Where is the Utica basin located?
Background Information about the Utica Shale. The Utica Shale is a massive formation that lies beneath portions of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Tennessee, Virginia and a part of Canada.
How big is the Utica Shale?
170,000 square miles
The Utica Shale is an expansive oil and natural gas field that is in parts of Quebec, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia. At an estimated 170,000 square miles, the Utica Shale is estimated to be nearly twice the size of its more famous neighbor, the Marcellus Shale.
Which state has temporarily banned fracking?
In May 2012, the state of Vermont became the first state to outlaw hydraulic fracturing and New York state, which unlike Vermont has significant gas reserves, banned the practice in December 2014. Maryland introduced a temporary fracking ban in 2015, which was made permanent in 2017.
What is a shale basin?
Shale plays are located within basins, which are large-scale geologic depressions, often hundreds of miles across, which also may contain other oil and natural gas resources.
Where is the Utica Shale located in the United States?
The Utica Shale covers much of the northern Appalachian basin, Cincinnati-Findlay Arches, and Michigan basin and has been productive in Quebec, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Ohio is the primary focus of current activity because this state has the thickest accumulation of the Point Pleasant formation which underlies the Utica Shale.
When did Quebec stop drilling in the Utica Shale?
Unfortunately, Quebec halted large-scale drilling in the province in late 2010 until it completed a Strategic Environmental Assessment in November 2013. New York state has also halted large-scale drilling programs while it debates the efficacy of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing.
Where are the shale plays in the Appalachian Basin?
Stacked plays in the Appalachian Basin produce multiple natural gas pay zones. Figure 1: The green area on this map marks the geographic extent of the Utica Shale. Included in this extent are two laterally equivalent rock units: the Antes Shale of central Pennsylvania and Point Pleasant Formation of Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
How is vitrinite reflectance in the Utica Shale?
The oil window has average R₀ values of 0.6–1.1% vitrinite reflectance. The wet gas window ranges from 1.1–1.4% vitrinite reflectance, the dry gas window ranges from 1.4–3.2% vitrinite reflectance. East of the production area, the Utica play becomes over mature with R₀ values up to 4.93%.