Utica shale, below the Marcellus, contains large gas, oil reserves, study shows

The Patriot-News / The Associated Press ^ | October 6, 2012

[2ndDivisionVet]

Drilling companies beginning to explore the Utica shale got a piece of good news Friday when the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the rock formation in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states holds enormous reserves of natural gas and oil.

Releasing its first estimate of the Utica, the USGS calculated the shale formation holds about 38 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas, 940 million barrels of oil and 9 million barrels of natural gas liquids like ethane and propane.

The Utica lies beneath the Marcellus shale...

[ConservativeInPA]

Cuomo hasn’t even hired the consultants to complete the feasibility and safety studies. Jobs are going to PA, WV, and Ohio. New York just raises taxes and bridge tolls.

NY doesn't need feasibility and safety studies. NY needs jobs and energy. The government basically needs to butt out, with one exception. That exception is the drilling and hauling companies need to repair the roads they tear up. In PA, the DOT (PennDOT) does weekly road inspections, weather permitting during winter. The inspections are on bonded roads and the drilling and hauling companies must pay for the inspections and the repairs.

It is a real mess, especially during the spring thaw, but it is short lived. The roads get repaired relatively quickly, and given than once a well is connected to a pipeline, you would barely notice a well is there and there is no further damage to the road.

[aruanan]

The number of cars in the United States (300,000,000 minus 792,787 non-gasoline cars= 299,207,213) times the number of dollars per car to retrofit it to natural gas ($6500 for a basic system to $12,000 for a top-of-the-line installation with a high-capacity, composite fuel tank) = $1,944,846,884,500 to $3,590,486,555,992.52 to retrofit cars alone, not counting the cost for the rest of the vehicular fleet, the costs of retooling the auto industry to produce all natural gas autos, the cost of lost pre-natural gas automotive industries, the costs of increased exploration, production, storage, and delivery of natural gas, the costs of lost gasoline fueling enterprises, and about a thousand etcs.

A. Are there other uses for natural gas than transportation? Yes.
B. Are there other uses for gasoline than transportation? No.

C. Is it worthwhile spending many multiple trillions of dollars "in short order" and destroying multiple trillions of dollars of existing industries to switch from one type of fuel to another to do exactly the same thing? No.

[SC_Pete]

He will be the RAT nominee in 2016 running against Romney. Romney will kick his butt because of his dragging his feet on economic development.

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[SC_Pete]

Cuomo is a typical RAT who doesn’t understand the value of job creation. He wants it both ways—increasing tax revenue while kissing the butts of the GREEN LOONIES. he will be the RAT nominee for President in 2016—and Romney will end his career.

[SC_Pete]

I’ll be leaving enemy territory in a few months. Family business. :)

[count-your-change]

There are the jobs directly provided but the land owners spending those royalty checks provide jobs too. The benefits ripple out and out.

[count-your-change]

Exactly so. We have the infrastructure well developed for gasoline and either it is scrapped or duplicated with NG, neither makes much sense.

[muawiyah]

Trucks ~ in particular ~ are easily converted to the use of natural gas.

I didn't say anything about cars.

BTW, rail transport is also easily converted.

I believe work continues on creating US31/I65 into a bio-diesel route ~ that one can be rapidly converted to a natural gas corridor.

The tank is the big cost ~ for the person wanting to add natural gas to his car, but the actual conversion equipment is not terribly expensive for anyone adept at any level of automobile mechanics.

Just takes time. Converting home oil heating systems to natural gas takes about an hour as I recall.

Fur shur, the guys in Naptown, Daytona, etc. have more than their fair share of people around who've been less employed of late who'd be happy to turn your car into a fueler fit for a dragstrip FOR LESS THAN $6,500.

[muawiyah]

http://www.google.com/#q=can+you+convert+a+diesel+engine+to+natural+gas&hl=en&sa=X&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=vid&tbo=u&ei=DUGDUP76Beyr2AXSsICQDg&ved=0CGYQqwQ&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=1ac9a74ee4de457c&bpcl=35466521&biw=924&bih=459 ~ just videos on how to convert a diesel engine to natural gas. There are also two major forms ~ liquid and comparessed ~ but trucks tend to operate in delineated areas so you can build the infrastructure out as the base of demand is converted.

[Teacher317]

Some major issues with your over-simplified post.

1. Nobody said every vehicle in the US should be converted. How about allowing individuals to make the choice for themselves. You know, that weird Freedom crap?
2. $6500 per conversion drop quickly once it starts becoming commonplace. Further, when carmakers start manufacturing a significant percentage of new cars that take NG instead of gas, there is ZERO conversion cost within a few short years.
3. As NG use increases and gasoline use decreases, prices fluctuate for both, until they achieve a relative equilibrium. (This is how free market capitalism works, and is far, far, far better way to let business thrive than any other system. We once knew this reflexively as a nation.)

[Chickensoup]

wish there was nat gas or oil here in New England.

But I do have wood. With a wood fired genrator I should be ok.

[Teacher317]

And another very crucial point... not only is it wise to have TWO resources working simultaneously (increases national security), it is also a HUGE benefit to have the influence of the Middle East cut in half (if not more), when the US and Russia continue to dominate the global natural gas market. I’d MUCH rather have to deal with Putin’s heirs than Admenijad’s in the long run.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Betcha Martin O’Moron Owe’Malley won’t let us drill the Utica in Maryland.

Maryland “Freak State” PING!

[AFPhys]

Since these gov’t estimates of reserves have always proven to be far too low, I believe that they will be shown very low yet again, and that the actual production ability from the Utica formations will eventually be 5-20 times higher than this.

[spokeshave]

It’s nice to draw a fat paycheck and also have tons of money in the bank. That’s the situation we find ourselves in with these two reserves, not to mention North Dakota, the Barnett Shale in North Texas and all the others. I suspect the reserves in Alaska are much bigger than what has been found so far, don’t you?

Small change...

Consider the Green River Formation:

“The Green River Formation--an assemblage of over 1,000 feet of sedimentary rocks that lie beneath parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming--contains the world's largest deposits of oil shale,”Anu K. Mittal, the GAO’s director of natural resources and environment said in written testimony submitted to the House Science Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.

“USGS estimates that the Green River Formation contains about 3 trillion barrels of oil, and about half of this may be recoverable, depending on available technology and economic conditions,” Mittal testified.

“The Rand Corporation, a nonprofit research organization, estimates that 30 to 60 percent of the oil shale in the Green River Formation can be recovered,” Mittal told the subcommittee. “At the midpoint of this estimate, almost half of the 3 trillion barrels of oil would be recoverable. This is an amount about equal to the entire world's proven oil reserves."

[2ndDivisionVet]

Not only that, but look how far we’ve come in drilling technology since the Drake well in 1859. What will the next 50, 100 or 150 years bring? What isn’t recoverable today surely will be soon enough. It ain’t going anywhere.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for that excellent link.

[Balding_Eagle]

You’re welcome.

Knowledge is power, keep that link and spread it around, there are a lot of people who are open to learning about the true nature of fracking.

[Jimmy Valentine's brother]

Something other than government jobs in New York; impossible. BLL what are you hearing?

[Behind Liberal Lines]

BLL what are you hearing?

Enviro-wackos and NIMBYists, led by the Park Foundation, are doing their level best to stop fracking in New York.

The Park Foundation is located in, you guessed it, Ithaca, the City of Evil.