Shale Boom: The Barnett Shale Play and Fort Worth
Author
Diana Davids Hinton
Abstract
Shale Boom describes how independent oilman George P. Mitchell developed technology that would unlock trillions of cubic feet of natural gas in the North Texas rock formation known as the Barnett Shale. When he succeeded, other oilmen used it to uncover vast reserves, prompting a gas boom extending through twenty-one North Texas counties including the Fort Worth metropolitan area.
The boom created enormous wealth, but brought drilling rigs into urban neighborhoods and created safety and environmental concerns, especially with respect to the fracking technology necessary to produce gas. As the new technology was adapted to develop shale in other areas, controversy over it became national and global. Overall, however, what happened in the Barnett Shale meant profound changes for the future of petroleum at home and abroad.
About the Author
Diana Davids Hinton is professor of history and holds the J. Conrad Dunagan Chair of Regional and Business History at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. She has a PhD in history from Yale University, and, with Roger M. Olien, is coauthor of six books on the history of the American petroleum industry.
Product details
- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Texas Christian University Press (July 23, 2018)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0875656854
- ISBN-13: 978-0875656854
- Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
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Reader reviews
June Bug
August 26, 2018
If you are interested in Texas oil and gas history, this book would be an excellent addition to your library. Even though it begins with early oil discoveries in Texas, the main content is on the natural gas boom in and around Fort Worth. New technology such as horizontal drilling and fracking not only opened up natural gas reserves, it also allowed drilling in urban areas which presented new challenges to both communities and oil companies. Thoroughly researched and well written, Shale Boom: The Barnett Shale Play and Fort Worth was well worth reading.
Michael R Adamson
(Author, Oil and Urbanization on the Pacific Coast: Ralph Bramel Lloyd and the Shaping of the Urban West)
Another important energy region developed by independent operators
October 14, 2018
Professor Hinton brings to bear all her research on the critical role that independent operators have played in the oil and gas industry in this concise and illuminating study of the development of the Barnett Shale. Using fracking and horizontal drilling techniques, George Mitchell unlocked a gigantic natural gas field in an area that major operators had written off, thereby changing the trajectory of the U.S. oil and gas industry. As a result, America has been able to reduce its dependency on foreign sources of energy. Particularly eye-opening is Hinton’s account of the impact of natural gas extraction on Fort Worth, as development expanded from rural counties into the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolis. Shale Boom is a worthy capstone volume that will generate widespread interest among professional and public audiences.
