Domestic natural gas production was largely stagnant from the mid-1970s until about 2005. However, beginning in the late 1990s, advances linking horizontal drilling techniques with hydraulic fracturing allowed drilling to proceed in shale and other for...
June 4, 2015
minute read time
Domestic natural gas production was largely stagnant from the mid-1970s until about 2005. However, beginning in the late 1990s, advances linking horizontal drilling techniques with hydraulic fracturing allowed drilling to proceed in shale and other formations at much lower cost. The result was a slow, steady increase in unconventional gas production. The Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis (JISEA) designed this study to address four related key questions, which are a subset from the wider dialogue on natural gas; regarding the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with shale gas compared to conventional natural gas and other fuels used to generate electricity; existing legal and regulatory frameworks governing unconventional gas development at federal, state, and local levels, and changes in response to the rapid industry growth and public concerns; natural gas production companies changing their water-related practices; and demand for natural gas in the electric sector respond to a variety of policy and technology developments over the next 20 to 40 years.