The myth of shale gas?

The NYT has a front page story on what could be called the myth of shale gas. Their reporting is that energy industry experts and documents suggest that shale gas will not be as economically viable as originally discussed or as currently presented in the popular press. There is less there there. The wells that have been drilled either are not producing at the levels expected, dry-holes, or have a shorter expected life.

This shale gas boom is now being called a potential dot-com bust for energy. Shale gas has to be tempered by the current price environment where gas continues to stay at low prices given the poor post crisis economic environment. Markets move to extremes and the current boom mentality is at extremes, but that does not change the fact that more natural gas is in the ground.