U.S. Oil and Gas Shale Plays: Bakken, Barnett, Chattanooga

Technology advancements in drilling have helped the gas and oil industry see more profit in recent years and wake up older inactive shale plays. You may know about the Barnetts, Marcelluses and Haynesvilles -- but there are other plays worth knowing about.

Antrim Shale

The late Devonian age formation is located in the Michigan Basin with some of the formation in Indiana and Ohio. Antrim Shale, previously known as St. Cleric, is made up of mainly organic-rich upper and lower black shale with middle gray shale and limestone.

Antrim covers about 39,000 square miles in the counties of Antrim, Crawford, Kalkaska, Missaukee, Montmorency, Oscoda and Otsego. Antrim is shallower than the average play with areas having gas 200 to 2,500 feet below the surface.

Bakken Shale in Williston Basin

Bakken Shale is in North Dakota, and parts of Montana and Canada. If the play keeps up its current production rate, it could lead to North Dakota passing Alaska by the end of the decade. The play also has the potential to produce four billion barrels of oil.

Barnett Shale

Located in Fort Worth basin in Texas going west to Wichita Falls and south to Waco, Barnett Shale has become one of the most well known shale plays in the U.S. because of its large reserves. Barnett has the potential to produce 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and to stay active for 20 to 30 years, or even longer. The bulk of production occurs in Johnson, Tarrant and Parker counties.

Caney Shale

Caney Shale is in Oklahoma's Arkoma Basin, which also has the geographical equivalent of Barnett Shale in Texas.

Chattanooga and Ohio Shales

Chattanooga Shale in Northern Alabama, Northeast Georgia, Southern Kentucky and Eastern Tennessee is also known as Devonian Shale. Located in the southern part of the Appalachian Basin, Chattanooga and Ohio Shales consist of organic-rich black and some gray shale. The shale is 1,000 to 2,000 feet below surface and 20 to 50 feet thick.

Privately owned oil and gas exploration production company Ky-Tenn Oil, Inc. has a majority of its well leases in Chattanooga Shale. Westmont Resources plans to acquire 92 wells over 30,000 acres operated by AG Oil and Gas, a division of Domestic Energy Corp. Westmont estimates the value of the reserves covered in the acquisition is over $200 million.

Check out the other shale plays in Part 2 and Part 3. If you have information about these plays or others, please share them in comments.