Horizontal drilling is a form of directional drilling. In order to tap the natural gas, typically a drill is sent down vertically a distance up to a mile or so underground and then turned at a ninety degree angle horizontally into the shale. By using horizontal drilling the drill bit can penetrates a much greater number of pockets of natural gas than it ever could with vertical drilling. On the average horizontal wells produce three to five times the amount of natural gas from vertical ones.

The shale tends to be located between approximately five and eight thousand feet below ground although it can be at even greater depth.