Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
ations that are accessed by a combination of vertical and horizontal wells and hy-
In the early days of US energy production, natural gas was considered an un-
wanted byproduct of oil extraction. (In many parts of the world natural gas is still
“flared off,” because it requires too much work to collect, transport, and use.) After
an enormous gas field was found in the Texas Panhandle in 1918, it was used to
manufacture carbon black, which in turn was used to make car tires. Eventually,
not until the last decade did it become as important as coal, oil, or nuclear power.
Today, natural gas is used for generating electricity (36 percent) and for indus-
trial (28 percent), residential (16 percent), and commercial use (11 percent). The
remaining 9 percent is used by energy industry operations, pipelines, and vehicle
other goods, and provides raw material for plastics, paints, fertilizer, dyes, medi-
cines, and explosives. It can be converted into ethane, a colorless and odorless gas
that is important to the chemical industry. Natural gas provides heat for over half
of America's homes and commercial establishments, and it powers stoves, water
heaters, clothes driers, and other appliances.
A series of energy-related crises have made natural gas increasingly popular.
Coal-fired power plants have lost favor because of their sooty emissions. Deep-wa-
ter oil exploration faced a setback with the blowout of a BP oil well in the Gulf of
Mexico in 2010, which set off the largest oil spill in US history. And an earthquake
and tsunami in Japan in 2011 raised questions about the safety of nuclear plants
(nuclear plants are also much more expensive to build, operate, and maintain than
equivalent natural gas facilities).
Nevertheless, traditional concerns about natural gas included limited supplies
and volatile prices—until fracking, that is, which has significantly increased known
gas reserves and lowered prices. In July 2008 shale gas cost $13.68 per million
BTUs (MBTU) at Henry Hub, a concentration of pipelines in Louisiana that serves
ation of hydrofracked wells, natural gas supplies ballooned at just the moment that
the economy—and demand—slacked off, sending gas prices plummeting. Between
MBTU in 2012, prices doubled to $4.04 in mid-2013 and are expected to rise
slightly higher in 2014.
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