Marcellus Shale Field - Natural Gas Formation Location Marcellus Shale Formation States: New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia
Marcellus Shale Play is located in the following counties: PA: Erie,
Warren, McKean, Crawford, Mercer, Vanango, Lawrence, Forest, Clarion, Butler, Beaver, Armstrong, Elk, Clearfield, Indiana,
Cambria, Somerset, Westmoreland, Fayette, Allegheny, Washington, Greene, Bedford, Potter, Tioga, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne,
Pike, Lycoming, Sullivan, Wyoming View Map. Looking for a Job in the Marcellus Shale? View Here
History and Facts: The Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Field Formation,
which extends through Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia, is a part of the Devonian Black Shale Field. The Marcellus Shale play is hinted to hold a huge amount of
natural gas, causing companies to go on a gigantic mineral rights land grab! This shale rock formation was named after the town of Marcellus, New York due to the outcrop formation
in the shale. The Marcellus shale extends over 575 miles and has a thickness of up to 900 feet. Also known
as the Pennsylvania Shale ( or New York Shale, West Virginia Shale, Ohio Shale ) this geologic natural gas shale
was reported to hold more then 1.9 trillion cubic feet back in 2002. This did not cause much excitement because the
amount that could actually be extracted was low. Combined with the fact that natural gas prices were very low, drilling in
the Marcellus Shale was not economical. One company, Range Resources, showed up to Marcellus Shale
back in 2003 in hopes to extract natural gas. Range drilled a well in Washington County, PA and found that this natural
gas well was very promising. Like many companies now a days, Range Resources used techniques and experience from
the Barnett Shale in Texas for the Marcellus Shale natural gas field. The first well that produced gas in Marcellus Shale
for Range was hit in 2005. Range Resources ( RRC ) now has drilled over 100 natural gas wells on their 900,000 acres in
the Marcellus Shale play. See more about companies drilling at Marcellus Shale below.
A new survey issued
by Terry Englander, a geoscience professor at Pennsylvania State University, and Gary Lash, a geology professor at the State
University of New York at Fredonia, surprised everyone as these men think the Marcellus Natural Gas Shale Field could
hold up to 500 trillion cubic feet of Natural Gas. 50 TFC would be a realistic amount that could be recovered.
All of this is made possible by more advanced technology which includes fracturing & drilling techniques
involved with horizontal drilling, thus making the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Field very valuable! The price
of Natural Gas has risen sharply over the years and these new techniques allow companies to drill better and faster.
A horizontal well in the Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and West Virginian Shales back in 1970 might have taken up to
3 months to drill. Now a rough estimate is 30-45 days.
The United States produces roughly 30 trillion
cubic feet ( 30 TFC ) of natural gas every year. If research reports are correct and the Marcellus Shale holds
50 TFC's of recoverable natural gas, this would put the Appalachian Basin Natural Gas Shale into a different league.
The Marcellus Shale Deposit would be dubbed a natural gas super giant and would be one of the biggest natural gas fields
in the United States. The Haynesville Shale is a similar Natural Gas Shale.
How is Natural Gas extracted from Marcellus Shale? Energy
companies use a new drilling technique called horizontal drilling. First the drilling company drills vertical, and
then drills horizontally. The problem with Horizontal Drilling is the cost. A vertical drilled well in the
Marcellus Shale Zone costs around $810,000 while a horizontal drilled well at Marcellus will cost you roughly 3-5 Million
Dollars. In the Marcellus Shale, a horizontal well is drilled using multi stage fracturing techniques ( frac jobs ).
Large amounts of water are combined with sand which are blasted at the shale in order to get a fracture. This
contaminated water is then pumped back out and stored. There have been some environmental issues with regard to the
Marcellus Shale.(See Below).
Marcellus
Shale in 2010: During 2009, the Marcellus Shale fell victim to low natural gas prices due to the economic
recession. The drilling companies below really cut back on the number of active drilling rigs but we saw a noticeable
tick-up in December 2009. We also saw a major aquisition in the Oil & Gas sector with Exxon Mobil ( XOM
) buying XTO Energy ( XTO ). Cold weather and snow has been gripping the northeast which caused Natural Gas prices to hit $6.
