Notes on Abundance

 WSJ – Thursday April 30 2009

Ben Casselman

Caddo Parish, LA

A massive natural-gas discovery here in northern Louisiana heralds a big shift in the nation’s energy landscape.  After an era of declining production, the US is now swimming in natural gas.  
            Even conservative estimates suggest the Louisian discovery – known as the Haynesville Shale, for the dense rock formation that contains the gas – could hold some 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.  That’s the equivalent of 33 billion barrels of oil, or 18 years’ worth of current US oil production.


Huge new fields also have been found in Texas, Arkansas and Pennsylvania.  One industry-backed study estimates the US has more than 2,200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, enough to satisfy nearly 100 years of current US natural-gas demand.



The difficulty having an 'abundant' mindset is grasping the sheer magnitude of it all -