Shale gas is one of the primary types of unconventional reservoirs to be exploited in search for long-lasting resources. Production from shale gas reservoirs requires horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing to achieve the most economic production. However, plenty of parameters (e.g., fracture conductivity, fracture spacing, half-length, matrix permeability, and porosity, etc) have high un...

Author: Diarmuid Torney This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of ECRAN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. Executive summary • The exploitation of unconventional fossil fuels, particularly shale gas, has been one of the most significant developments in the glob...

This study estimates the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the production of Marcellus shale natural gas and compares its emissions with national average US natural gas emissions produced in the year 2008, prior to any significant Marcellus shale development. We estimate that the development and completion of a typical Marcellus shale well results in roughly 5500 t of carbon dioxid...

Shale gas represents a major fraction of the proven reserves of natural gas in the United States and a collection of other countries. Higher gas prices and the need for cleaner fuels provides motivation for commercializing shale gas deposits even though the cost is substantially higher than traditional gas deposits. Recent advances in horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing, whi...

This study considers the flux of radioactivity in flowback fluid from shale gas development in three areas: the Carboniferous, Bowland Shale, UK; the Silurian Shale, Poland; and the Carboniferous Barnett Shale, USA. The radioactive flux from these basins was estimated, given estimates of the number of wells developed or to be developed, the flowback volume per well and the concentration of K (p...

Advances in drilling technologies and production strategies such as horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have significantly improved the production of natural gas by stimulating fluid flow from wells. Since 2008, these technological developments have spurred exponential growth of gas well drilling across the U.S. While the new drilling for shale gas and hydraulic fracturing technologies...

The worldwide energies’ price continues to rise again. More countries pay more attention to unconventional energies. Shale gas is one of the significant unconventional energy sources. With the successful development of shale gas in the United States, more and more countries and corporations focus on the shale gas exploitation. The large recoverable reserves of shale gas will ensure China's ener...

Figure 1 features locations of shale basins across the U.S. that bear natural gas. There are many reasons to pursue the development of natural gas. First, the supply of natural gas in the U.S. is very reliable, and the delivery system is less subject to interruption compared to imported fossil fuel. Second, the high energy content of natural gas (about 30 kJ/m3 [1000 Btu/ft3]) and a well-develo...

This study performs a comprehensive comparison of three key marine shale reservoirs in the southeastern margin of the Sichuan Basin, and explains why commercial gas production was only achieved in the Lower Silurian Longmaxi (LSL) and Upper Ordovician Wufeng (UOW) formations, but not in the Lower Cambrian Niutitang (LCN) formation. The experimental methods included in situ gas content and gas c...

Decreased technological costs and increased efficiency of horizontal drilling has made obtaining natural gas from shale deposits through hydraulic fracturing a viable economic option. However, current estimates of per kWh costs to obtain natural gas through this method do not account for increased environmental risks. By incorporating damages from air and water pollution, the true cost of hydra...