Only four years ago both America and arguably the world were in the grips of a possible energy crisis with $150 per barrel oil, $13/mcf (1,000 cubic feet) natural gas prices and fears of impending energy shortages for basic transportation, heating and electrical needs.
Fast forward to 2011 and although oil is again trading higher and worry exists over long-term world oil supply, natural gas, a domestically-produced energy source that is potentially substitutable for oil and coal, has seemingly overnight offered potentially vast long-term supply at low prices.
This historic and sudden change from shortage and high price to large supply and low price came about by the simple realization that horizontal drilling combined with staged hydraulic fracture stimulation techniques that had been used in the Barnett shale in Texas could also be applied to the Marcellus and many other shale formations.
As a result, the combined Marcellus and the Utica could potentially become the largest gas field in the world and together provide multi-generational supplies!
The appearance of abundant long-term low priced, domestically sourced, clean burning natural gas supply has changed America's energy options.
It is now possible with some infrastructure modifications to quickly replace nearly all coal in electrical generation and a large part of oil in ground transportation, with the immediate and significant impact of reducing CO2 and other emissions such as sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide.
And although a recent study by Cornell professors theorizes that methane leaks associated with exploration may unacceptably contribute to GHG emissions, the research is ongoing, other studies have come to different conclusions (i.e. National Energy Technology Laboratory) so perhaps the proper response is to use our ingenuity to continually reduce development byproduct pollutants rather than banning drilling.
Of course, (the) industry is already reducing various emissions, including methane, by reducing venting and flaring through reduced emissions completions directly into pipelines, replacing diesel generators and compressors with natural gas, reducing trucking through on-site recycling and reuse of produced water.
