Editing Natural gas (section)

===Shale gas===
[[File:GasDepositDiagram.jpg|thumb|upright=2.0|The location of [[shale gas]] compared to other types of gas deposits]]
{{main|Shale gas}}

Shale gas is natural gas produced from [[shale]]. Because shale's matrix permeability is too low to allow gas to flow in economical quantities, shale gas wells depend on fractures to allow the gas to flow. Early shale gas wells depended on natural fractures through which gas flowed; almost all shale gas wells today require fractures artificially created by [[hydraulic fracturing]]. Since 2000, shale gas has become a major source of natural gas in the United States and Canada.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mouawad |first=Jad |date=2009-06-17 |title=Estimate places natural gas reserves 35% higher |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/business/energy-environment/18gas.html |access-date=2009-10-25 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> Because of increased shale gas production the United States was in 2014 the number one natural gas producer in the world.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morris Beschloss |date=2014-09-02 |title=U.S. Now World's Leading Natural Gas Producer |url=http://www.desertsun.com/story/money/industries/morrisbeschlosseconomics/2014/09/02/u-s-now-worlds-leading-natural-gas-producer/14976767/ |access-date=2014-11-04 |website=Desert Sun}}</ref> The production of shale gas in the United States has been described as a "shale gas revolution" and as "one of the landmark events in the 21st century."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Qiang |last2=Chen |first2=Xi |last3=Jha |first3=Awadhesh N. |last4=Rogers |first4=Howard |date=February 2014 |title=Natural gas from shale formation – The evolution, evidences and challenges of shale gas revolution in United States |journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews |volume=30 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2013.08.065|bibcode=2014RSERv..30....1W }}</ref>

Following the increased production in the United States, shale gas exploration is beginning in countries such as Poland, China, and South Africa.<ref>{{Cite news |year=2012 |title=Poland Seeks to Boost Shale Gas Industry |work=Financial Times |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/76c6ec14-17ad-11e2-9530-00144feabdc0.html#axzz29foGuSzc |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=2012-10-18 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/VA3Os |archive-date=2022-12-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Catherine T. Yang |date=2012-08-09 |title=China Drills into Shale Gas, Targeting Huge Reserves Amid Challenges |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/08/120808-china-shale-gas/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810174014/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/08/120808-china-shale-gas/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 August 2012 |access-date=2012-10-18 |website=National Geographic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Franz Wild |last2=Andres R. Martinez |date=2012-09-07 |title=South Africa Allows Exploration of Shale Gas Resources |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-07/south-africa-allows-exploration-of-shale-gas-resources.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2012-10-18}}</ref> Chinese geologists have identified the [[Sichuan Basin]] as a promising target for shale gas drilling, because of the similarity of shales to those that have proven productive in the United States. Production from the Wei-201 well is between 10,000 and 20,000 m<sup>3</sup> per day.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zou |first1=Caineng |last2=Dong |first2=Dazhong |last3=Wang |first3=Shejiao |last4=Li |first4=Jianzhong |last5=Li |first5=Xinjing |last6=Wang |first6=Yuman |last7=Li |first7=Denghua |last8=Cheng |first8=Keming |date=December 2010 |title=Geological characteristics and resource potential of shale gas in China |journal=Petroleum Exploration and Development |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=641–653 |doi=10.1016/S1876-3804(11)60001-3 |bibcode=2010PEDO...37..641Z |doi-access=free}}</ref> In late 2020, China National Petroleum Corporation claimed daily production of 20 million cubic meters of gas from its Changning-Weiyuan demonstration zone.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-10-13 |title=Shale gas production soars in SW China base |publisher=China Daily Information Co |agency=ChinaDaily.com.cn |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202010/13/WS5f852220a31024ad0ba7e5bd.html |access-date=2020-12-02}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2021}}