Below, our Mid Atlantic energy analyst friend makes two points that seem contradictory.  First, he demonstrates through history what we have always known about recovery of shale oil and gas: that the productive lives of shale plays tend to be much shorter those of conventional oil and gas reservoirs.  Second, he emphasizes the incredible productivity impact rapidly developing technology has on shale projects. The first point suggests that the shale era could come and go quickly; the second point promises that technology will sustain shale longer than previously thought. Alaska and [...]