What is shale gas and why is it important?

管埋员

格式：doc
页数：3页
Last Updated:December 5, 2012Shale 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 tolarge volumes of shale gas that were previously uneconomical to produce. Theproduction 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% wasproduced domestically; thus, the supply of natural gas is not as dependent onforeign producers as is the supply of crude oil, and the delivery system isless subject tointerruption. The availability of large quantities of shale gas should enablethe United States to consume a predominantly domestic supply of gasfor many years and produce more natural gasthan it consumes.The U.S. EnergyInformation Administration's Annual EnergyOutlook 2013 Early Release projectsU.S. natural gas production to increase from 23.0 trillion cubic feet in 2011to 33.1 trillion cubic feet in 2040, a 44%increase. Almost all of this increase in domestic natural gas production is dueto projected growth in shale gas production, which grows from 7.8 trillioncubic feet in 2011 to 16.7 trillion cubic feet in 2040.