Natural Gas Plays in the Marcellus Shale: Challenges and Potential Opportunities

Natural Gas Plays in the Marcellus Shale: Challenges and Potential Opportunities

The U.S. has abundant natural gas resources within the Barnett Shale, Haynesville/Bossier Shale, Antrim Shale, Fayetteville Shale, New Albany Shale, and Marcellus Shale. Technically recoverable natural gas from these shales is more than 1,744 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) (50 km3), which includes 211 Tcf of proven reserves (1). At the annual production rate of about 19.3 Tcf, there is enough natural gas to supply the U.S. for the next 90 years with some estimates extending the supply to 116 years. The total number of natural gas and condensate wells in the U.S. rose 5.7% in 2008 to a record 478,562 with some of the produced natural gas lost via flaring (2). However, available data on flaring of natural gas is incomplete and inconsistent.

Data and Resources

Field Value
Is NETL associated "\"No\""
Organization "\"U.S. Environmental Protection Agency\""
Organization Acronym "\"EPA\""
Publication Date "\"06/02/2010\""
spatial {"type": "MultiPolygon", "coordinates": [[[[-74.23694, 40.506004], [-79.76166, 42.003105], [-79.76324, 42.267326], [-79.06224, 43.268215], [-75.328865, 44.81063], [-74.96847, 44.948624], [-74.73611, 44.992916], [-73.34473, 45.006138], [-71.86999, 41.07451], [-71.9187, 41.030575], [-72.521164, 40.81504], [-73.03094, 40.67134], [-73.249054, 40.625423], [-74.19364, 40.510563], [-74.23694, 40.506004]], [[-82.54755, 38.400513], [-82.57542, 38.403904], [-83.67853, 38.62093], [-83.770226, 38.650818], [-84.17675, 38.788498], [-84.2287, 38.81269], [-84.81148, 39.102585], [-84.81207, 39.30303], [-84.811035, 39.56405], [-84.790375, 41.697495], [-80.52059, 41.986874], [-80.52, 41.48929], [-80.52031, 40.854168], [-80.522, 40.637203], [-80.604515, 40.306244], [-80.614685, 40.2765], [-80.83279, 39.7034], [-80.88111, 39.62408], [-82.32918, 38.44195], [-82.49499, 38.405834], [-82.54755, 38.400513]], [[-79.39661, 39.719315], [-80.429085, 39.71984], [-80.52427, 39.72121], [-80.52605, 40.16252], [-80.523926, 41.495102], [-80.522644, 41.850777], [-80.52059, 41.986874], [-79.76324, 42.267326], [-75.38281, 41.998356], [-75.34566, 41.992844], [-75.12475, 41.849182], [-75.07984, 41.814148], [-74.74004, 41.42206], [-74.70528, 41.37506], [-74.700066, 41.350574], [-74.72548, 40.149307], [-74.74629, 40.12436], [-75.1429, 39.881603], [-75.25374, 39.84554], [-75.42047, 39.798985], [-75.774925, 39.724552], [-75.79109, 39.723866], [-76.13922, 39.72223], [-76.56983, 39.720264], [-77.47579, 39.719624], [-79.39661, 39.719315]], [[-81.665886, 37.20491], [-81.83889, 37.285503], [-82.29562, 37.66906], [-82.500206, 37.92226], [-82.646126, 38.14633], [-82.647156, 38.169437], [-82.598236, 38.368465], [-82.5866, 38.412518], [-80.667725, 40.582138], [-80.63734, 40.613983], [-80.61155, 40.620064], [-80.522, 40.637203], [-77.84241, 39.605373], [-77.77155, 39.498116], [-77.737236, 39.396194], [-77.72747, 39.317795], [-77.820045, 39.141724], [-77.83068, 39.132183], [-80.28792, 37.51115], [-80.42538, 37.434906], [-80.967896, 37.29179], [-81.22293, 37.240215], [-81.556656, 37.206352], [-81.665886, 37.20491]]]]}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • Global Provider
Tags
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • ckan
  • edx
  • energy
  • energy-data-exchange
  • geo
  • geology
  • geoss
  • global
  • marcellus-shale
  • natural-gas-play
author David Kargbo
isopen True
license_id cc-by
license_title Creative Commons Attribution
license_url http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-by
metadata_created 2025-11-25T22:36:00.150975
metadata_modified 2025-11-25T22:36:00.150979
notes Natural Gas Plays in the Marcellus Shale: Challenges and Potential Opportunities The U.S. has abundant natural gas resources within the Barnett Shale, Haynesville/Bossier Shale, Antrim Shale, Fayetteville Shale, New Albany Shale, and Marcellus Shale. Technically recoverable natural gas from these shales is more than 1,744 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) (50 km3), which includes 211 Tcf of proven reserves (1). At the annual production rate of about 19.3 Tcf, there is enough natural gas to supply the U.S. for the next 90 years with some estimates extending the supply to 116 years. The total number of natural gas and condensate wells in the U.S. rose 5.7% in 2008 to a record 478,562 with some of the produced natural gas lost via flaring (2). However, available data on flaring of natural gas is incomplete and inconsistent.
num_resources 1
num_tags 12
title Natural Gas Plays in the Marcellus Shale: Challenges and Potential Opportunities