[ti:In the US, the New Look of Gas Exploration]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:Economics Report]
[by:WWW.51VOA.COM]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English 
[00:03.19]Economics Report.
[00:05.05]Many people think the search 
[00:07.23]for cleaner energy leads only 
[00:10.00]to renewable resources like sun, 
[00:13.23]wind and water. 
[00:15.44]But it also leads to a fossil fuel. 
[00:19.59]Natural gas is considered 
[00:22.13]the cleanest of the fossil fuels, 
[00:24.73]the fuels created by plant 
[00:27.34]and animal remains 
[00:29.13]over millions of years.
[00:31.43]Burning it releases fewer pollutants 
[00:35.48]than oil or coal. 
[00:37.14]The gas is mainly methane. 
[00:40.26]It produces half the carbon dioxide 
[00:43.49]of other fossil fuels. 
[00:45.86]So it may help cut the production 
[00:49.06]of carbon gases linked to climate change.
[00:53.03]Russia is first in what are called 
[00:56.68]"proved reserves" of natural gas. 
[00:59.96]The United States is sixth. 
[01:03.16]Over the years, big oil 
[01:05.96]and gas companies recovered 
[01:08.60]much of the easily reached 
[01:10.80]supplies of gas in America. 
[01:13.24]They drilled straight down 
[01:15.54]into formations where gas collects. 
[01:19.19]As these supplies were used up, 
[01:22.09]big drillers looked 
[01:24.09]for similar formations 
[01:25.71]in other countries.
[01:27.71]But now the industry 
[01:29.71]is taking a new look. 
[01:31.56]Companies are developing gas supplies 
[01:34.61]trapped in shale rock two to three 
[01:38.25]thousand meters underground. 
[01:40.85]They drill down to the shale, 
[01:43.65]then go sideways and inject 
[01:46.70]high-pressure water, sand 
[01:49.35]or other material into the rock.
[01:52.45]This causes the rock to break, 
[01:55.14]or fracture, releasing the gas. 
[01:58.10]Huge fields of gas shale are believed 
[02:02.37]to lie under the Appalachian Mountains, 
[02:05.41]Michigan and the south-central states.
[02:08.66]Gas shale exploration is being done 
[02:12.95]mainly by small to medium sized companies.
[02:17.06]Eric Potter is a program director 
[02:20.26]in the Bureau of Economic Geology 
[02:23.15]at the University of Texas at Austin.
[02:26.61]ERIC POTTER: "The types of opportunities 
[02:28.25]that are left for natural gas exploration 
[02:31.02]in the U.S. have changed. 
[02:32.46]So it's a different class of resource 
[02:35.65]-- not as easy to develop, 
[02:37.41]and not even recognized 
[02:39.16]as something worth pursuing, say, 
[02:42.19]twenty years ago."
[02:43.57]He says more than half the gas 
[02:45.57]in the United States is now 
[02:47.66]coming from these new reserves.
[02:50.01]But hydraulic fracturing can 
[02:52.91]also produce debate and anger 
[02:55.92]over the risk of groundwater pollution. 
[02:59.26]This method of drilling 
[03:01.45]is not federally supervised 
[03:03.35]under the Safe Drinking Water Act. 
[03:06.40]Some in Congress want to end 
[03:09.20]that exemption from the law.
[03:11.25]Natural gas provides Americans 
[03:14.46]with about one-fourth of their energy.
[03:17.41]And, unlike oil,
[03:19.71]most of it is produced in America. 
[03:22.56]Gas producers invested heavily 
[03:25.77]in reaching new supplies 
[03:27.92]when prices were high. 
[03:29.61]But prices are down sharply now 
[03:33.14]because the recession cut demand for energy. 
[03:37.10]So energy expert Eric Potter says 
[03:40.61]it is too early to know how the new gas 
[03:44.55]shale reserves will affect the market.
[03:47.60]And that's the VOA Special English 
[03:51.00]Economics Report, 
[03:52.75]written by Mario Ritter. 
[03:54.96]I'm Steve Ember.