Shale gas is natural gas trapped in a dense rock formation called “shale” which in Quebec is known as The Utica Formation. 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.
To access the natural gas, operators must drill to a depth of approximately 2000 meters. 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 – horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
The Utica Formation — the rock formation we are currently testing — may contain several trillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to meet Quebec’s needs for several decades.