Producing Natural Gas From Shale

eagle-ford-horizontal-drillingShale gas is natural gas trapped inside formations of shale — fine grained sedimentary rocks that can be rich sources of natural gas and petroleum. It was just a few short years ago that much of this resource was considered uneconomical to produce. But American ingenuity and patient research by the Energy Department have led to dynamic breakthroughs in shale gas production.

Source (US Department of Energy)  http://energy.gov/articles/producing-natural-gas-shale