oa A short history of the shale gas phenomenon in North America

The oil and natural gas energy supply situation changed dramatically in the United States and in North America between 2000 and 2013. A new ability to extract economically both natural gas and oil from shale resource rocks has recently made the United States the world’s largest producer of natural gas and reversed a long-term decline in oil production. The economic impact of these changes is not only being felt in North America, but throughout the world, as the United States supplies more of its energy needs from domestic sources and prepares to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) globally.

The technology and business models that created this revolution are now being tested to various degrees throughout the world. Even if the export of these models is only partially successful, it will have a profound impact on many of the current producers and consumers of fossil fuels, and on industries which support shale resource exploitation.

A major beneficiary of the shale resource explosion is microseismic monitoring technology. Monitoring fracture stimulations in shale is a large and growing service industry with rapidly evolving capabilities, and concerns about induced seismicity associated with the disposal of waste water from fracture stimulation operations are starting to create a similar demand for long-term microseismic monitoring services.