marcellus shale

MARCELLUS SHALENatural Gas in Pennyslvania

Where is Marcellus Shale in PA? Marcellus Shale

The contour lines tell thickness of the shale. Pink = 50 ft Green = 100 ft Purple = 150 ft Red = 200 ft

What is Marcellus Shale?

Shale – Sedimentary rock made from mud (clay and silt)

Black from high organic content(plant and animal remains)

Organic matter is source of gas

What is Marcellus Shale? High organic content

means high gas potential. Greater thickness means

more gas potentially available.

Shale composition means very little connection between pore spaces that hold gas.

Fractures help gas flow within formation.

Why does it contain Natural Gas? When the shale was

deposited as a mud, it was full of tiny pieces of organic material.

The same heat and pressure that turned the mud into shale also ‘cooked’ the organic material, creating natural gas.

What is a Drill Rig?New Technology: Drilling HORIZONTALLY

How do they extract the Gas? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz

g7ZWyWvgA

Value of Gas Deposit Estimated amount of recoverable gas is

516 TCF. (Trillion cubic feet)

US consumption of gas in 2006 = 21 TCF

Marcellus shale could support US consumption for 1-3 yrs.

Pros and Cons of the Marcellus Shale

Pros Jobs in low-

economic regions. Improved local

economy A possible $15

billion in economic output and $2 billion in state tax revenue in a decade.

Cons Excess water

consumption Treatment of

wastewater Destruction of land Contaminated

ground water. Release of Radiation

Cost of Drilling Consumption of water

Vertical well = 1.2 million gallons (28,000 barrels) of water

VS. Horizontal well = 3.5 million

gallons (over 83,000 barrels) of water.

Environmental Concerns Hydraulic fracturing consists of pumping a fluid

and a propping material such as sand down the well under high pressure to create fractures in the gas-bearing rock.

slickwater = a low-viscosity water-based fluid used to fracture the rock to release the gas.

The slickwater fracs may include: friction reducers, biocides, surfactants and scale inhibitors.

Hydrochloric acid is also used as part of the fracturing process.

Question: Could this get into the local drinking water?

Environmental Concerns Radioactivity: The Marcellus is

considered to be a “highly radioactive” shale.

Engelder is quoted as saying that he thinks the radioactivity is “in such low concentrations that it does not bother anyone.”

Environmental Concerns Each well requires approximately 1,000 truck trips to

complete.  Telescoping well casings must be surrounded by

concrete to prevent leakage into ground water and aquifers. 

Each frack requires 4-8 million gallons of water, with about 40% of that coming back up as “flowback” – heavily contaminated hazardous waste. 

This is stored onsite or piped to “evaporation pits” until moved to an underground injection well, treated and re-used or (vast majority) treated and discharged to surface water.    

Economical Advantages Jobs in a low-

economic region. A possible $15

billion in economic output and $2 billion in state tax revenue in a decade.

The drilling activity will stimulate the PA economy, creating: additional income

earned from workers in the Marcellus industry

Income for those supporting it.

More income from royalties and taxes.