INTRODUCTION

Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Shale gas has become an
increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States since the start of this century,
and interest has spread to potential gas shales in the rest of the world. In 2000 shale gas provided
only 1% of U.S. natural gas production; by 2010 it was over 20% and the U.S.
government's Energy Information Administration predicts that by 2035, 46% of the United
States' natural gas supply will come from shale gas.
Some analysts expect that shale gas will greatly expand worldwide energy supply. China is
estimated to have the world's largest shale gas reserves. A study by the Baker Institute of Public
Policy at Rice University concluded that increased shale gas production in the US and Canada
could help prevent Russia and Persian Gulf countries from dictating higher prices for the gas
they export to European countries.
Increased shale gas development will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions (As per record in
2012, US carbon dioxide emissions dropped to a 20-year low). Some studies have alleged that
the extraction and use of shale gas may result in the release of more greenhouse gases than
conventional natural gas. As per other recent studies point to high rates of decline of some shale
gas wells as an indication that shale gas production may ultimately be much lower than is
currently projected.
Oil recovered from shale and other low-permeability formations is known as "tight oil."
WILL SHALE GAS TRIGGER A NEW WORLD ORDER?
The shale revolution has changed the energy scenario in the United States from a situation of
shortage to that of plenty. The world’s biggest energy consumer may soon become the largest
producer of hydrocarbons. In popular perception around the world, the US has kept its beak in
the middle-east only for the oil. Billions of dollars have gone into wars and campaigns in the
region in the past one decade. The big question being debated by energy and foreign policy
experts is- Now that it doesn’t need the oil, will the US still be interested in policing the region to
ensure reasonable stability? More importantly, will it continue to pick up the tab for the policing?
In terms of hunger for energy, India and China are making up for the gap caused by lower US
imports. Consumption per capita in both the countries is growing rapidly and China will replace
the US as the world’s largest oil importing nation by 2017. BP’s `Energy Outlook 2030’ says
India will import 90% of its oil by 2030. Both Asian countries will therefore have much more
skin in the game than the United States. Hard line political groups in the US are already saying
their country’s military presence in the region is subsidizing the energy security of India and
China. As oil from the middle-east starts flowing east rather than west, middle America will see
little reason to support the energy security of other countries.

The US gas boom is already impacting global energy relations. The impact will be felt even
more keenly when it starts exporting gas- the first LNG exports are expected to start around
2017. The issue of how much gas to export is now being debated in the US senate. India’s
ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao has begun lobbying for speeding up of approvals for the
gas to come to India. Exporting gas to friendly countries in Europe, as well as India and China is
being seen as a new way of extending the US sphere of influence, and cutting the dominance of
the middle-east and Russia. Shale has begun replacing oil as the agent of the new great game.
GEOLOGY BEHIND SHALE GAS
Because shales ordinarily have insufficient permeability to allow significant fluid flow to a well
bore, most shales are not commercial sources of natural gas. Shale gas is one of a number of
unconventional sources of natural gas; others include coalbed methane, tight sandstones, and
methane hydrates. Shale gas areas are often known as resource plays. The geological risk of not
finding gas is low in resource plays, but the potential profits per successful well are usually also
lower.
Shale has low matrix permeability, so gas production in commercial quantities requires fractures
to provide permeability. Shale gas has been produced for years from shales with natural
fractures; the shale gas boom in recent years has been due to modern technology in hydraulic
fracturing (fracking) to create extensive artificial fractures around well bores.
Horizontal drilling is often used with shale gas wells, with lateral lengths up to 10,000 feet
(3,000 m) within the shale, to create maximum borehole surface area in contact with the shale.
Shales that host economic quantities of gas have a number of common properties. They are rich
in organic material (0.5% to 25%), and are usually mature petroleum source rocks in the
thermogenic gas window, where high heat and pressure have converted petroleum to natural gas.
They are sufficiently brittle and rigid enough to maintain open fractures.
Some of the gas produced is held in natural fractures, some in pore spaces, and some
isadsorbed onto the organic material. The gas in the fractures is produced immediately; the gas
adsorbed onto organic material is released as the formation pressure is drawn down by the well.
HOW SHALE GAS PLAY IS DIFFERENT FROM CONVENTIONAL
PLAY?

CONVENTIONAL RESERVOIRS UNCONVENTIONAL RESERVOIRS

These are reservoirs that are capable of natural These are reservoirs that cannot be produced at
flow and will produce economic volumes of oil economic flow rates or that do not produce
and gas without special recovery techniques. economic volumes of oil and gas without
assistance from stimulation treatments or
special recovery processes and technologies.

