Work was concentrated on the Devonian shales in 3 Ohio counties: Licking, Lawrence, and Meigs. The Devonian shale was determined to be a multi-porosity system, with a 1% matrix porosity and 10/sup -5/ to 10/sup -6/ md. There is a qualitative relation between the stress-ratio and the intensity of fracture spacing. Five well stimulation techniques were evaluated: conventional well-bore shooting (r/sub w/ = 1.8 ft), an extensive radial stimulation (k/sub w/ = 30 ft), a small hydraulic fracture of 300 ft half-length, a large hydraulic fracture of 1000 ft half-length, and a combined radial stimulation and hydraulic fracture. Three of the six partitioned areas could contain up to 3.6 TcF of Devonian shale gas reserves. 43 figures, 11 tables.