Posted on 02/16/2012 8:20:26 AM PST by Gritty
A funny thing is happening on the way to the clean energy future–reality is setting in. There is ‘incontrovertible evidence’ about the economic growth and job creating effects of America’s unconventional oil and gas production boom – more than 600,000 jobs directly attributable to shale gas development. Even President Obama is praising the job creating benefits of ‘America’s resource boom’. America is getting its energy mojo back and that is good news but not the entire story.
How Much Shale Gas is there in the United States? In July 2011 US EIA released a [Review of Emerging Resources: US Shale Gas and Shale Oil Plays produced by INTEK. This is an updated assessment of onshore lower 48 states technically recoverable shale gas and shale oil resources. The assessment found the lower 48 states have a total 750 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable shale gas resources with the largest portions in the Northeast (63%), Gulf Coast (13%), and Southwest regions (10%) respectively. The largest shale gas plays are the Marcellus (410.3 trillion cubic feet, 55 percent of the total), Haynesville (74.7 trillion cubic feet, 10 percent of the total), and Barnett (43.4 trillion cubic feet, 6 percent of the total).The INTEK assessment was incorporated into the Onshore Lower 48 Oil and Gas Supply Submodule (OLOGSS) within the Oil and Gas Supply Module (OGSM) of NEMS to project oil and natural gas production for the Annual Energy Outlook 2011 (AEO2011) to provide a starting point for future work.
Total US recoverable natural gas resources (includes conventional, unconventional in lower 48, Alaska and offshore) totals 4.244 quadrillion cubic feet according to the Institute for Energy Research:
• Enough natural gas to meet US electricity demand for 575 years at current fuel demand for generation levels
• Enough natural gas to fuel homes heated by natural gas in the United States for 857 years
• More natural gas than Russia, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan combined.
The US has Three Times the Proven Reserves of Saudi Arabia in Shale Oil. Global oil shale resources exceed 10 trillion barrels. More than 1.8 trillion barrels of oil are trapped in shale in Federal lands in the western United States in the states of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, of which 800 billion is considered recoverable–three times the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia. The INTEK assessment for EIA found 23.9 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil resources in the onshore Lower 48 States. The Southern California Monterey/Santos play is the largest shale oil formation estimated to hold 15.4 billion barrels or 64 percent of the total shale oil resources followed by Bakken and Eagle Ford with approximately 3.6 billion barrels and 3.4 billion barrels of oil, respectively...
(snip: more at the Link)
.jpg)
More at:
http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/about_shale_gas.cfm
But NYS has said "No Fracking" and without good reason.
The way I figure it, by the time NYS gets around to saying yes, the method will be so over regulated AND TAXED, that the consumers won't save a dime. What's new??
What's the real reason???....basic political arrogance"....just like Obama and his green or bust policies.
and obama will spin it to his advantage, the republicans will waffle and the dems will destroy the industry. Its a sad time when you can’t easily rejoice for new industry in a country thats starving for it.
Most of this good news is moot if the envirowhackos continue to have their way.
Of course, if we end up with gasoline at $4.50-$5.00/gallon by election time, there’s no way that Obama and the Dims will avoid a crushing defeat. Maybe then we can actually open up more land for drilling and fracking, and also open up some offshore areas. There is no reason on Earth that the US cannot be completely self-sufficient in energy for several hundred years - save that of political idiocy, of which there is no shortage. Between the resources discussed in the subject article, and the several hundred years of coal reserves that we have - which contain enormous amounts of thorium that can be used in very safe LFTRs, part of the energy of which can be utilized to liquify the remaining coal - we are set. We are incredibly blessed...if only we’ll take advantage of these resources.
Cumulative natural gas production from 2010 through 2035 in the AEO2012 Reference case is 7 percent higher than in AEO2011, even though the estimated natural gas resource base is lower. This primarily reflects increased shale gas production resulting from the application of recent technological advances, as well as continued drilling in shale plays with high concentrations of natural gas liquids and crude oil, which have a higher value in energy equivalent terms than dry natural gas. Production levels for tight gas and coalbed methane exceed those in the AEO2011 Reference case through 2035, making significant contributions to the overall increase in production. Offshore natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico fluctuates between 2.0 and 2.8 trillion cubic feet per year as new large projects directed toward liquids development are started over time.
In the AEO2012 Reference case, the estimated unproved technically recoverable resource (TRR) of shale gas for the United States is 482 trillion cubic feet, substantially below the estimate of 827 trillion cubic feet in AEO2011. The decline largely reflects a decrease in the estimate for the Marcellus shale, from 410 trillion cubic feet to 141 trillion cubic feet. Both EIA and USGS have recently made significant revisions to their TRR estimates for the Marcellus shale. Drilling in the Marcellus accelerated rapidly in 2010 and 2011, so that there is far more information available today than a year ago. Indeed, the daily rate of Marcellus production doubled during 2011 alone. Using data though 2010, USGS updated its TRR estimate for the Marcellus to 84 trillion cubic feet, with a 90-percent confidence range from 43 to 144 trillion cubic feet—a substantial increase over the previous USGS estimate of 2 trillion cubic feet dating from 2002. For AEO2012, EIA uses more recent drilling and production data available through 2011 and excludes production experience from the pre-shale era (before 2008). EIA’s TRR estimate for the entire Northeast also includes TRR of 16 trillion cubic feet for the Utica shale, which underlies the Marcellus and is still relatively little explored. The complete AEO2012 publication will include a more in-depth examination of the factors that affect resource estimates.