Oil/Gas storage in porous & permeable Gas storage within natural fractures, matrix
reservoirs having structural/stratigrahic traps porosity or adsorbed on kerogene
Higher reservoir porosity & permeability, Very low porosity & ultralow permeability in
larger drainage radius micro to nano darcy, low drainage radius,
requires hydro-fracturing for flow
Vertical wells, lesser number of wells Large no of wells, extensive use of horizontal
drilling & multistage hydro-fracturing
Single well from one location Multiple horizontal wells from single pad
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF SHALE GAS
1 TCF Can
 Generate about 100 billion kilowatt hours of electricity for one year
 Fuel 12 million CNG vehicles for one year
Royalty and Tax
 Will generate royalty and tax revenues for the state
 Generate indirect revenue from various additional economic activity and output
Attract more investment and create more job opportunities
Clean fuel to the industry (replace existing polluting fuels)
Local economic advances

SHALE GAS POTENTIAL BY CONTINENT

 Source: EIA, April 2011
H-H ROGNER EIA/ARI
CONTINENT
(tcf) (tcf)
North America* 3842 7140

South America 2117 4569

Europe 549 2587

Africa** 1548 3962

Asia 3528 5661

Australia 2313 1381

Other*** 2215 n/a

Total 16112 25300

* Includes U.S. shale gas in-place of 3824 tcf, based on estimated (ARI) 820 tcf of technically
recoverable shale gas resources and a 25% recovery efficiency shale gas in-place.
** Ronger estimate includes one-half of Middle East and North Africa (1274) and sub-Saharan
Africa (274 tcf).
*** Incudes FSU (627 tcf), Other Asia Pacific (314 tcf) and one-half of Middle East/North
Africa (1274 tcf).

SHALE GAS POTENTIAL BY COUNTRY

Although the shale gas potential of many nations is being studied, as of 2013, only the US,
Canada, and China produce shale gas in commercial quantities, and only the US and Canada
have significant shale gas production.
The table below is based on data collected by the Energy Information Administration agency
of the United States Department of Energy. Numbers for the estimated amount of recoverable
shale gas resources are provided alongside numbers for proven natural gas reserves.

COUNTRY ESTIMATED RECOVERABLE PROVEN NATURAL GAS RESERVES

SHALE GAS OF ALL TYPES
(trillion cubic feet) (trillion cubic feet)

China 1115 124

Argentina 802 12

Algeria 707 159

United States 665 318

Canada 573 68

Mexico 545 17

South Africa 485 -

Australia 437 43

Russia 285 1688

Brazil 245 14

TYPICAL COMPOSITION OF SHALE GAS

Methane (CH4) 70-90%

Ethane (C2H6) 0-20%

Propane (C3H8)

Butane (C4H10)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) 0-8%

Oxygen (O2) 0-0.2%

Nitrogen (N2) 0-5%

Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) 0-5%

Rare gases (A, He, Ne, Xe) trace

HHV (btu/scf) 950-1200

SHALE GAS POTENTIAL IN INDIA

India’s first discovery of Shale Gas made in Durgapur in 2011 over an area of about 1300 sq km.
Potential basins in India are as follows
Cambay
Assam-Arakan
Gondwana
Vindhyan
 Rajasthan
Bengal
Krishna-Godavari
Cauvery
Total Shale gas resouce in India is about 1000 tcf which is under evaluation.
India is going to adopt a policy on shale gas for 32 years contract term as follows
 Phase I – 7 years for exploration, appraisal, evaluation
 Phase II – 25 years for development of well drilling, establishment of field
facilities, commercial production and marketing
WATER AND SHALE GAS

A typical Marcellus Shale Well requires

• 100,000 gallons/3,175 Barrels/ 450 m3of water for Drilling
• 3‐8 million gallons/ 95 ‐ 255 K Barrels/ 13,500 – 36,500m3 per well for Hydraulic fracturing

The Flowback is on average 10 ‐ 25%

• The initial surge of Flowback (first 3‐4 weeks) is as high as 200 GPM (45 m3/hr) with TDS
80000 then Produced Water is 1‐2 GPM for years

Water quality is becoming more challenging as time goes on

 Water In: There are no fixed regulations regarding from where or how much water one
can use.
 Water Out: Mandates for disposal of water
 TDS : 500 mg/L
 Chlorides : 250 mg/L
 Barium & Strontium : 10 mg/L
PRODUCTION TECHNIQUE

Horizontal Drilling method is used.

