Where is it?

Natural gas in Quebec is located in the Utica Shale, which is located as deep as 3,300 metres. This 450 million year old formation extends the length of the St. Lawrence River Valley between Quebec City and Montreal in the geographical region called the St. Lawrence Lowlands.

Conservative estimates of the Utica Shale suggest there could be enough natural gas to supply Quebec’s energy needs for over a century and reduce the need to import $2 billion worth of gas from western Canada each year.

This particular resource is known as “shale gas” because the natural gas is found in sedimentary rock formations known as shale. To access the natural gas, operators must drill to a depth of approximately 2,000 metres. Because of the density of the rock, we must fracture the rock to free up the gas it contains. Two technologies are required to develop shale gas - horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.