Alaska’s been coasting on its stores of easy-access oil, but a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that the state has a motherlode of shale oil and natural gas. You know what (that) means — here come the frackers.
The numbers are impressive: as much as 80 trillion cubic feet of frackable natural gas and up to 2 billion barrels of shale oil. To put that in perspective, the natural gas resources are smaller than the Marcellus Shale, which underlays Pennsylvania and New York, and smaller than Texas’ Haynesville and Eagle Ford shale formations — but it’s still the fourth biggest parcel in the U.S. The oil shale is the second biggest deposit in the country; only North Dakota’s Bakken Formation has more.
If you’re inclined to look on the bright side about oil and gas fracking, there are a couple of positives here. These resources aren’t in developed areas, which minimizes the health risks that come with fracking. And for the most part, these resources are also outside of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, so fracking would be better for the local ecology than drilling for conventional oil in ANWR.
But oil and gas development always carries risks. Plus, if these natural gas resources are developed, Alaska will likely have to liquify the gas in order to ship it off and sell it. Creating liquified natural gas takes a ton of energy and helps wipe out natural gas’ carbon advantage over fuels like coal and oil.
by Sarah Laskow, original title was “Alaska is about to get fracked up”
Related articles
- USGS releases first shale-oil and shale-gas resource potential assessment for the Alaska North Slope (greencarcongress.com)
- The Alaska Oil Compromise? (lezgetreal.com)
- There’s Much Less Shale Gas Available in US Than Previously Thought (treehugger.com)
- Feds Link Water Contamination to Fracking for the First Time (peakenergy.blogspot.com)
- AP Breaking News: EPA Implicates Fracking in Groundwater Pollution at Wyoming Gas Field (thinkprogress.org)
- Six Questions About Fracking Only An ‘Ecofascist Industry Tool’ Would Ask (treehugger.com)
- Situation Normal, All Fracked Up: Obama Embraces Fracking (thinkprogress.org)
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Bill Becker notes, “The most serious threat to U.S. national security and economic health today is not not al Qaeda or a nuclear Iran or the price of gasoline.”
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