Horizontal and multilateral wells are generated.
Fractures are created in the rock to facilitate passage of the gas (also called “fracking”).
Huge quantities of water and chemicals are used in the process.
Heavy machineries, usually diesel powered, are used.
Substantial leakage of natural gas occurs.

ISSUES RELATED TO SHALE GAS PRODUCTION

Water availability and disposal of produced/flow-back water
Availability for thousands of shale wells and other related infrastructures (Production
facilities, etc.)
Lack of infrastructure (pipeline etc.)
Environmental issues
Lack of availability of service provider

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS ASSOCIATED WITH SHALE GAS

PRODUCTION
 Wastewater
 Air Pollution Issues
 Noise, Congestion, Particulates
 Green House Gas Emission
 Health Effects
 SURFACE WATER & GROUND WATER POLLUTION
Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking and gas production generates a large quantity of wastewater.
 Water requirement (as stated in the Indian policy document): 11,000 to 15,000 m3 for
one well (the estimate is of the same order of 7-19 million liters per well according to a
field data from a US gas field). Many chemicals and additives are used in the fracking
water. Many of them are toxic.
Disposal of Wastewater:
 May be transported to a local wastewater treatment facility – it is difficult to remove and
dispose of the chemicals used for fracking
 Injected into deep geological formation – risk of contamination of groundwater in the
long run
 Recycled and reinjected after addition of chemicals
 Used for irrigation or dust suppression of local roads
Each technique has one or more associated problems. It is very difficult to Isolate the toxic
chemicals from the fracking wastewater. Since the wells are horizontal and multilateral, there is
high possibility of ground water contamination. In many cases the fracturing water requirement
may have to be met by extracting ground water. This will have long-term devastating impact on
water table.
AIR POLLUTION
 Increased NOx, H2S, Particulates,
 Emissions from engines of drilling rigs
 Emission from diesel-powered pumps
 Venting or flaring of natural gas
 Heavy vehicular traffic with engine exhaust
 Dust from unpaved roads
 Fugitives emission from pipelines
Large quantity of METHANE may be released during “flowback phase” of fracturing when
the fracturing liquid returns back to the surface. These methane is a major green house gas.
SHALE GAS & INDIA’S ECONOMIC GROWTH

The Indian economy has been on the long-term growth trend since the decade of 90s. To fuel this
economic growth, India demands more energy and the major part of this will come through fossil
fuels, ballooning India’s petroleum consumption at the rate of 7% or more. Our expanding
economy, growing population, rising standards of living and limited availability of indigenous
energy sources pose serious challenges for India's long term energy security. Current
consumption of petroleum is more than 3 million barrels per day and will increase to about 8
million barrels by 2030; the situation for gas being no different.
Our domestic production for oil and gas is just 27% of the current demand, which is not expected
to meet the growing demand even when new discoveries are put on stream.
In recent times, the colossal rise in demand for energy coupled with shrinking new discoveries
and static reserve growth from conventional resources has led to unprecedented emphasis on
search for unconventional resources. Mother earth has bestowed us with abundant
unconventional resources, but the challenge is that, its needs technological innovations to
produce them economically. Of the several constituents of the unconventional energy resources
like CBM, Gas hydrates, Tight gas, Oil Shale and the Shale gas, the phenomenal success of shale
gas exploitation due to technology interventions has caught attention of the energy industry in
the recent past.
India should put the whole on shale gas for its economic growth and fulfill the per capita energy
requirement. By way of growing more shale gas India’s scenario will be changed revolutionarily.

CONCLUSION

 US shale gas success is widely recognized as alternative source of hydrocarbon from

unconventional reservoir. Global shale gas resources potential estimates are huge and
reassuring. Advances in horizontal drilling and hydrofracking technology and its wide
successful in shale gas has made exploitation of hydrocarbons from shale gas
commercially recoverable which was earlier considered uneconomic .
 Each gas shale basins is different and each has a unique set of operational, logistic,
environmental, availability of water, infrastructure and service industry to support
development. Because of these differences, the development of shale gas resources in
each of these areas faces potentially unique opportunities and challenges.
 There is no unique solution that fits for each shale basin evaluation, drilling, completion
and stimulation design and execution. Technology and efficient industry practices in each
shale gas play development evolves over a period of time.
 The recovery of shale gas at competitive price to make economic sense is still a long way
to go.