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I don't know about the EROI. No one knows if shale gas will be massive or not. If prices stay low, it certainly won't become massive.

Such is life.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid (arvid.hallen at gmail.com) on Fri Aug 8th, 2008 at 06:34:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
... EROI in conventional natural gas is how long the field produces, since the biggest part of the energy input is the drilling.

If you say that shale natural gas requires constant drilling, then its best case EROI has to be below the best case that was experienced with conventional natural gas.

I've been accused of being a Marxist, yet while Harpo's my favourite, it's Groucho I'm always quoting. Odd, that.

by BruceMcF (agila61 at netscape dot net) on Fri Aug 8th, 2008 at 06:40:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
On the other hand, while decline rates are often high, then so are initial production flows. Especially with horizontal drilling and hydrofracing.

Somewhere I've read that while conventional gas is like pushing all the air out of an air matress, shale plays are more like, well, farts. ;P

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid (arvid.hallen at gmail.com) on Fri Aug 8th, 2008 at 06:56:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
From what I have read here in Arkansas papers and in Barron's on the energy companies, such as Chesapeak Oil, extraction of gas from shale formations involves horizontal drilling from a primary shaft combined with fracturing of the formation.  It is the combination of higher prices and more robust technology that has made such plays attractive.

If they are going to be flashes in the pan, there are going to be a lot of very disappointed companies out there.  Coverage in the local press indicates productive lives of over 10 years for these fields.  Rework of a field is less expensive, as it involves reuse of the original vertical shaft.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Aug 8th, 2008 at 07:25:55 PM EST
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