Haynesville Shale

The Haynesville Shale is a rock formation mainly composed of consolidated clay-sized particles deposited and buried in northwest Louisiana and East Texas more than 170 million years ago during the Upper Jurassic age. It is characterized by ultra-low permeability but has a high porosity compared to other shales.

Most geological basins outside of Louisiana have productive wells at depth ranges above convert|8500|ft|m. The Haynesville Shale, however, involves drilling below convert|10000|ft|m and up to convert|13000|ft|m deep. The formations get deeper as the field dips towards the Gulf of Mexico. The Haynesville Shale has recently been estimated to be the largest natural gas field in the 48 states with an estimated 250 trillion cubic feet (7.1×10¹² m³) of recoverable gas. Production has boomed since late March 2008, creating a number of new millionaires in the long-economically depressed region centering on Shreveport, Louisiana. [cite web | title = Gas Rush Is On, and Louisianians Cash In | work = The New York Times | author = Adam Nossiter | date = July 29, 2008 | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/us/29boom.html?hp=&pagewanted=all | accessdate = 2008-10-01]

References