In the mineral and gas industry, people know of the Barnett Shale, a formation of sedimentary rocks in the state of Texas. It stretches from Dallas to the city of Fort Worth. What is the most important fact about the Barnett Shale, however, is not its geological standing. It is its significance and contribution to the economy.

The Barnett Shale is said to be the largest onshore natural gas source in the United States. It holds around 2.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and is said to hold around 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resources. Oil is also present in the Barnett Shale, enough to be commercially viable for the drilling companies.

The drilling companies and the oil and gas market aren't the only ones to benefit from the discovery of the Barnett Shale. The residents of Texas who live on the path of the Barnett Shale also got their share of fortune. The Barnett Shale is responsible for creating permanent jobs for thousands of people in Texas, and has also contributed a lot of revenues to the local governments in the state. The terms of the mineral rights lease also provide royalty payments for homeowners.

In the past, it was hard and almost impossible to extract natural gas in commercial quantities from the Barnett Shale. It is only with the technology today of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling that the extraction of the gas from the Barnett Shale became easier and faster. More developments are being planned. Gas pipeline networks that are used to transport the gas is being expanded more and more.

Presently, though the presence of rapidly growing urban areas are limiting extraction efforts. There are portions of the Barnett Shale that are under these areas. The local governments are still researching for some means to drill and extract the resources without disrupting the urban life. The weight of all the drilling work is no joke either. There are some rural parts of Texas that cannot handle all the heavy equipment that can cause damages to the roads and land.

In 2008, the lease terms have improved. Homeowners are offered $25,000 per acre and a 25-26.2% royalty for the mineral rights.

The Barnett Shale is now a major producer of natural gas. Its success has also led companies to find more sources of gas, oil, and minerals across the country. Other notable discoveries include the Antrim Shale in Michigan, the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas, the Marcellus Shale in Appalachia, the Woodford Shale in Oklahoma, the Ohio Shale in Kentucky and West Virginia, the Haynesville Shale in Louisiana and East Texas, and the Bakken Shale in Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan.

The success of these shale gas prospects have also encouraged many people to look into their properties and see whether they can obtain ownership of mineral rights. People with mineral rights ownership get the royalties cited in the lease terms and be rich just by leasing mineral rights to the drilling companies.

The Barnett Shale certainly won't be the only successful oil and gas source of the country. With growing demand for oil and gas in the market, the industry is also showing no signs of any decline.