from: http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/infosheets/natgasreserves.html
Grade: A.    Reason: ready

A Drilling Rig Near Downtown Fort Worth

A drilling rig near downtown Fort Worth

Did You Know?

In 1821, William Hart dug the first well specifically to produce natural gas in the United States in the Village of Fredonia on the banks of Canadaway Creek in Chautauqua County, New York. It was 27 feet deep, excavated with shovels by hand, and its gas pipeline was hollowed-out logs sealed with tar and rags.
Dry Natural Gas Proved Reserves by Area, 2007
Dry Natural Gas Proved Reserves by Area, 2007

Source: Energy Information Administration, U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids Reserves 2007 Annual Report

Underground Reservoirs Hold Oil and Gas

A "reservoir" is a place where large volumes of methane, the major component of natural gas, can be trapped in the subsurface of the Earth at places where the right geological conditions occurred at the right times. Reservoirs are made up of porous and permeable rocks that can hold significant amounts of oil and gas within their pore spaces.

What Are Proved Reserves?

Proved reserves of natural gas are estimated quantities that analyses of geological and engineering data have demonstrated to be economically recoverable in future years from known reservoirs.

Proved reserves are added each year with successful exploratory wells and as more is learned about fields where current wells are producing. For this reason those reserves constantly change and should not be considered a finite amount of resources available.

How Much Natural Gas Reserves Are in the United States?

As of December 31, 2007, estimated proved reserves of "dry natural gas" (consumer-grade natural gas) in the United States were 237.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf). The United States consumed 23.2 Tcf of natural gas in 2007.

Record-high additions to U.S. dry natural gas proved reserves in 2007 totaled 46.1 Tcf. The dry natural gas reserve additions mostly reflected the rapid development of unconventional gas resources including shale, coalbed methane, and tight, low-permeability formations. Many of these unconventional resources are cost effective to develop because of advances in drilling technologies and in techniques to increase gas yields from these formations and because of increases in market prices for natural gas.

What Are Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Resources?

In addition to proved natural gas reserves, there are large volumes of natural gas classified as undiscovered technically recoverable resources. Undiscovered technically recoverable resources are expected to exist because the geologic settings are favorable despite the relative uncertainty of their specific location. Undiscovered technically recoverable resources are also assumed to be producible over some time period using existing recovery technology.

As of January 1, 2007, EIA assumes that domestic natural gas undiscovered technically recoverable resources are approximately 1,536 trillion cubic feet.1 Almost half of all onshore undiscovered recoverable gas resources are believed to be located in the Alaska and Gulf Coast regions. Over one-third of all undiscovered gas resources are estimated to be in Federal offshore areas, primarily near Alaska, in the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Atlantic Coast.



1. EIA resource assumptions are based on estimates of technically recoverable resources from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Minerals Management Service (MMS) of the Department of the Interior, and supplemented by outside experts.