Shale Oil and Gas Reserves Upped by 35% in the U.S.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced on Monday that oil and gas reserves in U.S. shale formations are 35 percent greater than projected just two years ago.

The report credited the dramatic increase to new geologic and well-drilling results as well as the use of hydraulic fracturing.

“The use of horizontal drilling in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing has greatly expanded the ability of producers to profitably produce oil and natural gas from low permeability geologic formations, particularly shale formations,” said the report.

In all, the EIA surveyed U.S. shale formations as well as 137 shale formations in another 41 countries. The agency estimated there are 345 billion barrels of technically recoverable shale oil and 7,299 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable world shale gas reserves worldwide.

Read the report HERE.