US DOE shale gas reserve estimates plummet
Chris Hodrien
U.S. shale gas reserve estimates plummet
January 26, 2012
The latest estimates of shale natural gas
<http://www.pennenergy.com/index/search.html?si=+&collection=&keywords=shale
+gas&x=0&y=0> reserves in the U.S. represent a shocking step backward for
the rapidly growing industry, according to Bloomberg.
The projections released by the U.S. Department of Energy
<http://www.pennenergy.com/index/search.html?si=+&collection=&keywords=U.S.+
Department+of+Energy&x=17&y=5> estimate that the country holds around 482
trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas
<http://www.pennenergy.com/index/petroleum/lng.html> from shale basins.
That represents a 42 percent decline from the year before when estimates of
shale gas reserves were placed at around 827 trillion cubic feet.
The declines stemmed from more detailed information available because of the
dramatic 'up-tick' in natural gas exploration
<http://www.pennenergy.com/index/petroleum/exploration-and-production.html>
in shale deposits over the past year.
Probably the most substantial impact of the updated estimates, however, was
the 66 percent reduction in recoverable reserves in the Marcellus shale
<http://www.pennenergy.com/index/search.html?si=+&collection=&keywords=Marce
llus+shale&x=26&y=10> formation in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and West
Virginia.
Last year that basin was estimated to hold 410 trillion cubic feet of gas,
enough to fill U.S. gas demand for 17 years at 2010 level. Now that number
has been reduced to 141 trillion cubic feet, or around 6 years.
Nevertheless, the DOE estimates total US natural gas production will rise
even higher than previously predicted, despite the smaller resource base.
Analyses of Marcellus shale
<http://ogjresearch.stores.yahoo.net/marcellus-shale-in-the-us-gas-shale-mar
ket-analysis-and-forecasts-report.html> basin natural gas development can
be found at PennEnergy's Research area
<http://ogjresearch.stores.yahoo.net/index.html> .