I am expecting the Marcellus Shale to really come alive again during 2010. Natural Gas prices
have the opportunity to hit $8-9 toward the end of 2010 as the demand quickly comes back. This will spark even
more activity as far as land leases and drilling go. If you are investing in the stock market, I really like Chesapeake
Energy ( CHK ) below $30 in 2010.
The recent rise
in the price of natural gas has caused a spike in the amount of drilling in the Marcellus Shale and the other
shale formations below. Production remains steady as we head into 2010. When you see natural gas prices
move above $7 again, the drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation will really come alive! Don't
forget to check out these other shale plays just as hot as Marcellus. Haynesville Shale -Horn River Shale - Bakken Oil Shale - Fayetteville Shale - Brazil Oil Field - Woodford Shale - Barnett Shale - Chattanooga Shale - Utica Shale
Pennsylvania Warns Gas Companies to respect Natural Treasures at Marcellus
Shale:
Pennsylvania has an estimated 2.8 trillion cubic feet of proved natural gas reserves in
the ground awaiting development, according to the Pennsylvania Oil and Gas Association. Developing the Marcellus Shale
formation requires large amounts of fresh water to fracture the shale in order to extract the natural gas. Recent inspections
by DEP and its partners have uncovered violations that threaten the state's water resources and its environment. Department
of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty had this to say:
"Over the past few weeks, DEP
inspectors have observed a number of violations at drilling sites operated by companies that were new to Pennsylvania,"
said McGinty. "In light of those discoveries, we acted quickly to stop this harmful activity and felt it was necessary
to bring all current and potential operators together to meet directly with the agencies responsible for protecting our water
and other natural resources." Full Article Here
Companies Involved in the Marcellus Shale - Marcellus
Shale Stocks
- Chesapeake Energy CHK - Marcellus Shale (West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York):With approximately 1.55
million net acres, an increase of approximately 50,000 net acres from the 2010 first quarter, Chesapeake is the largest leasehold
owner, second-largest producer and most active driller in the Marcellus Shale play that spans from northern West Virginia
across much of Pennsylvania into southern New York. On its Marcellus leasehold, Chesapeake estimates it has approximately
460 bcfe of proved reserves (based on the 10-year average NYMEX strip prices at June 30, 2010) and 34.1 tcfe of risked unproved
resources. As a result of continued strong production results, the company has recently raised its average estimated
ultimate recovery (EUR) on its Marcellus Shale acreage by approximately 24% from 4.2 bcfe per well to 5.2 bcfe per well.
During
the 2010 second quarter, Chesapeake’s average daily net production of 105 mmcfe in the Marcellus increased approximately
65% over the 2010 first quarter and approximately 250% over the 2009 second quarter. The company’s average daily
net production rate in the Marcellus in July 2010 was approximately 130 mmcfe and the company anticipates adding more than
60 mmcfe of net production in the West Virginia portion of the play in the second half of 2010 once new natural gas processing
facilities become operational. Chesapeake is currently drilling with 26 operated rigs in the Marcellus and anticipates
operating an average of approximately 28 rigs in 2010 to drill approximately 150 net wells. During the 2010 second quarter,
Chesapeake received approximately $144 million of drilling and completion carries from its Marcellus joint venture partner
Statoil (NYSE:STO, OSE:STL). From July 2010 through 2012, Chesapeake should receive approximately $1.7 billion in additional
drilling carries from STO.
Three notable recent wells completed by Chesapeake in the Marcellus are as follows:
The
Mowry 1H in Bradford County, PA achieved a peak 24-hour rate of 9.9 million cubic feet of natural gas (mmcf) per day;
The
Przybyszewski 4H in Susquehanna County, PA achieved a peak 24-hour rate of 9.7 mmcf per day; and
The White 2H in
Susquehanna County, PA achieved a peak 24-hour rate of 9.0 mmcf per day.
If you have a lot of land in the
Marcellus Shale fairway and want to sell your mineral rights, give Chesapeake a call. More on CHK
.
