The Barnett Shale, discovered in the 1950s, is a source of natural gas extending over as many as 21 North Texas Counties. At more than 6,000 square miles, it is the second largest on-shore gas field in production in the United States.
With widespread speculation that the shale contains as much as 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, Barnett Shale may well be the largest on-shore oil field in the United States.
Until the 1980s, the Barnett Shale was cost prohibitive to mine, but recent advancements in technology and surges in price have yielded an increase in drilling.
Operators have publicly speculated that as much as ½ the land in some North Texas counties will have wells. However, development of the region, including a recent influx of people into the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex make this estimate unlikely.
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