As we are still improving our horizontal drilling and production techniques, new shale plays comes into consideration. Horizontal fracking applications for US shale plays are typically at a depth in the range of 5 000 - 8 000ft. Tuscaloosa Shale lies around 10 000 - 15 000ft beneath the surface. In fact, there exist wells drilled down to several miles and then several miles horizontally. So, going deeper would not be the main challenge to shape the future of this play.
There has been exploration activity in Tuscaloosa Shale dated back in 1960s. Drillers ending up with dry wells or very little production (essentially from other formations above and below Tuscaloosa Shale) kept new drillers away. Geological composition is not helping much with fracking, though it helps natural fractures while drilling allowing the high pressure of the formation to be lost before production phase. There are recent reporting of better results with different drilling fluid compositions (which eventually brought up this article). For a little side not for environmentally concerned, that very same geological composition (when completed appropriately) also will act as a self seal for fracking operations.
High oil prices compared to low gas prices already distracted E&P companies from shale gas (although shale gas is intensely supported by government). That would turn out to be good news for Tuscaloosa Shale and alike...
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