shale gas growth zones." As mentioned by the U.S. president Obama, “The Shale Gas Revolution” is hot topic in the energy industry recently. Previously, the U.S. has imported large amounts of natural gas from other countries, but now it is expected to be an exporter of natural gas because of shale gas production. (Reference: Annual Energy Outlook 2011, May, 2011) Exporting shale gas would bring economic benefits. Gross Domestic Product can be increased, employment on LNG supply chain would be increased, and there will be no import of LNG anymore. Nevertheless, there is some limitation which will not favor to domestic LNG market. For exporting the shale gas, there are many researches to determine the associated costs. The price U.S. LNG exporters can afford to charge can be separated into the following components. Price = Wellhead price + Pipeline + Liquefaction + Shipping + Regasification Based on the above formula, experts’ estimate that the minimum price the U.S. and afford to export LNG to Asia, mainly Japan and Korea...
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...Hydrofracking in Marcellus shale: The Consequences of America’s Gas Rush Introduction Demand for fossil fuels in America has led to a flurry of unorthodox methods for the extraction of natural gas. Fracking or hydrofracking in the U.S.A has proven to be an efficient way of extracting natural gas from permeable rock. A new large scale hydrofracking operation has been proposed in the eastern states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. This method of extraction is highly controversial, and is thought to have severe environmental and potential health consequences. This essay will provide further insight into the practice of Fracking in an area of shale known as Marcellus shale, and help to expose the environmental and human implications. What is Hydrofracking? Hydraulic Fracturing is an un-conventional process used in the extraction of gas in permeable rock (David 1973). A horizontal well is drilled into permeable rock such as shale and is injected with millions of gallons a high pressure fluid known as frac-fluid, this fluid is a mixture of sand, water, and an array of lubricating chemicals (Deutch 2011). The high pressure frac-fluid forces open fishers (cracks) within the rock which are kept open with sand granules; this allows pockets of gas to flow more easily from the shale (David 1973). Once the well is depleted all fluid that can be recycled is extracted, and the well is capped to stop any unused gas escaping (David 1973). The process of fracking is expensive and requires...
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...Hayatdavoudi Eagle Ford Shale The eagle ford shale is one of the largest active plays in the United States and spans an extremely large swath of south Texas. Eagle Ford’s produces from a rather large range of depths ranging from 4,000 feet to 14,000 feet (KED Interests). While its incredible size is one of the things that makes it an important area of exploration and production, the fact that it produces both oil and gas makes it invaluable despite the much lower value of natural gas. Eagle Ford’s geology is composed of high carbonate shale. This makes the source rock much more brittle than traditional sandstone plays. Recent advances in drilling technology have made it possible...
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...Economics of Global Shale Gas Development Shale gas is considered as a “game changer” for the US and global gas markets. Gas production from shale gas in the US has significantly reduced US gas imports in the last five years. Shale gas has become a common discussion topic in the industry as nobody wants to miss the opportunities that are related to the exploitation of gas from these resources. Policymakers in many countries with shale gas resources are seeking to replicate the success of shale gas in the US. This short write-up provides: (a) Summary of the global shale gas resources (b) Estimated economics of shale gas development Some useful rules of thumb are provided that can be used to quickly assess the estimated profitability of shale gas development. Natural gas is produced from different types of gas accumulations. These accumulations are classified into conventional and unconventional gas (UG) resources. The conventional gas can be either associated gas (gas produced with oil), gas cap gas (a gas column in direct communication with oil column below) or non-associated gas (gas reservoir by itself). The unconventional gas is non-associated gas and it comes from hydrocarbon bearing formations that are classified as Tight Gas, Coal Bed Methane (CBM), Shale Gas and Gas Hydrates. Gas has been produced from tight gas and CBM for more than three decades. Production from shale gas started about a decade ago. In 2011, the US Energy Information Administration...
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...PROSPECTS OF SHALE GAS DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA: A term paper by Tejal Johri (MPE1296) and Shruti Sharma (MPE1293) for Semester 1 Course: Environment and Development Department of Policy Studies, The Energy and Resource Institute (New Delhi) Submitted on 9th December 2012 Table of Contents Executive Summary 1 Literature Review 4 Scope 6 Conclusion 10 Works Cited 11 Executive Summary The gradual shift of the US gas sector- from one of deficit to one of surplus has gathered appreciative appraisals from the rest of the world and initiated talks about the prospect of harnessing shale gas in other countries, as US reached the lowest CO2 emission level in the last 20 years due to shift to natural gas. It has been referred to as “the biggest energy innovation of the decade”, in light of the growing need for suitable alternatives to conventional oil and gas with increasing pressure on energy over time. 90% of global shale gas is currently produced by the US. India meets two-thirds of its petroleum requirements by importing of fuels that include coal, and this figure is expected to rise in the future in spite of India being a coal-rich country. Even with introduction of more efficient technologies and cases of higher CO2 emission reduction, our country’s import dependence on petrol, oil and gas will significantly rise in the future, raising the pressure on the resources. This concern for energy security calls for further research in technological solutions for greater...
