Knowledge@Wharton: The Once and Future U.S. Shale Gas Revolution

Over the last 10 years, the U.S. has emerged as a leading producer of shale gas. Thanks to innovative extraction techniques spearheaded by Texas entrepreneur George P. Mitchell, natural gas trapped in shale formations, previously too difficult and costly to recover, now provides a burgeoning domestic energy supply. By drilling horizontally underground to reach shale formations and then flushing those tunnels with water, sand and chemicals to break open the rock and force out the gas -- a process called hydraulic fracturing (fracking) -- U.S. companies have sparked a shale gas revolution: U.S. shale gas production climbed from virtually zero in 2000 to a level where it is contributing a quarter of U.S. natural gas today and is expected to comprise half of total U.S. natural gas by 2030, according to the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston, Texas.  MORE