Haynesville Shale
The Haynesville Shale is a
rock formation mainly composed of consolidated clay-sized particles deposited and buried in northwest Louisiana and East Texas more than 170 million years ago during the
Upper Jurassic age. It is characterized by ultra-low permeability but has a high porosity compared to other shales.
The Haynesville Shale came into prominence in 2008 as a potentially major shale gas resource. Producing natural gas from the Haynesville Shale involves drilling wells from 10,000 feet and to 13,000 feet deep. The formation is deeper in areas nearer the Gulf of Mexico. The Haynesville Shale has recently been estimated to be the largest natural gas field in the contiguous 48 states with an estimated 250 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas. Production has boomed since late March 2008, creating a number of new millionaires in the Shreveport, Louisiana region.
