SHALE GAS PLAYS
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History of Shale Gas PlaysThe first commercial gas well in the US was completed in New York's Dunkirk Shale in 1821, and estimates indicate that over 28,000 shale-gas wells have been drilled in the United States since then. |
The first Barnett Shale gas production, by Mitchell Energy & Development Corp, took place in the Fort Worth Basin in 1981. Until Barnett Shale successes, it was believed that natural fractures had to be present in gas shale. A low-permeability gas-shale play is presently viewed as a technological play. Advances in micro-seismic fracture mapping, 3D seismic, horizontal drilling, fracture stimulation and multiple frac stages, have all contributed to successful gas shale wells. |
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By the early 2000’s the main gas shale plays to that point had been:
Antrim Shale in the northern Michigan Basin; Barnett Shale in the
Fort Worth Basin, Texas; Lewis Shale in the San Juan Basin; New
Albany Shale in the Illinois Basin; and the Ohio Shale in the
Appalachian Basin. More recent gas shale plays include the Woodford
Shale in Oklahoma; Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas; Haynesville Shale
in Louisiana; Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian Basin; Utica Shale
in New York; and Eagle Ford Shale in Texas. There are 57 United
States and Canadian gas-shale plays listed below.
In early 2011,
the latest exploration 'buzz' around New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania
and West Virginia concerns the Utica Shale. |
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Gas Shales |
| FORMATION | PERIOD | LOCATION |
| Antrim Shale | Late Devonian | Michigan Basin, Michigan |
| Baxter Shale | Late Cretaceous | Vermillion Basin, Colorado, Wyoming |
| Barnett Shale | Mississippian | Fort Worth and Permian basins, Texas |
| Bend Shale | Pennsylvanian | Palo Duro Basin, Texas |
| Cane Creek Shale | Pennsylvanian | Paradox Basin, Utah |
| Caney Shale | Mississippian | Arkoma Basin, Oklahoma |
| Chattanooga Shale | Late Devonian | Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee |
| Chimney Rock Shale | Pennsylvanian | Paradox Basin, Colorado, Utah |
| Cleveland Shale | Devonian | Eastern Kentucky |
| Clinton Shale | Early Silurian | Eastern Kentucky |
| Cody Shale | Cretaceous | Montana |
| Colorado Shale | Cretaceous | Central Alberta, Saskatchewan |
| Conasauga Shale | Middle Cambrian | Black Warrior Basin, Alabama |
| Dunkirk Shale | Upper Devonian | Western New York |
| Duvernay Shale | Late Devonian | West central Alberta |
| Eagleford Shale | Late Cretaceous | Maverick Basin, Texas |
| Ellsworth Shale | Late Devonian | Michigan Basin, Michigan |
| Excello Shale | Pennsylvanian | Kansas, Oklahoma |
| Exshaw Shale | Devonian-Mississippian | Alberta, northeast British Columbia |
| Fayetteville Shale | Mississippian | Arkoma Basin, Arkansas |
| Fernie Shale | Jurassic | West central Alberta, northeast British Columbia |
| Floyd/Neal Shale | Late Mississippian | Black Warrior Basin, Alabama, Mississippi |
| Frederick Brook Shale | Mississippian | New Brunswick, Nova Scotia |
| Gammon Shale | Late Cretaceous | Williston Basin, Montana |
| Gordondale Shale | Early Jurassic | Northeast British Columbia |
| Gothic Shale | Pennsylvanian | Paradox Basin, Colorado, Utah |
| Green River Shale | Eocene | Colorado, Utah |
| Haynesville/Bossier Shale | Late Jurassic | Louisiana, east Texas |
| Horn River Shale | Middle Devonian | Northeast British Columbia |
| Horton Bluff Shale | Early Mississippian | Nova Scotia |
| Hovenweep Shale | Pennsylvanian | Paradox Basin, Colorado, Utah |
| Huron Shale | Devonian | Part of Ohio Shale; east Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia |
| Klua/Evie Shale | Middle Devonian | Northeast British Columbia |
| Lewis Shale | Late Cretaceous | Colorado, New Mexico |
| Mancos Shale | Cretaceous | San Juan Basin, New Mexico, Uinta Basin, Utah |
| Manning Canyon Shale | Mississippian | Central Utah |
| Marcellus Shale | Devonian | New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia |
| McClure Shale | Miocene | San Joaquin Basin, California |
| Monterey Shale | Miocene | Santa Maria Basin, California |
| Montney-Doig Shale | Triassic | Alberta, northeast British Columbia |
| Moorefield Shale | Mississippian | Arkoma Basin, Arkansas |
| Mowry Shale | Cretaceous | Bighorn and Powder River basins, Wyoming |
| Muskwa Shale | Late Devonian | Northeast British Columbia |
| New Albany Shale | Devonian-Mississippian | Illinois Basin, Illinois, Indiana |
| Niobrara Shale | Late Cretaceous | Denver Basin, Colorado |
| Nordegg/Gordondale Shale | Late Jurassic | Alberta, northeast British Columbia |
| Ohio Shale | Devonian | East Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia |
| Pearsall Shale | Cretaceous | Maverick Basin, Texas |
| Percha Shale | Devonian-Mississippian | West Texas |
| Pierre Shale | Cretaceous | Raton Basin, Colorado |
| Poker Chip Shale | Jurassic | West central Alberta, northeast British Columbia |
| Queenston Shale | Ordovician | New York |
| Rhinestreet Shale | Devonian | Appalachian Basin |
| Second White Speckled Shale | Late Cretaceous | Southern Alberta |
| Sunbury Shale | Mississippian | Appalachian Basin |
| Utica Shale | Ordovician | New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Quebec |
| Wilrich/Buckinghorse/ Garbutt/Moosebar Shale | Early Cretaceous | West central Alberta, northeast British Columbia |
| Woodford Shale | Late Devonian-Early Mississippian | Oklahoma, Texas |
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SHALE TIMELINE |
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GEOLOGICAL PERIOD |
MILLION YEARS AGO |
| Geologic Time Scale (off site) | |
| Cretaceous | 71 - 145 |
| Jurassic | 151 - 200 |
| Triassic | 204 - 251 |
| Permian | 254 - 299 |
| Pennsylvanian | 304 - 318 |
| Mississippian | 326 - 359 |
| Devonian | 374 - 416 |
| Silurian | 419 - 444 |
| Ordovician | 446 - 488 |
| Cambrian | 496 - 542 |
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