Oil. It’s all we hear about, talk about, and see. Ding! There goes the price of a barrel of oil going up again. Oil is something that the world runs on, for now at least. There have been wars over it, including the Persian Gulf War, which spiked the price of oil. That is why often governments look to other, cheaper sources of energy, like natural gas.
On this day January 23rd, in 1888, well drillers discover natural gas in Kingsville, Ontario. As of 2006, Kingsville had a tiny population of a little bit fewer than 21,000. So roaming through the fields of this small county, you may see cows grazing amid natural gas pumps in backyards.
The natural gas has been discovered to stem from the Marcellus Formation. The Marcellus Formation is composed of limestone shale, but beneath it lies untapped natural gas – treasure. The amount of natural gas in the Marcellus Formation is said to be enough to supply the entire United States for fourteen years. But because natural gas extraction can be messy, it’s no surprise that it has run into a slew of environmentalist opposition.