- XTO Energy XTO XTO Energy buys Marcellus Shale stake from Linn Energy LINE - CEO in last earnings call --If you look at kind of how we looked at Linn it was 145 Bs of reserves that we
quoted. Linn had about 200 Bs on their own reserve report. And if you just look at that, that means in general, if you believed
Linn then we paid $3 in them with almost nothing for the Marcellus,
and if you look at what we did, it's something like a thousand or so dollars an acre for the Marcellus. All of those were very low cost for entry points into one of these kind
of plays. I mean so we don't need the Marcellus
to pan out to be a fantastic thing, we think it probably will and that's why we are in this early. XTO has acreage in southwest Pennsylvania and north West
Virginia which there is alot of good well data coming out. XTO Energy now has 280,000 Marcellus Shale Acres. XTO May 2009
Update: Last but not least, Marcellus Shale.
We are running one rig. We are currently completing our first horizontal and drilling our second, we’ve almost tidied
our second and they look good, shows look very good, we are excited about them. And so, we think we’ll get our 10 to
15 horizontals drilled and if we can, we will bring a second rig into the Marcellus in the back half of the year and take it up to Northeast Pennsylvania. We are excited about
what we are seeing in the Marcellus well. No
well data at this point, but you should see something in the next quarter. More on XTO
- EOG Resources EOG - Regarding the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Play, in total, we have 220,000 net acres. On our previous quarterly
call we indicated we proven up about 40,000 acres in Bradford County by drilling two wells with two net Bcf of reserves each.
Additionally, we recently proved up additional acreage, we own via an NFG farmout by successfully testing the COP 409 #3H
well in Elk County which we believe is a 1.6 Bcf net well. We plan to operate one rig in Pennsylvania this year.
More on EOG
- Rex Energy REXX - Butler County, Pennsylvania Marcellus Project Area -
For the year to date, the Rex Energy has drilled nine horizontal wells with average lateral extensions of 3,400 feet. Of the
wells drilled, four have been completed and the company expects to complete the remaining wells during the third quarter 2010
prior to the commissioning of its cryogenic gas processing plant. The company expects to have all 10 of its originally planned
2010 horizontal wells in the county drilled and completed at the time the cryogenic gas processing plant commences operations.
Most recently, the company completed the R. Knauf #1H and #2H wells, which are currently being flow tested with approximately
8% of the water returned to surface. To date, the wells have tested at a combined peak rate of 6.7 MMcfe over a 24-hour period.
Progress continues on the company's jointly owned cryogenic processing plant in Butler County. The air permit needed
to complete construction of the facility is currently in the 30-day public comment period, and to date, Rex Energy has not
been notified that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has received any comments. The company anticipates that the Commonwealth
will issue the air permit in mid-August 2010, with plant operations expected to commence in October 2010. Rex Energy expects
the facility will be capable of processing 20 to 25 MMcfe per day at start-up and 40 MMcfe per day by January 2011. In anticipation
of continued activity in Butler County, Rex Energy has begun active planning discussions with their midstream joint venture
partner concerning the addition of a second cryogenic gas processing plant in the project area.
Williams Joint Venture
Marcellus Project Areas
In Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Williams completed the Slavek Trust #1H during the quarter,
and the well's 24-hour peak rate of production was reported at 4.9 MMcf per day. There are two additional Slavek Trust wells
drilled and awaiting completion. Williams has moved their rig in this project area to the Uschak 2 pad and is currently drilling
the second of five wells planned on this pad.
In Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, the company's jointly owned gathering
system remains under construction and the company now anticipates putting the two jointly owned Alder Run wells into sales
in September 2010. Rex Energy owns a 50% working interest in these wells and expects that the combined gross production from
these wells to be six to seven MMcf per day.
- Southwest Energy SWN - At June 30, 2010, Southwestern held approximately 150,800 net undeveloped
acres in Pennsylvania under which it believes the Marcellus Shale is prospective. In July,
the company placed the Greenzweig #1-H well, its first horizontal well which was drilled in 2008, on production and it is
currently producing approximately 3.3 MMcf per day without compression into the pipeline with just over 3,000 psi of flowing
tubing pressure. The Greenzweig #1-H well was drilled in late-2008 and had a 2,945-foot horizontal lateral and was fractured
stimulated with slickwater in 7 stages. In 2010, the company has drilled 4 horizontal wells, all of which are currently being
scheduled to be completed in September. Approximately 20 wells are expected to be drilled by Southwestern in 2010.
