Posted on 07/15/2011 5:12:03 AM PDT by Wonder Warthog
Experts say Louisiana could be on the edge of a new oil boom. A 2.7-million acre oil and gas play stretching across 21 parishes.
"It could be big." LOGA President Don Briggs says, "it could be very big."
Already, more than 7,000 acres are being leased to drilling companies in this play called the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Area. Don Briggs of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association says it's not a guaranteed gold mine but it has a lot of potential.
"The economic impact of one of these big plays could be very significant to the state's economy," Briggs said.
If there is oil and gas right underneath our feet, the question now is how do we get to something embedded in shale thousands of feet underground? Drilling straight down would be too inefficient so experts developed a rather new technique called horizontal hydraulic fracturing.
"The technique of drilling a vertical hole then laterally drilling is a technique that's been developed just in the last ten years," Briggs said.
Recent studies suggest this drilling technique, also known as fracking, could generate 7-billion barrels in this area alone. However, Briggs says those numbers could even be higher.
"We'll be updating that here in time," Briggs said.
"So could it be more than 7-billion?" Reporter Shawn Kline asked.
"Absolutely."
(Excerpt) Read more at katc.com ...
The EPA will put the Kibosh on that in its quest for 10 dollar gas.
Ping - the shale plays just keep a-comin - so-called environmentalists are seeing their energy-starved America utopian dream come to naught.
Want to buy some swamp land in the bayou....
I’m not so sure about that. Fracking is in widespread use in the Haynesville Shale gas field and once those royalty checks begin to flow to landowners and to the local governments, all the “tree hugger” talk tends to get quieter.
It might create jobs, therefore it won’t be allowed to go forward within the regime.
Apply for a permit to drill an artesian well for water, and then drill down for the oil. That’s about the only way Obama is going to allow drilling for this oil.
Am I kidding? Hell no. Use his past record as a sign.Stop listening to his words and start looking at his record.
The geologist started his own company and began buying up leases in what he considered the best drilling areas. This is the first I've heard of it in quite some time.
Fracking has been put on hold (new wells) in nearby Arkansas due to belief it was causing earthquakes near Guy,AR. Just sayin’. Also problems with fracking in Penn/NY State. Although problems there pollution related, not earthquake.
Tuscaloosa Trend is a wonderful producing sandstone. I’ll wager that the adjacent shale is the source rock. A tight formation that is going to be fracked.
Frackin’ A buddy! Let’s get on it!
I am sure the search is already on for an endangered bug or lizard in the region....
If they can’t find one they will import one.
After the producing well has been fracked, the fracking fluid is disposed of by pumping it down the disposal wells aka injection wells.
The state agency has put a hold on using those few disposal wells that they think are causing the quakes.
I certainly hope so. Now, get rid of or hobble the EPA (will have to wait until next year to do that) and Louisiana could get a long deserved break. The flood victims’ progress never makes the news (certainly not like the post-Katrina drumbeat), not to mention how folks are faring after last summer’s oil spill. I hope people are doing okay, never far from my thoughs.
Obama admin opposition to surely follow.
Positive proof this "journalist" has no idea what they are talking about and didn't bother to try and learn. He is just repeating terms he heard without knowing what they mean.
Fracking, or rather hydraulic fracturing, is not a drilling method. It is not drilling. It occurs after drilling is completed and is done in vertical as well as horizontal wells.
I would like to think this article has some good information about a new play, but now everything mentioned is suspect.
Prosperity and jobs likely? Shut it down!
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