BARNET GAS RESERVES DOUBLE PREVIOUS PROJECTIONS
There's Twice as Much Gas in Texas's Barnett Shale Than Thought
- USGS finds 53 trillion cubic feet; in 2003, it found 26.2 tcf
- Since 2003, 16,000 horizontal wells have increased output
Texas’s Barnett Shale formation contains 53 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, twice as much as previously estimated, U.S. government researchers said.
The formation also contains 172 million barrels of shale oil and 176 million barrels of natural gas liquids, the U.S. Geological Survey reported Thursday. The estimates are for "undiscovered, technically recoverable" reserves.
The Barnett Shale is one several U.S. regions -- including Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale and North Dakota’s Bakken Formation -- transformed this past decade by the widespread use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to unlock previously unreachable resources.
In 2003, relying solely on vertical drilling, the USGS estimated there was 26.2 trillion cubic feet of gas in the Barnett. Since then, more than 16,000 horizontal wells have helped produce more than 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 59 million barrels of oil there, the USGS said.
“We decided to reassess the Barnett Shale following the successful introduction of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, setting the stage for the current shale gas boom,” Kristen Marra, the USGS scientist who led the assessment, said in a statement.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by William C. Morrison on -
Sitting right on top of the Barnett Shale as I type. Had a well around the corner from us but did not participate in it. Texas has compared to Louisiana some really strange ways. They do not set drilling the way we do, but they be at it a long time. It seems the best of the wells are right in Fort Worth, and that is real problem, get it drilled and then hooking up to a pipe line.
Out in the country, there is a pad with six wells on it. They went out horizontally in six different directions. We fly model airplanes right next to the pad. The land owner and gas people have been real friendly to us.
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Permalink Reply by Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on
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Except for the recent kerfuffle in Denton, I think land owners and Barnett operators have gotten along quite well for decades now. When I was still keeping Texas hunting leases I drove through the Barnett throughout the 1980's and 90's. Just as with the Haynesville Play the Barnett would have long ago experienced real problems with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation if there was an inherent risk that was not managed. Both plays are good examples that the anti-frac crowd subsists on an incredibly small number of fracking-related accidents and a litany of lies and misconceptions that are easily debunked for those who haven't consumed an abundance of kool aid.
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