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 About Terry Engelder (a short bio) |
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 Penn State's Seal Evaluation Consortium (SEC) |
 Structural Geology Class Notes (GEOSC 465) |
 A natural hydraulic fracture driven by gas with the compressibility of methane. The rupture propagated from right to left as indicated by plumose morphology showing two increments with surface roughness increasing until arrest. Natural gas reservoir may hike U.S. output This is the original Penn State press release from January 2008 that first drew public attention to the possibility that the gas resource in the Marcellus was about to have a significant impact on America's energy portfolio STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Geoscientists said a natural gas black shale reservoir in northern Appalachia could conservatively boost proven U.S. reserves by trillions of cubic feet. However, that depends upon gas production companies employing horizontal drilling techniques, said Penn State and State University of New York-Fredonia geologists. "The value of this science could increment the net worth of U.S. energy resources by a trillion dollars, plus or minus billions," said Penn State Professor Terry Engelder. The Marcellus shale field stretches from southern New York, through western Pennsylvania into the eastern half of Ohio and across West Virginia. Engelder and SUNY Professor Gary Lash said the Marcellus shale conservatively contains 168 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place, but the figure might be as high as 516 trillion cubic feet. The researchers said that America (U.S., Canada, and Mexico) currently produces roughly 30 trillion cubic feet of gas annually. Engelder said the technology exists to recover 50 trillion cubic feet of gas just from the Marcellus, making it a super giant gas field. Engelder and Lash will present their findings in San Antonio this spring during the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. |
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Professor of Geosciences Department of Geosciences 334A Deike Building The Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania 16802 engelder@geosc.psu.edu Phone: 814-865-3620 Fax: 814-863-7823 Penn State - B.S. 1968 Yale - M.S. 1972 Texas A&M - Ph.D. 1973 Interests: Structural Geology; Geological Fracture Mechanics; Rock Mechanics; Appalachian Tectonics Outcrops of Marcellus  Link to pictures of Marcellus in outcrop  Peek at a Favorite Geological Story!  Peek at Favorite Structures, Worldwide! |