Marcellus Shale Map - Marcellus Shale Fairway
Marcellus Shale
Marcellus Shale Jobs
- Anadarko Petroleum APC - - Marcellus Shale: At
the end of the 2nd quarter, Anadarko was operating five rigs and participating in an additional 15 non-operated rigs.
The company spud 13 operated wells and completed three wells during the quarter. Record gross production of almost 140 MMcf/d
from 35 wells was achieved. Currently, more than 100 wells have been drilled and are awaiting either completion or connection
to the gathering systems. The company completed and is currently testing its first well of the far-western area in Centre
County, Penns. The well flowed to sales with a peak 24-hour test rate of 7.8 MMcf/d with approximately 4,000 PSI flowing tubing
pressure. More on APC
- Range Resources RRC - Range Resources's Marcellus Shale Division continues to exceed expectations.
Current net production is approximately 160 Mmcfe per day, ahead of its mid-year target. Drilling rigs are becoming more efficient
as are completions and production operations. These increased efficiencies and cost improvements are resulting in improved
economics and rates of return. These efficiencies, coupled with being ahead of schedule on production volumes, are allowing
us to add an additional $210 million of capital to the Marcellus project in 2010. The additional capital, in turn, will help
us to accelerate the Company's net asset value of the Marcellus Shale play.
Pipeline, compression and plant processing
infrastructure capacity in the Marcellus is on schedule. In the southwest portion of the play, an additional 30 Mmcfe per
day of capacity is scheduled to be complete in the fourth quarter of this year and an additional 150 Mmcfe per day is scheduled
for first quarter 2011. This processing capacity coupled with additional dry gas taps will position Range well in 2011 and
beyond for increased production in the southwest portion of the play. With regard to the northeast portion of the play, solid
progress is being made on the first phase of the Lycoming County pipeline project which is scheduled to begin flowing gas
on or before year end 2010. Firm take away capacity has been contracted for both the southwest and northeast areas to allow
our Marcellus Shale production to flow on time and within our forecasts.
As we ramp up development in the Marcellus,
our technical team continues to make significant progress. Our production curves as updated and presented with zero time plots
on our website illustrate continued improvements in well performance and demonstrate the progress that our technical team
is making. Range previously announced an encouraging test of its first Upper Devonian Shale horizontal well. Given the Upper
Devonian's prevalence across our acreage position, we are very encouraged regarding the increased unproved resource potential
this well implies on our existing acreage in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Marcellus Shale team plans two additional Upper
Devonian test wells in 2010. Range plans to spud another Utica Shale well early in the first quarter of 2011. More on RRC
St Mary Land and Exploration SM - St. Mary has drilled and completed its first two horizontal wells in
this program. The wells are the Potato Creek 1H and the Potato Creek 3H (both SM 70% WI). These wells are located in McKean
County, Pennsylvania. The Company is currently laying a temporary sales pipeline to test the first well. As a reminder, St.
Mary has a total acreage position of approximately 41,000 net acres in McKean and Potter Counties in north central Pennsylvania.
- Unit Corp UNT- In the Marcellus
Shale, we have now participated in two vertical wells located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The Shale (inaudible) segments
in these wells came in as expected and completion work on these two wells should begin mid to late May. In addition, we'll
participate in one more vertical well and two horizontal wells during the remainder of 2009 at approximate net cost of about
$8 million. Anticipated first gas wells from these wells should occur later this year.
In
this Somerset area we own approximately 180,000 gross and 55,000 net acres.
Exxon Mobile XOM - XOM has a small position in the Marcellus Shale. Exxon has 19,400 acres in Lycoming & Tioga Counties in Pennsylvania
Exxon Mobile August 2010 Update - In the Marcellus, we
have six wells on production, with an addition five wells ready for tie-in, and three wells waiting on completion.
Talisman Energy TLM - In Pennsylvania, our Marcellus shale program is on target for exit
volumes of 250-300 mmcf/d by year end. We brought 22 wells on-stream and, at the end of April, we have an inventory of 41
wells, which have been drilled and are waiting on completion. Production averaged 85 mmcf/d for the quarter, reaching 150
mmcf/d at the end of April.
