cooperative Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation provides wholesale energy to 17 regional member cooperatives in the state. Natural gas Rates In 2015, average natural gas rates per thousand cubic feet were $11.58 for residential, $8.43 for commercial, and $6.91 for industrial customers. Production The Fayetteville Shale, a narrow Mississippian age geological formation that runs across the center of the state, accounts for nearly all of Arkansas natural gas production. Proven reserves of dry natural gas in the state were estimated at 12,789 billion cubic feet in 2014. Marketed natural gas production in Arkansas more than doubled from 2008 to 2010. In 2014, natural gas production amounted to 1.12 million cubic feet, ranking it eighth-highest among fellow states. Arkansas accounted for 4.1 percent of U.S. production of marketed natural gas in 2014. Fracking More than 1,000 minor earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 in Greenbrier led to the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission to close several hydraulic fracturing wells. Scientists at the University of Memphis and the Arkansas Geological Survey determined the quakes were likely caused by underground fracking wastewater disposal. Local residents filed five lawsuits in federal court against Chesapeake Operating Inc and BHP Billiton. Providers Petroleum Production Oil drilling began in south Arkansas in 1920 with the Hunter No. 1 well installed in Ouachita County. Commercial oil production began in 1921 with the S.T. Busey well in Union County near El Dorado. Proven petroleum reserves in the state were estimated at 55 million barrels in 2012, revised up from 40 million barrels in 2011. See also Energy in the United States List of power stations in Arkansas References