Utica Shale Estimates by USGS Not Accepted by All

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From The Columbus Dispatch:
Most of the time, it would be good news when a government report says there is more than $220 billion worth of oil and natural gas beneath our soil.
But in the Utica shale, the underlying numbers fall short of what some energy companies and industry groups think can be found in an area where drilling has just begun.
The shale play contains 38 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 940 million barrels of oil, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated this month in the first such report on the Utica.
At current market value, the gas is worth $138 billion and the oil $86 billion, a total of $224 b illion. Those are huge numbers, but they are lower than what many industry leaders think is the real value, both in terms of the amount of oil and gas and future market prices.
“Most people believe USGS lowballed this pretty bad,” said Thomas Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. “It also shows you the sensitivity to commodity prices and costs.”
Speaking in Ohio last year, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy said he thought the resources in the Utica could be worth $500 billion.
“I prefer to say half a trillion,” said Aubrey McClendon, who commented at Gov. John Kasich’s energy summit. “It sounds bigger.”
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