Penn Virginia PVA - Appalachia / Marcellus Shale – During
the second quarter of 2010, we did not drill any wells in Appalachia, but we expect to resume drilling in the Marcellus Shale
in the late third quarter to early fourth quarter. We anticipate drilling up to two horizontal Marcellus Shale wells during
2010. In addition, we continue to add to our acreage position in the Marcellus Shale, increasing our acreage to approximately
58,000 net acres. Overall, in 2010 we expect to spend up to $63 million adding leasehold in the Marcellus Shale.
Ultra Petroleum UPL - UPL is very active in the Marcellus Formation - During the first six months of 2010, Ultra
participated in the drilling of 64 gross (38 net) horizontal Marcellus wells in Pennsylvania. In the second quarter of 2010,
Ultra drilled 37 gross (22 net) Pennsylvania horizontal Marcellus wells. During the second quarter of 2010, the company's
horizontal wells averaged approximately 4,400 feet lateral length and 12 frac stages. In the first half of 2010, the company
brought on line 21 gross (14 net) horizontal Marcellus wells. Ultra connected 20 gross (13 net) new horizontal Marcellus wells
to sales during the second quarter of 2010. Ultra's net production in Pennsylvania averaged 33 MMcf per day, while reaching
a peak of 46 MMcf per day in the quarter-ended June 30, 2010. As of the end of the second quarter of 2010, there were 36 gross
(22 net) horizontal Marcellus wells producing in Pennsylvania. The early production performance of these wells continues to
exceed the company's current type-curve expectations. To date, the average daily production rate on day 60 is over 3.0 MMcf
per day among all of the horizontal wells producing currently. Ultra continues to swiftly incorporate information gained to
enhance future well performance.
Ultra Petroleum continues to expand its leasehold position in the preferred Pennsylvania
Marcellus Shale. The company now owns approximately 470,000 gross (255,000 net) acres in north central Pennsylvania. In the
first half of 2010, the company increased its net acreage position by over 50 percent, adding approximately 85,000 net acres.
Ultra started the year with approximately 320,000 gross (170,000 net) acres. The largely contiguous acreage was strategically
added to the company's core position encompassing Tioga, Lycoming, Potter, Clinton and Centre counties.
- Equitable Resources EQT - Geologists familiar with the Appalachian Basin have known for years about
the Devonian black shale called the Marcellus. The Marcellus Shale is organically rich shale that lies nearly a mile or more
beneath the surface throughout much of Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. The Marcellus Shale has in recent
years emerged as a potential major contributor to the natural gas supply of the United States - large enough to be spoken
of as a "super giant" gas field. With approximately 500,000 acres, more than 3.9 Tcfe 3P reserves and 11Tcfe of
unrisked reserve potential in the Marcellus Fairway, EQT is a leading player in the Marcellus Shale.
EQT drilled 21 horizontal Marcellus wells in the first quarter and is on track to drill 100 horizontal
Marcellus wells in 2010. Results are in line with the recently announced increase in estimated ultimate recoveries (EURs)
per well. An increase in the average number of hydraulic frac stages (from eight to ten) and increased steel and service costs
led to an increase in the company's direct well cost estimate to between $3.3 and $3.5 million. The increased frac stages
are part of an ongoing effort to improve future well economics.
EQT has now drilled 74 horizontal wells in the Marcellus
play since 2008, of which 28 wells have been on-line for more than 30 days. The company expects that Marcellus production
will continue to grow faster than its other plays and that sales of produced natural gas from the Marcellus play will exceed
100 MMcfe per day by the end of 2010. More on EQT
- Cabot Oil & Gas COG - Cabot COG has land in the Marcellus Shale development field particularly in West Virginia &
Pennsylvania. Operationally the North region has seven rigs drilling. Recently the Company drilled its 101st well in
the Marcellus, with 61 of those being horizontal wells. Of the 67 wells currently on line, 34 of those are horizontal and
account for the majority of the Company's current Marcellus production. The Company has over 30 wells completing or waiting
to be completed with several that include 17-to-19 stage fracs in 4,500' to 4,900' laterals.
"At this time we have
wells with over 340 stages drilled, cased and waiting on fracs or already completed and moving towards turning in line. Our
Marcellus gross production level has held steady at about 165 Mmcf per day over the last 30 days, and with a couple of new
wells turned in line over the weekend, we are producing over 180 Mmcf today," stated Dinges. "We also established
a new high watermark for ourselves in the Marcellus with a 24-hour initial production rate of 18.4 Mmcf per day on a recent
completion." More on COG
- Hess Corp - HES - Marcellus Shale Update - If I turn to the Marcellus
again, we're continuing to build our position in the Marcellus.
