Why can’t I see the “report?”
There is no summary “report” of the study in the Barnett Shale formation, although the Barnett portion of the shale gas research project funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is complete. To date, there are five journal manuscripts in the peer review process, which are expected to come out in the next six months to a year.
In the process of open peer review of the Barnett Shale Gas Assessment Study (detailed in the study’s press release and accompanying FAQ), some results from the study became public. Some articles began to be published in newspapers without all the facts and the University of Texas at Austin determined that it was in the best public interest to issue and disseminate the detailed press release and FAQ to assure that general audiences could have access to the best information available.
It is also the intention of the project’s research team to publish a summary paper on the Barnett Shale study in a popular industry publication. |
The study, conducted by the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) at The University of Texas at Austin and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, integrates engineering, geology and economics in a numerical model that allows for scenario testing based on many input parameters. In the base case, the study forecasts a cumulative 44 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of recoverable reserves from the Barnett, with annual production declining in a predictable curve from the current peak of 2 TCF per year to about 900 billion cubic feet (BCF) per year by 2030. 
