Fracking for natural gas is a very important thing for the energy industry and the entire US.
Without the fracking process, the shale cannot be cracked and the gas cannot be extracted from the inside.
But before we dig deeper to this aspect of fracking the shale, let us understand the science with natural gas in shale.
What is shale and why it is a lot more popular now than in recent years? Shale is a form of sedimentary rock that has a fine grain and has components like calcite, clay and quartz.
It breaks up into thin sheets.
The shale is created through the process of compaction.
After a massive component of denser particles has settled on the sand surface, the fine particles of shale have remained suspended on water for a long time.
It also varies in color such as with black shale which has a higher carbon component.
So where does the natural gas in shale come into the picture.
It is a fact that shale has very poor permeability.
Therefore, any liquid used for conventional oil wells will not be able to get through the surface.
Therefore, it is not a conventional source of gas due to the requirements for specialized extraction techniques.
It is always very possible to find natural gas from shale as it s considered resource plays compared to other sources of gas and oil that are considered as exploration plays.
However, the chances of profits are lower when it comes to resource plays.
What are the properties of good shale resource? They are usually rich in organic materials and they normally from source rocks of mature petroleum.
The petroleum was converted to gas due to heat and high pressure.
The ones with higher gamma radiation are most likely the ones with better content since there is a correlation between gamma radiation and carbon content.
The gas is held within natural fractures on the shale structure.
Though the extraction of gas in shale has been around for more than 100 years along various areas, it has to be noted that these are only marginally economical.
With the increasing improvement in technology and the improvements in hydraulic fracturing, shale gas extraction is becoming a very stable industry with higher profits.
The US is becoming a massive natural gas region and is at the forefront of the gas extraction industry.
It has some of the biggest reserves of shale with the Marcellus Shale as its biggest reserve that dates back to the Devonian period.
The potential for high quality natural gas is very important for the industry and with the decreasing oil resources; the US is looking at natural gas as a form of viable energy.
Nowadays, more than 30% of the natural gas comes from Shale but in a few more decades, it is possible that this industry can produce more than 50% of the demand for natural gas especially now that there is a very big deal now with the use of natural gas and its economic advantage.
Without the fracking process, the shale cannot be cracked and the gas cannot be extracted from the inside.
But before we dig deeper to this aspect of fracking the shale, let us understand the science with natural gas in shale.
What is shale and why it is a lot more popular now than in recent years? Shale is a form of sedimentary rock that has a fine grain and has components like calcite, clay and quartz.
It breaks up into thin sheets.
The shale is created through the process of compaction.
After a massive component of denser particles has settled on the sand surface, the fine particles of shale have remained suspended on water for a long time.
It also varies in color such as with black shale which has a higher carbon component.
So where does the natural gas in shale come into the picture.
It is a fact that shale has very poor permeability.
Therefore, any liquid used for conventional oil wells will not be able to get through the surface.
Therefore, it is not a conventional source of gas due to the requirements for specialized extraction techniques.
It is always very possible to find natural gas from shale as it s considered resource plays compared to other sources of gas and oil that are considered as exploration plays.
However, the chances of profits are lower when it comes to resource plays.
What are the properties of good shale resource? They are usually rich in organic materials and they normally from source rocks of mature petroleum.
The petroleum was converted to gas due to heat and high pressure.
The ones with higher gamma radiation are most likely the ones with better content since there is a correlation between gamma radiation and carbon content.
The gas is held within natural fractures on the shale structure.
Though the extraction of gas in shale has been around for more than 100 years along various areas, it has to be noted that these are only marginally economical.
With the increasing improvement in technology and the improvements in hydraulic fracturing, shale gas extraction is becoming a very stable industry with higher profits.
The US is becoming a massive natural gas region and is at the forefront of the gas extraction industry.
It has some of the biggest reserves of shale with the Marcellus Shale as its biggest reserve that dates back to the Devonian period.
The potential for high quality natural gas is very important for the industry and with the decreasing oil resources; the US is looking at natural gas as a form of viable energy.
Nowadays, more than 30% of the natural gas comes from Shale but in a few more decades, it is possible that this industry can produce more than 50% of the demand for natural gas especially now that there is a very big deal now with the use of natural gas and its economic advantage.
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