In the AEO2012 Reference case, the United States becomes a net exporter of LNG starting in 2016 and an overall net exporter of natural gas in 2021. U.S. LNG exports are assumed to start with a capacity of 1.1 billion cubic feet per day in 2016 and increase by an additional 1.1 billion cubic feet per day in 2019. Over the projection period, cumulative net pipeline imports of natural gas from Canada and Mexico in the AEO2012 Reference case are less than 50 percent of those projected in the AEO2011 Reference case, with the United States becoming a net pipeline exporter of natural gas in 2025. In the AEO2012 Reference case, net pipeline imports from Canada fall by 62 percent over the projection period, and net pipeline exports to Mexico grow by 440 percent. Cumulative U.S. LNG imports from 2011 through 2035 are down by 20 percent in AEO2012 compared with AEO2011, due in part to increased use of LNG in markets outside North America, strong domestic production, and relatively low U.S. natural gas prices in comparison with other global markets. As in the AEO2011 Reference case, the Alaska natural gas pipeline is not constructed in the AEO2012 Reference case, because assumed high capital costs and low natural gas wellhead prices make it uneconomical to proceed with the pipeline project over the projection period.
http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/early_production.cfm
“How the US Shale Boom Will Change the World”
It will provide full employment because 47% of the working age population in the US will be employed by the EPA shutting down energy production?
We know everything Obama touches or supports turns to shit. I hope this is the exception. If we take advantage of our natural gas resources we can destroy the support for high priced oil. OPEC is a dead man walking.
One of my neighbors in KY drilled a couple of decades ago right under his yard. Cost him a few thousand. He and his immediate neighbors have been enjoying free natural gas ever since.
Good for them! I love to hear stories like that. NH is one of the few states with no coal or NG. But we have plenty of wood!
I am on the Science, Technology and Energy Committee of the NH House of Representatives. I have sent a link to the whole committee and others as well.
This is interesting. Do you know how far down they had to drill? I assume you need a licensed and competent drilling company to drill, cap off, valve/pipe into your home, etc.
Also, if you presently have utility-supplied gas, I am wondering if one is able to drill and pipe into the house right alongside the utility, with a shut-off or isolation system. That way, if your well runs dry you can turn the utility back on.
Interesting....
But of course nop company can get a permit to get to the stuff so what difference does it make? Unless of course you are suggesting likely locations of Chinese take over
No oil either:
http://www.eia.gov/state/state-energy-profiles-data.cfm?sid=NH
Not many can claim such a dearth.
The amount of drilling into shale oil and gas fields has been growing for years. What are you talking about?
It is the reason we see such growth in production in several states, including oil in Texas and North Dakota. The same for Gas in Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania. Ohio is beginning to see good growth in both.
And more fart jokes per capita than any other nation on earth!
—Interesting....—
Interesting is right. I was shocked when I was told about it. Apparently there is a lot of this sort of thing going on around here. But it is in pockets. Some places have it, others don’t. I don’t have many details about it though.
I don’t know who does it or what permits they need. I can tell you that I can build a house on my property with absolutely no building permit. It might be difficult to get a loan or resell though. :-)
“Here is Upstate New York, our utility bills are out of site”
I just paid my heating oil bill to fill my tank in southern NH. It was $583. We pay PSNH $.155/killowatt for electricity.
Western NY(my mom still lives in near Buffalo)has some of the cheapest electricity and natural gas in the northeast.
Here in Western Pennsylvania, we are seeing an increasing number of cars and trucks with New York plates filling our hotel rooms near work sites.
What kind of people are you sending here?
In W PA, four years ago natural gas was $ 15/MCF {thousand cubic feet} and since the frackers have been developing thousands of new wells, the rate is $4.35/MCF.
Our unemployment rate {excluding Pittsburgh and Philadelphia} is down to 6% with those two cities it's 7.4%.
Our electricity rates are up because the local power company has been forced to close six coal fired power plants.
The green weenies are trying their best to shut down the natural gas production, but too many people realize the benefits and so it's just the real crazies screaming and shouting about global warming, dirty water, dirty air and acid rain.
Our pellet stove is saving us a ton of money here in MA. It paid for itself in 2 years. You have to get a good one, like Harmony or Quadra-fire.
Negatives are minimal. Carrying 40 lb. bags, 1/2 hour/week maintenance, Exhaust pipe (chimney) cleaning 2-3 times/season, new $70 glow plug/season.
To avoid chimney cleaning, we side-vented, then you can clean the pipe with a long dryer brush in a couple of minutes.
Pros: Cheap heat. And we leave the thermostat at 75!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.