Three blasts from the past

摘要

Experimental nuclear detonations 50 years ago served as early day precursors to the horizontal drilling and multistage fracture stimulation methodology that has boosted U.S. natural gas supply to levels well beyond domestic consumption. This one is a blast from the past. It is Project Gas buggy, or an Atomic Energy Commission experiment in conjunction with the El Paso Natural Gas Co., and the U.S. Bureau of Mines and Department of the Interior to fracture stimulate the Lewis Shale for tight formation gas in Rio Arriba County, N.M., 55 miles east of Farmington.