We're at about 80,000 net acres now in the Marcellus,
primarily in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. About 50,000 of that is Hess operated and the balance is part of this joint venture
we have with Newfield. Our plan this year are to drill five to 10 wells during the second half of 2010 in order to evaluate
the resource potential on the acreage.
- Atlas Energy Resources ATN - Atlas Energy ATN has drilled 98 Marcellus Shale
wells, of which 90 wells currently have normalized production approaching 25 million cubic feet ("Mmcf") per day
into a pipeline (8 wells are waiting on completion); As of September 30, 2008, Atlas Energy controlled approximately
555,000 Marcellus acres in Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia, of which approximately 271,000 of these acres are located
in the Company's current focus area of southwestern Pennsylvania; ATN continues to realize average peak production
rates (24 hours into a pipeline) of approximately 1 Mmcf per day, with its best wells having initial peak rates of approximately
3.6 Mmcf per day The Company's last 13 vertical Marcellus wells have averaged initial rates of production of 1.3 Mmcf
per day, which is 30% higher than Atlas's prior average vertical Marcellus well.
- EXCO Resources XCO - We currently hold over 300,000 net acres
in the Appalachian Basin, of which approximately 106,000 net acres are located in the core area of the Marcellus play. We
define the core area of the Marcellus play to be geologically overpressured. We plan to concentrate our efforts in this core
area, which is located in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Marcellus shale - The Marcellus shale play is found
at approximate depths ranging from 6,000 to over 8,000 feet and typically has been exploited using horizontal drilling techniques.
The Marcellus shale play extends over 400 miles in length within the Appalachian Basin. More than 70% of our Marcellus shale
acreage is held-by-production, providing us with a competitive advantage since we can develop the majority of our Marcellus
acreage under an optimized schedule not driven by lease term expiration. We have a strong commitment to technical excellence,
and continue to add to our technical staff. We are members of major geologic and reservoir engineering Marcellus shale consortiums,
participate in several study projects, and are active in Marcellus-focused industry associations and coalitions. We have conducted
3-D seismic surveys targeting the Marcellus shale opportunity on over 53 square miles to date, with several additional 3-D
surveys planned during 2010 and 2011. 2-D seismic continues to be utilized for reconnaissance. During 2009, we drilled eight
gross Marcellus shale wells primarily to test and evaluate our position.
- Carrizo Oil & Gas CRZO - Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) today announced that it has agreed to
enter into a joint venture with a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited ("Reliance"). In connection with the
joint venture, Reliance will acquire a 20% interest in approximately 52,200 net Carrizo acres in Pennsylvania considered highly
prospective for Marcellus Shale natural gas for total consideration of $65 million. Reliance will pay $13 million in cash
to Carrizo and will pay an additional $52 million to carry Carrizo's share of future drilling, completion, and seismic costs
("development carry"), subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Closing is expected by mid-September 2010.
- Dominion Resources D - Dominion Energy also made considerable progress in its infrastructure growth program. Dominion's Natural Gas Pipeline and
Storage business has a significant list of projects intended to relieve existing congestion within its market area, as well
as facilitating the development of the Marcellus
Shale formation. For example, on May 20, Dominion Transmission signed a binding precedent agreement with CONSOL Energy to
provide 200,000 decatherms per day of firm transportation service for Marcellus Shale volumes to the market hub at Leidy, Pennsylvania. This is referred to by us as the Marcellus Northeast Project and is expected to be in service by November 2012.
We had also recently signed an agreement to provide 150,000 decatherms per day to move Marcellus Shale volumes to Craigs, New York. This project, too, is expected to be
in service by November 2012.
- Continental Resources CLR - Continental Resources ( CLR ) now has exposure to the Marcellus Shale. We now own 88,000 net acres in the Lower Huron, Rhinestreet Marcellus plays and continue to build on our position. The bulk for this acreage is
located West Virginia, Ohio, and New York where the shales have at found debts of 1000 to 5400 feet. We're currently drilling
our first-four wells targeting Rhinestreet, then Lower Huron shales in Southeast, Ohio.
