Marcellus Shale Fracking – Transloading Bulk Materials for Marcellus Shale Drilling

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The Marcellus gas pocket is the largest shale rock formation in North America. This formation is the sediment left over after the Devonian period 400 million years ago when the Appalachian basin was a seabed. This is when the sediment layer was placed there that has developed into the limestone and shale rock formation left over from the fossil remains of animals and the plant that that lived in the oxygen deprived waters.

Officially this region has been given to names of the Marcellus shale region and the Devonian shale region. The latter of the two is on the western edge of the deposit. These shale rock deposits reach as far north as under Great Lake Erie and to the south as far as Mississippi. To the east it can be found in New York down the east coast to Virginia and to the west in the states of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.

The largest deposit of this trapped oil and natural gas is in the state of Pennsylvania, but almost the entire state of West Virginia is also a prime place for the extraction of these needed energy reserves. To gauge the vastness of the natural gas exploration that is currently going on in Pennsylvania, there are 8280 permitted wells exploring for natural gas in the month of October, 2011.

To extract this trapped natural gas and oil from the shale rock bed, the use of hydrofracking is required. This is because the energy reserves as encapsulated in the rock bed and not in an open reservoir as many of the easy to extract sources in the past that have already been tapped were found.

To make the most out of each well and the hydrofracking procedure, the process of horizontal drilling is now being used. This allows for a greater area of the shale rock bed to be directly exposed to the pressure of the fracking process. By proceeding in this manner, more of the shale rock bed can be fractured releasing a larger amount of trapped oil and natural gas for extraction at each well.

With the wells that have hit natural gas, this creates a larger gas pocket under the ground for a quicker recovery of this needed energy supply. This reduces the number of wells needed in the area to extract the maximum amount of the trapped energy at a lower cost.

The Marcellus gas pocket created by each of the hydrofracking procedures being done is part of the largest source of domestic natural gas production in existence today. Without this energy reserve being exploited, the cost of natural gas to the American consumer would increase dramatically.

Related articles

• Shale Gas Fracking (transloading.org)
• Marcellus Shale Natural Gas (transloading.org)
• Prediction for drilling in 2012: Production up; fewer leases (goerie.com)

The Marcellus shale Pennsylvania deposit is one of the, if not the riches energy reserve in continental America. While this deposit can be found in surrounding states, it is nearest the surface in Pennsylvania which makes it more cost effective to extract. This shale rock layer is located at the surface and up to 9000 feet deep in some areas.

For land owners in Pennsylvania they should be aware that 60% of the state is over the Marcellus shale deposit. This includes all of the northern and western portions of the state. Another fact that the land owners should be aware of is that all mining contracts between the land owners and the energy companies are private and not regulated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its Department of Environmental Protection.

The exploration for the recovery of energy from this region mainly started in 2008 when 195 wells were established. That number has grown to a total of 963 wells in 2009 and as of May 2010 there were 1327 recovering domestic energy for the American market. These wells are being leased by the energy producers which is bring in a steady revenue stream to many areas of Pennsylvania that is helping these areas to recover from the tough economic climate we are all facing.

Oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania are nothing new. The very first well was drilled in 1859 and since that time the total number of wells that has been drilled over exceeded 350,000. A majority of these wells were drilled to extract the easily recoverable energy reserves. This is different than the wells being drilled for energy extraction in the Marcellus shale layer where hydro fracturing and frac sand must be used to release the trapped oil and natural gas.

Thanks to the Marcellus shale Pennsylvania deposit, the American public has a domestic source of oil and natural gas they can depend on for the next 100 years. Each one of these wells is helping to curb the American’s economy from its dependency of foreign energy suppliers.

TRAN-Z, the sponsor of this Blog facilitates goods and materials for Marcellus shale fracking.

American natural gas shale deposits are in several regions of the nation. The best known is the Marcellus Shale Deposit that covers the states of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. To a lesser extent, the states Maryland and Virginia, along with Lake Erie, also have a limited amount under them.

Right next to the Marcellus deposit is the Devonian Shale Deposit that reaches from Ohio in the north, to Tennessee in the south. These two together are the largest deposits in the nation, with estimated 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas deposits in the shale rock bed.

