The promise of remarkably abundant natural gas in the US appears to be as real as the industry has claimed, with the latest estimates from the country’s scientific body charged with evaluating recoverable gas reserves issuing a blockbuster upgrade.

The new recoverable reserves number is the highest in the 48 years the Potential Gas Committee, a nonprofit organization of sector experts hosted by the Colorado School of Mines, has been issuing its evaluations. The last record number was issued in 2010 as the full scale of the impact of hydraulic fracturing technology was just making itself felt across the entire economy, and the Committee’s perceived uncertainty about how accessible reserves would actually be following the issuance of that record number caused consternation that industry had been overselling the potential of the fuel. Keep reading →