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In The US, The New Look of Gas Exploration

The document discusses the exploration of natural gas from shale rock in the United States. Burning natural gas releases fewer pollutants than oil or coal. Companies are now extracting gas trapped in shale rock deep underground using hydraulic fracturing techniques. Over half the gas produced in the US now comes from these unconventional shale reserves. However, hydraulic fracturing raises concerns about potential groundwater pollution.

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Eduardo Reyes
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36 views2 pages

In The US, The New Look of Gas Exploration

The document discusses the exploration of natural gas from shale rock in the United States. Burning natural gas releases fewer pollutants than oil or coal. Companies are now extracting gas trapped in shale rock deep underground using hydraulic fracturing techniques. Over half the gas produced in the US now comes from these unconventional shale reserves. However, hydraulic fracturing raises concerns about potential groundwater pollution.

Uploaded by

Eduardo Reyes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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In the US, the New Look of Gas Exploration

Many people think the search for cleaner energy leads only to renewable resources like

sun, wind and  . But it also leads to a fossil fuel. Natural gas is considered the
cleanest of the fossil fuels, the fuels created by plant and animal remains over millions
of years.

Burning it releases fewer pollutants than oil or coal. The gas is mainly methane. It

produces half the carbon dioxide of other fossil fuels. So it may help cut the 
 of carbon gases linked to climate change.

Russia is first in what are called "proved reserves" of natural gas. The United States is

sixth. Over the years, big oil and gas companies   much of the easily reached
supplies of gas in America. They drilled straight down into formations where gas
collects. As these supplies were used up, big drillers looked for similar formations in
other countries.

But now the industry is taking a new look. Companies are developing gas supplies
trapped in shale rock two to three thousand meters underground. They drill down to the
shale, then go sideways and inject high-pressure water, sand or other material into the
rock.

This causes the   to break, or fracture, releasing the gas. Huge fields of gas
shale are believed to lie under the Appalachian Mountains, Michigan and the south-
central states.

Gas shale exploration is being done mainly by   to medium sized companies.

Eric Potter is a program director in the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of
Texas at Austin.

ERIC POTTER: "The types of opportunities that are left for natural gas exploration in the

U.S. have changed. So it's a different class of resource -- not as   to develop,
and not even recognized as something worth pursuing, say, twenty years ago."

He says more than half the gas in the United States is now coming from these new
reserves.

But hydraulic fracturing can also produce debate and anger over the   of
groundwater pollution. This method of drilling is not federally supervised under the Safe
Drinking Water Act. Some in Congress want to end that exemption from the law.
Natural gas provides Americans with about one-fourth of their energy. And, unlike oil,
most of it is produced in America. Gas producers invested heavily in reaching new

supplies when   were high. But prices are down sharply now because the
recession cut demand for energy. So energy expert Eric Potter says it is too early to

know how the new gas shale reserves will affect the  .

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