In 2009, the Congressional Research Service published a report showing the United States leading the entire world in proven fossil fuel reserves.1 Interestingly, the report did not even account for the significant increase in hydrocarbon reserves bursting onto the scene at the time it was published.2 Since then, discoveries and developments in the Marcellus, the Haynes-ville, Eagle Ford, and Bakken formations have increased those results even further.3 These shales, formerly unproductive in economic quantities, have been transformed into epicenters of modern land rushes, thanks in large part to the development and combination of two vitally important oil and gas technologies: horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing.
展开▼