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...Lithology-based sequence-stratigraphic framework of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession, Lower Cretaceous, Atlantic coastal plain Brian P. Coffey and Richard F. Sunde AUTHORS Brian P. Coffey ∼ Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, present address: Apache Corporation, Houston, 2000 Post Oak Boulevard, Texas 77056; bpcoffey@ gmail.com Brian Coffey received his B.Sc. degree in geology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995 and his Ph.D. in geology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1999. He has worked at ExxonMobil, Simon Fraser University, and Maersk Oil and has been a private consultant specializing in carbonate reservoir characterization. He currently works as a carbonate specialist at Apache Corporation in Houston. Richard F. Sunde ∼ EnCana, 500 Centre Street, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2G1A6; richard.sunde@encana.com Richard Sunde earned a D.E.C. degree (Diplôme dietudes Collégiales) at Dawson College, Montreal, in 2000 and a B.Sc. degree in geology at McGill University, Montreal, in 2004. He then completed an M.Sc. degree at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, in 2008; his thesis research focused on the content presented in this article. Richard currently is employed as a Geoscientist at Encana Corporation in Calgary. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT This study presents a lithology-based sequence-stratigraphic framework and depositional model for Lower Cretaceous, mixed siliciclastic-carbonate...
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...Hydro-Fracking Synopsis Hydraulic Fracturing, commonly known as Hydro-Fracking is a newly discovered drilling technique for extracting natural gas from rock shale formations. These shale formations are quite abundant throughout the United States the largest being the Marcellus which encompasses a range of West Virginia to Upstate New York. Estimates predict that these 30 shale formations could provide enough natural gas for US consumption for 118 years (Fortin). Although there appears to be vast amounts of shale fissures containing natural gas within our nation, the extraction process has come under harsh scrutiny. The process of drilling and extracting these gases from the shale formations requires creating fissures within the shale by drilling horizontally, forcing water, sand and chemicals into the rock. In each 10,000 ft well over a million gallons of water is pumped, along with sand in chemicals agents in order to cause fissures. By flowing sand through the well, this acts to keep these fissures open, to allow the natural gas to escape. Between 2005-2009, the House Energy and Commerce committee released a report addressing the chemicals used in the hydro-fracking process. The report stated, “The 14 leading oil and gas service companies used more than 780 million gallons of hydraulic fracturing products, not including water added at the well site. Overall, the companies used more than 2,500 hydraulic fracturing products containing 750 different...
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...issues. In America, these lines seem to even ride along political divisions. Conservatives tend to be less likely to adhere to warnings of environmentalist, while Liberals seem to lean more toward acceptance. A fairly new technology has come to the nation’s forefront and promoted some spirited debate. The issue is Hydraulic Fracturing or as it is commonly referred to “Fracking”. We will examine the pros and cons of both and why it should not be used as an option to future Energy Production What is Fracking? The process of” Fracking” means injecting millions of gallons of water, chemicals and sand into shale rock formations at high pressures to break open the rock and release the gas.(Foodandwaterwatch.org/2011) Proponents say that Hydraulic fracturing is a proven technological advancement which allows producers to safely recover natural gas and oil from deep shale formations. This technology has the potential to not only dramatically reduce...
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...Rock Identification Key 1. Green Stone Group: Metamorphic Texture: Non-Foliated Type: Low-Grade Collected: (along Mammoth Bay trail) 2. Amphibolite Group: Metamorphic Texture: Non-Foliated Type: Intermediate Collected: (Mammoth Bay River) 3. Gabbro w/ Augite Group: Igneous Texture: Phaneritic Type: internal Augite Chemical Formula: (Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al)2O6 Collected: (Mammoth Bay River Bed) 4. Dacite Group: Igneous Texture: Aphanitic Type: internal Collected: (Along American River) 5. Slate Group: Metamorphic Texture: Foliated Type: Low-Grade Collected: (Grass Valley, Trinity River) 6. Shale Group: Sedimentary Type: Clastic Texture: Smooth Collected: (Mammoth Bay on Shore of River) 7. Andesite Group: Igneous Texture: Aphanetic Type: Extrusive Collected: (Mammoth Bay near River) 8. Limestone Group: Sedimentary Texture: Fine Grain Type: Chemical/Bio clactic Collected: (Mammoth Bay Shore of River) 9. Andesite/Basalt (Basaltic Andesite) Group: Igneous Texture: Aphanetic Type: Intermediate Collected: (Along American River) 10. Metaconglomerate Group: Metamorphic Texture: Non-Foliated Collected: (Grass Valley, Trinity River) 11. Serpentine Group: Metamorphic Texture: Non-Foliated Type: Orthoclase Collected: (Mammoth Bay River Bed) 12. Diorite Group: Igneous Texture: Phaneritic Type: Intermediate Collected: (Mammoth Bay, Near River) 13. Quartz Group: Igneous Chemical Formula: SiO2 ...
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...destination all those tiny grains are round. Eventually the sediments are deposited in a river bed or valley where the current or wind can’t push it around anymore. When the sediments are deposited by a river a sedimentary rock will begin to form. The layer of water and the top layer of mud press the bottom layers tightly together to form sedimentary rocks (Ortleb & Cadice, 1986). Sedimentary rocks are classified by the sediments the rock is made up of. It is not hard to identify different types of sedimentary rocks. The sedimentary rock sandstone consists of sand size particles, usually of quartz and feels very gritty. Conglomerate is a mixture of finely-rounded pebbles (usually quartz) and tiny fragments of sand held tightly together. Shale is fashioned from tiny molecules of quartz and clay minerals under pressure. The type of sedimentary rock that is produced depends on how much pressure is on it and how much water is around the rock. Different pressure and water result in different rocks. About seventy-five percent of the earth’s surface is covered by sedimentary rocks. They are always steadily being formed, because the earth’s surface is constantly being eroded by wind, water, and ice and sediments are continuously being deposited and compressed into sedimentary rocks. Bibliography Ortleb, E., & Cadice, R. (1986). Geology-Rocks and Minerals. Dayton: Milliken Publishing Company. Rhodes, F. (1991)....
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