conjunction with horizontal drilling. However, the environmental implications of NG production and its use have been called into question.1-4 One of the major concerns is the amount methane (CH4) leakage from production activities and its impact on the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of NG. Examining the Impacts of Methane Leakage on Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Shale and Co...

Unconventional shale gas production is often characterized by a short period of high production followed by a rapid decline in the production rate. Given the high costs of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, it is critical to identify the mechanisms behind the production loss. The existing shale gas production models often assume constant matrix permeability. However, laboratory obser...

Advances in technologies for extracting oil and gas from shale formations have dramatically increased U.S. production of natural gas. As production expands domestically and abroad, natural gas prices will be lower than without shale gas. Lower prices have two main effects: increasing overall energy consumption, and encouraging substitution away from sources such as coal, nuclear, renewables, an...

The development of effective strategies for hydrocarbon extraction through unconventional shales requires a comprehensive understanding of shale petrophysical properties – specifically the variability of fabric, composition, matrix, porosity, permeability, and thermal maturity/organic content [1-5]. Unconventional resource extraction from shale can involve the injection of carbon dioxide (CO2) ...

_ _________________________________________ Introduction _______________________________________ Purpose of the study____________________________ Acknowledgments. ______________________________ Character and extent of the Berea sandstone.______ Method of investigation. ________________________ Well records ___________________________________ A description of some of the more common terms used b...

We present results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of Marcellus shale gas used for power generation. The analysis employs the most extensive data set of any LCA of shale gas to date, encompassing data from actual gas production and power generation operations. Results indicate that a typical Marcellus gas life cycle yields 466 kg CO2eq/MWh (80% confidence interval: 450-567 kg CO2eq/MWh) of gre...

A complex fracture network is generally generated during the hydraulic fracturing treatment in shale gas reservoirs. Numerous efforts have been made to model the flow behavior of such fracture networks. However, it is still challenging to predict the impacts of various gas transport mechanisms on well performance with arbitrary fracture geometry in a computationally efficient manner. We develop...

ABSTRACT: Delineation of the NAPL source zone in the vicinity of an oil burn pit (OBP) at Letterkenny Army Depot (LEAD) revealed the presence of source material on both sides of a nearby groundwater divide resulting in a bilobate plume. While the northern lobe of the plume migrating from the OBP had been well defined, the southern lobe of the plume had been previously undetected. An investigati...

High-volume, slick water hydraulic fracturing of shale relies on pumping millions of gallons of surface water laced with toxic chemicals and sand under high pressure to create fractures to release the flow of gas. The process, however, has the potential to cause serious and irreparable damage to the environment and the potential for harm to human and animal health. At issue is how society shoul...

The disposal and leaks of hydraulic fracturing wastewater (HFW) to the environment pose human health risks. Since HFW is typically characterized by elevated salinity, concerns have been raised whether the high bromide and iodide in HFW may promote the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) and alter their speciation to more toxic brominated and iodinated analogues. This study evaluated the...