Energy Formations to Watch

Jane Van Ryan
Posted April 29, 2010

We've told you about the Bakken, Marcellus, Haynesville, Bossier, and other U.S. shale formations that are helping to provide much-needed domestic energy supplies. But have you heard of Eagle Ford?

For many years, this brittle shale formation stretching from Mexico across southern Texas has been known to contain large amounts of oil and natural gas, but wells have not been able to produce commercial quantities of energy through conventional vertical drilling.

Recently, drillers have begun applying horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to the formation and are producing significant amounts of oil, natural gas and high-quality natural gas liquids.

According to the Eagle Ford Shale Blog, the CEO of EOG Resources says the Eagle Ford shale may be one of the biggest U.S. oil discoveries in more than 40 years.

Likewise, a formation called the Granite Wash, which extends from the Texas panhandle into Oklahoma, also is attracting the attention of drillers. According to a recent Oil & Gas Investor article, the formation is about 40 percent oil and the rest is high-Btu natural gas. Here again, the secret to unlocking the energy potential of the formation is the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.

Brian Westenhaus of the New Energy and Fuel blog describes the potential significance of these formations in a recent blog post. About the Eagle Ford formation, he writes:

"The mainstream media has not yet reported the full implications of this massive oil and gas field, but it will be major news very soon."

For more information on horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, listen to the audio and read the transcript from a recent conference call.

(Image Source: Eagle Ford Shale Blog)