The shale gas exploration and development is now a delicate and controversial subject. It is often assumed that unconventional exploration and extraction automatically brings prosperity for local, national and regional economies. In this paper, we argue that shale gas development requires a contextualized understanding of regional issues. We are also trying to identify the opportunities and the...

Unconventional gas resources from tight-sand and shale gas reservoirs have received great attention in the past decade around the world because of their large reserves and technical advances in developing these resources. As a result of improved horizontaldrilling and hydraulic-fracturing technologies, progress is being made toward commercial gas production from such reservoirs, as demonstrated...

Unconventional oils mainly heavy oils, extra heavy oils and bitumens represent a significant share of the total oil world reserves. Oil companies have expressed interest in unconventional oil as alternative resources for the energy supply. These resources are composed usually of viscous oils and, for this reason, their use requires additional efforts to guarantee the viability of the oil recove...

Oil derived from oil shale deposits is known to contain many organic complexes. The formation of carcinogenic hydrocarbons is temperature-dependent and is associated with retorting of the oil. Furthermore, oil shale is a rich source of inorganic elements such as the metals. Biological studies have demonstrated that concentrated extract of tars from combustion of shale oil are carcingenic to the...

Efficient use of water, particularly in the western U.S., is an increasingly important aspect of many activities including agriculture, urban, and industry. As the population increases and agriculture and energy needs continue to rise, the pressure on water and other natural resources is expected to intensify. Recent advances in technology have stimulated growth in oil and gas development, as w...

Landslides along the Missouri and Kansas rivers will affect existing structures and potential development in the Kansas City metropolitan area. A pilot landslide-mapping project was conducted in the vicinity of Atchison, Kansas, to inventory existing landslides and determine the factors that caused them. Landslides are generally controlled by the slope morphology, geology, soils, and moisture c...

Shale gas is currently being explored in Europe as an alternative energy source to conventional oil and gas. There is, however, increasing concern about the potential environmental impacts of shale gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing (fracking). In this study, we focussed on the potential impacts on regional water resources within the Baltic Basin in Poland, both in terms of quantity and qua...

BACKGROUND The United States has experienced a boom in natural gas production due to recent technological innovations that have enabled this resource to be produced from shale formations. OBJECTIVES We reviewed the body of evidence related to exposure pathways in order to evaluate the potential environmental public health impacts of shale gas development. We highlight what is currently known ...

Multiple-factor analysis and optimization play a critical role in the the ability to maximizethe stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) and the success of economic shale gas production. In this paper, taking the typical continental naturally fractured silty laminae shale in China as anexample, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize multiple hydraulic fracturing parameters to max...