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Shale gas in the United States is rapidly increasing as an available source of natural gas. Led by new applications of hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, development of new sources of shale gas has offset declines in production from conventional gas reservoirs, and has led to major increases in reserves of US natural gas. Largely due to shale gas discoveries, estimated reserves of natural gas in the United States in 2008 were 35% higher than in 2006.〔Jad Mouawad, ("Estimate places natural gas reserves 35% higher," ), ''New York Times'', 17 June 2009, accessed 25 October 2009.〕 In 2007, shale gas fields included the #2 (Barnett/Newark East) and #13 (Antrim) sources of natural gas in the United States in terms of gas volumes produced.〔(US Energy Information Administration, ''Top 100 oil and gas fields'' ), PDF file, retrieved 18 February 2009.〕 The number of unconventional natural gas wells in the US rose from 18,485 in 2004 to 25,145 in 2007 and is expected to continue increasing〔Vidas H, Hugman B. ICF International. Availability, Economics, and Production Potential of North American Unconventional Natural Gas SuppliesPrepared for The INGAA Foundation, Inc. by: ICF International; 2008.〕 until about 2040.〔"(AEO2014 EARLY RELEASE OVERVIEW )" ''EIA'', December 2013. Accessed: December 2013.〕 The economic success of shale gas in the United States since 2000 has led to rapid development of shale gas in Canada, and, more recently, has spurred interest in shale gas possibilities in Europe, Asia, and Australia. It has been postulated that there may be a 100-year supply of natural gas in the United States, but only 11 years of gas supply is in the form of proved reserves. U.S. shale deposits also cross over into Canadian provinces, such as Ontario.〔(Stop Fracking Ontario: Shale in Ontario )〕 ==Shale gas production== US shale gas production has grown rapidly in recent years after a long-term effort by the natural gas industry in partnership with the Department of Energy to improve drilling and extraction methods while increasing exploration efforts. US shale production was in 2008, a jump of 71% over the previous year.〔US Energy information Administration, (Shale gas production ), accessed 4 December 2009.〕 In 2009, US shale gas production grew 54% to , while remaining proven US shale reserves at year-end 2009 increased 76% to .〔US Energy information Administration, "Summary: US Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids Proved Reserves 2009", http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/natural_gas/data_publications/crude_oil_natural_gas_reserves/current/pdf/arrsummary.pdf, accessed 5 January 2011.〕 In its Annual Energy Outlook for 2011, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) more than doubled its estimate of technically recoverable shale gas reserves in the US, to from , by including data from drilling results in new shale fields, such as the Marcellus, Haynesville, and Eagle Ford shales. In 2012 the EIA lowered its estimates again to 482 tcf. Shale production is projected to increase from 23% of total US gas production in 2010 to 49% by 2035.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/er/pdf/0383er(2012).pdf )〕 The availability of large shale gas reserves in the US has led some to propose natural gas-fired power plants as lower-carbon emission replacements for coal plants, and as backup power sources for wind energy.〔Peter Behr and Christa Marshall, ("Is shale gas the climate bill's new bargaining chip?," ) ''New York Times'', 5 August 2009.〕〔Tom Gjelten, ("Rediscovering natural gas by hitting rock bottom," ) National Public Radio, 22 September 2009.〕 In June 2011, a ''New York Times'' article reported that "not everyone in the Energy Information Administration agrees" with the optimistic projections of reserves, and questioned the impartiality of some of the reports issued by the agency. Two of the primary contractors, Intek and Advanced Resources International, which provided information for the reports also have major clients in the oil and gas industry. "The president of Advanced Resources, Vello A. Kuuskraa, is also a stockholder and board member of Southwestern Energy, an energy company heavily involved in drilling for gas" in the Fayetteville Shale, according to the report in ''The New York Times''. The article was criticized by, among others, the ''New York Times'' own Public editor for lack of balance, in omitting facts and viewpoints favorable to shale gas production and economics.〔Arthur S. Brisbane, (“Clashing views on the future of natural gas,” ) New York Times, 16 July 2001.〕 Other critics of the article included bloggers at ''Forbes'' and the Council on Foreign Relations.〔Helman, Christopher, ("New York Times Is All Hot Air On Shale Gas" ), ''Forbes'', June 27, 2011 1:37 pm. Retrieved 2011-06-27.〕〔Levi, Michael, ("Is Shale Gas a Ponzi Scheme?" ), Council on Foreign Relations website, June 27, 2011. The earlier Urbina article was “(‘Enron Moment’: Insiders Sound Alarm amid a Natural Gas Rush” ). Retrieved 2011-06-27.〕 Also in 2011, Diane Rehm had Urbina; Seamus McGraw, writer and author of "The End of Country"; Tony Ingraffea, a professor of engineering at Cornell; and John Hanger, former secretary of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; on a radio call-in show about Urbino's articles and the broader subject. The associations representing the natural gas industry, such as America's Natural Gas Alliance, were invited to be on the program but declined.〔("Natural Gas: Promise and Perils" ), ''Diane Rehm Show'', NPR via WAMU, (June 28, 2011 ). Retrieved 2011-06-29.〕 In June 2011, when Urbino’s ''New York Times'' article appeared, the latest figures for US proved reserves of shale gas were 97.4 trillion cubic feet, as of the end of 2010.〔US EIA, (US Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves ), Data Table 4, 1 Aug. 2014.〕 Over the next three years 2011 through 2013, shale gas production totaled 28.3 trillion cubic feet, about 29% of the end-of-2010 proved reserves. But contrary to concerns of overstated reserves quoted in his article, both shale gas production and shale gas proved reserves have increased. US shale gas production in June 2011 was 21.6 billion cubic feet per day of dry gas. Since then, shale gas production has increased, and by March 2015 was 41.1 billion cubic feet per day, almost double the June 2011 rate, and provided 55% of total US dry natural gas production.〔US Energy Information Administration, (Shale in the United States ) 14 May 2015〕 Despite the rapidly increasing production, companies replaced their proved reserves much faster than production, so that by the end of 2013, companies reported that shale gas proved reserves still in the ground had grown to 159.1 TCF, an increase of 63% over the end of 2010 reserves.〔US EIA, (US Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves ), Data Table 4, 14 Dec 2014.〕 Advances in technology or experience can lead to greater productivity. The US Energy Information Administration has reported that drilling for shale gas and light tight oil in the United States became much more efficient throughout the period 2007-2014. In terms of oil produced per day of rig drilling time, Bakken wells drilled in January 2014 produced 2.4 times as much oil as those drilled five years earlier, in January 2009. In the Marcellus Gas Trend, wells drilled in January 2014 produced more than nine times as much gas per day of drilling rig time as those drilled five years previously, in January 2009.〔US EIA, (Drilling efficiency is a key driver of oil and natural gas production ), Today in Energy, 4 Nov. 3013.〕〔US EIA, Drilling productivity report, (Excel spreadsheet linked to web page ), 8 December 2014.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shale gas in the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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