The second largest region is the Barnett Shale Deposit in northern Texas. This deposit covers 17 counties including the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. Other significant deposits are the Haynesville Shale Deposit in the northwestern portion of Louisiana, and Fayetteville Shale Deposit in Arkansas.

There are other smaller deposits in Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and Michigan, each one with proven reserves that is currently being tapped. What has slowed the recovery of these deposits is the drop in the price of natural gas.

The decline in prices is not due to a reduction in the demand for this domestic natural resource, but the plentiful supply of it. This in turn has reduced the profit potential of recovering this type of deposit.

Unlike other reservoirs, horizontal drilling must occur with fracking the wells to recover natural gas from the shale deposits. This has slowed the recovery of the natural gas from these regions slightly.

European countries are starting to venture into the US market with interest in our natural gas deposits. Their reliance on Russian gas has been problematic for years, so a switch to America is gaining strength.

This should not be a worry since the American natural gas shale deposits are large enough to last America with over 100 years of this energy reserve, we will not be running out any time soon.

When you need transloading services for your material, you will require a company that has experience and the necessary skills required to do this job right the first time.

Bulk transloading takes special equipment to make this transfer from train to truck, time and cost efficient. This can only be done with a dedicated transfer station that is manned by experienced personnel.

Working with train and rail services that have long term leases on the rail they use is another important factor on having your product delivered on time, every time. Along with engines, the right type of rail cars that are staffed by trusted employees that are well trained is another key component.

Due to scheduling and demand of train and freight services, more than one is needed to help keep the shipments moving smoothly to their destinations. This is unlike calling a trucking firm that can respond at a moment’s notice and arrive on public roads. The trains have to lease their rails or get permission to travel on rails they do not own. This can cause delays in the delivery of the goods they are transporting.

Working with a transloading service company that has their own station and is partnered with several different train companies is the best way to ensure your product is delivered on time every time.

This is what TranZ Bulk Material Transfer has to offer the energy sector for their transport needs. They have affiliations with multiple rail services that have the rail cars that are made for the quick transfer of the sand that is vital for the hydraulic fracturing process in the natural gas and oil industry. Their station is manned 24/7 by long term employees who are trained in the safest and quickest means to get the materials they work with to their destination the fastest.

When it comes to transloading services in Pennsylvania and New York the leader in the industry is TranZ.

When Marcellus Shale drillers decide on a location to drill for natural gas, they have the latest scientific data to assist them. The process they also use will be a newly developed technology that was designed specifically for the type of land formation and deposits that exist in the Marcellus Shale formation. This new method is called horizontal drilling.

Horizontal Drilling

Horizontal drilling was developed between 1985 and 1993. With the aid of directional boring, wells can now be drilled to a specific level, and then turned horizontal for a greater chance of extracting a natural gas deposit. This technology has the capability to reach depths up to 15,000 feet. The deepest known gas deposit in the Marcellus Shale formation is only 7000 feet deep.

Because of this new advancement, many companies from around the world have made investments in the area of the Marcellus Shale deposits. This not only includes Americans, but also Canadian and Indian companies. The states of Pennsylvania and West Virginia have the greater number of wells at this time and the state of New York is in the process of drilling for the gas deposits that are located in their state.

For those workers with drilling experience, the jobs are mainly in Pennsylvania. In 2008, 29,000 jobs were added related to the Marcellus shale formation. In 2009, 48,000 more were added, and in 2010, 107,000 are expected to be open. Less than 1% of those jobs will be directly involved with the drilling operations. The rest are in supporting the crews of the many wells that are being operated and planned.

What is known is that the numbers of Marcellus Shale drillers that will be needed per well are averaging 11.53 full time employees. What is for sure is that there will be work in these region connected to the Marcellus shale formation for at least the next 100 years.
This process of natural gas drilling is good for the employment economy as well as supplying energy needs.

Our Transloading blog sponsor is TranZ and they are in the support business of supplying bulk materials and and transportation of the unique materials needed in this industry.

Click this link to read more about the Marcellus Shale Region