The Barnett Shale Gas Field Near Cleburne Texas

The Barnett shale refers to a rock layer that lies approximately 7000 to 9000 feet under much of north central Texas. Shale is a dense, thick rock that is rich in organic material. That organic material gives off oil and primarily natural gas as it decays.

The Barnett shale formation was the subject of interest for years as oil and gas companies knew that it contained natural gas. However, since shale is such a dense, non porous rock, the gas could not be extracted. New drilling technologies and ways to fracture the shale using high pressure fluids and sand have led to a revolution in energy. The shale gas revolution, as many in the industry have called it, started in the Barnett shale in the 1990′s.

Companies learned that they could drill a horizontal well, up to several thousand feet in length, and produce impressive quantities of natural gas from the Barnett shale. This eventually led to the investigation of other shale formations around the United States, including the now red hot Marcellus shale in Pennsylvania and Haynesville shale in Louisiana.

Cleburne Texas is one of many small towns that have benefited from Barnett shale drilling. It has created thousands of new jobs and injected literally billions of dollars into the economy of the region. In addition to the local and regional benefits the United States now has more domestic energy than it did ten years ago. Shale gas, of which there are many decades of supply left, will go a long way to reducing foreign oil imports.

In Cleburne Texas the Barnett shale has brought increased tax revenues, new schools and a better standard of living for many residents who have found related jobs. Jobs of all kinds have increased as land owners and oil and gas companies spend money in the area.

I first visited Cleburne in 1985 and had a chance to stop and look around this past Christmas, in 2009. The amount of new businesses and nice homes on the edge of town is amazing. All of the oil and gas money from the Barnett shale has had a dramatic effect on Cleburne and other towns in the area such as Weatherford. Some of the high school campuses being built look like colleges they are so large and fancy.

Below is a Google map of Cleburne Texas, an area in the heart of the huge Barnett shale gas field that covers much of Northern Texas.

For more about the Barnett shale see: Barnett shale Website