How unconventional fields are powering Texas

Elizabeth Ames Jones

Pages: 1 2 3

Elizabeth Ames Jones

In the 1980s, Houston wildcatter George Mitchell drilled the first well into the Barnett Shale formation that stretches through north and central Texas. He tapped into what would turn out to be one of the most prolific and valuable onshore natural gas reserves in the United States.

It would take nearly two decades and millions of dollars to develop the horizontal, hydraulic technology necessary to bring the Barnett’s natural gas to the surface. Today, natural gas wells in the Barnett Shale are located within the city limits of Fort Worth and surrounding communities, and are a stone’s throw from suburban homes and schools.

The implications of this discovery and the technology that makes extraction of natural gas from the Barnett Shale possible are far-reaching for Texas, our electricity market, and our nation.

Because natural gas is often coproduced with crude oil, its pricing is often linked with oil production. That makes it vulnerable to the same geopolitical and economic pressures that affect crude oil, albeit on a less dramatic scale.

Add to the geopolitical reality of fluctuating, often volatile crude oil and natural gas prices, the fact that the natural gas industry is also affected by weather. The U.S. Department of Energy reported that 7% of natural gas output and 26 major natural gas pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico remained down or at reduced production levels a full two weeks after Hurricane Ike rolled ashore near Galveston in mid-September.

Pages: 1 2 3