Energy Factoid: The US "Shale Revolution" is a truly amazing story of American entrepreneurial spirit and technological innovation

This recently published EIA graph highlights how quickly and dramatically the US energy situation changed due to the tenacity of Texas oilman George Mitchell.

The Energy Information Administration recently published this graph of shale gas production in the U.S. from 2007 through February 2023:

This graph published by the US Energy Information Administration is a fantastic depiction of how the US “shale revolution” started in the early 2000s and took off like a rocket starting in 2007. US Shale gas production went from 5 Bcf/d (billion cubic feet per day) in 2007 to 80 Bcf/d in 2023. That is a compounded annual growth rate of 20.8% per year! Moreover, the growth shows no sign of slowing in spite of the relentless attacks on natural gas that continue to this day.

The “Shale Revolution” began in 1981 when Texas oilman George Mitchell successfully used hydraulic fracturing to complete a vertical natural gas well drilled into the Barnett Shale to a depth of 7,856 feet. This well, the “C.W. Slay No.1” in Wise County, north of Fort Worth, Texas, marked the beginning of one of the most amazing technological revolutions in history.

The United States was transformed from a country that was literally running out of natural gas in 2007 and building LNG (liquified natural gas) facilities to import natural gas to becoming the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2011 and exporting LNG. The same hydraulic fracturing technology was also used to extract crude oil, which propelled the US to overtake Saudi Arabia in 2018 to become the world’s largest producer of crude oil. The US “Shale Revolution” continues to be a truly amazing story.