.
-
Marathon Oil MRO - Marathon Oil ( MRO ) is building a position in the Marcellus Shale ( Seeking Alpha ) - And
we’ve got four wells down in the Marcellus.
We’ll drill probably a dozen more this year. We got our first crack away. And we’re looking at well casts. And
I think you’ll see us pursue that play very similar to how we did the Bach, in terms of being measured, getting our
technical data before we get serious about it. But early indications are in terms of what we’ve seen from the
jobs, we like it. We have 70,000 acres there and I think we’ll continue to play against that. So we feel very good about
where we are.
Newfield Exploration NFX - Newfield Enters the Marcellus Shale - On October 14, 2009, Newfield announced the signing of a joint exploration
agreement with Hess Corporation in the Marcellus Shale play. The agreement covers up to 140,000 gross acres primarily in Susquehanna
and Wayne Counties, Pennsylvania. Newfield will operate the new venture with each company having a 50 percent interest. The
2009 portion of Newfield's Marcellus Shale activities will be funded within the Company's existing $1.45 billion capital budget.
Drilling operations are not expected to commence until 2010.
- CNX Gas CXG - CNX Gas is active in the Marcellus Shale, particularly in Southwest, PA. In the Marcellus Shale, CNX Gas drilled,
completed, and brought online one vertical well and two horizontal wells. The first of the two horizontal wells, GH 11C CV,
has shown a 30-day daily production rate of 1.6 MMcf. This well has only 1,600 lateral feet, due to acreage constraints. The
second horizontal well, GH 11B CV, is currently producing from only the first two frac stages at a 30-day production rate
of 0.8 MMcf. This 1,800-ft lateral well is expected to see more normal levels of production when the remaining 3 stages are
fraced.
For the entire horizontal Marcellus Shale program to date, 13 horizontal wells have been drilled. The reserves
associated with the first 11 wells total 35.6 Bcf, or about 3.3 Bcf per well. The laterals on these wells averaged less than
2,000 feet.
Upcoming drilling in the Marcellus Shale is expected to be predominantly horizontal and on multiple-well
pads, with laterals closer to 3,000 feet. For 2010, the company expects to drill approximately two dozen horizontal wells,
with a drilling budget of about $110 million.
CNX Gas successfully increased its acreage with Marcellus Shale potential
by 20,000 in the quarter, to a year-end total of 250,000. Of this, approximately 170,000 acres is considered to be Tier 1.
The company remains committed to expanding its footprint to 400,000 acres.
- Petroleum Development Corp PETD - The
Appalachian Basin includes our West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Tennessee operations, in which we own an interest
in approximately 2,090 gross, 1,566.4 net oil and natural gas wells. Our leasehold position encompasses approximately 140,300
gross acres with approximately 19,400 net undeveloped acres remaining for development as of December 31, 2008. We drilled
63 gross/net wells in the area in 2008 and produced approximately 3.9 Bcfe net to our interests. The majority of our Appalachian
leasehold is Devonian and Mississippian aged tight sandstone reservoirs. We are currently evaluating the potential of the
Marcellus Formation in West Virginia and Pennsylvania and have drilled three tests to date in West Virginia.
- Trans Energy TENG - Trans Energy is very active in the Marcellus Shale and has announced in Jan 2009 a Marion County, WV well. TENG announced
that its Blackshere #101 well in Marion County, West Virginia was successfully fraced on December 29th and is currently
awaiting connection to a sales line. The Blackshere #101 is completed in the Marcellus shale, a prolific new “resource
play” in Appalachia, similar to the Barnett, Fayetteville and Haynesville shales which have grown to become a significant base of hydrocarbon reserves in the United States. James K. Abcouwer,
President and CEO of Trans Energy, said “This fourth Marcellus well is located in Marion County which is the county
to the east of our existing Marcellus wells and is a step out of what we consider our proven area. We are delighted
with its initial indications. We are optimistic that the positive results from our three vertical wells in Wetzel
County and now with our most recent completion in Marion County can be replicated throughout our acreage position in northern
West Virginia. We’re now beginning a horizontal well program in yet another significant step forward for Trans
Energy to properly develop its acreage position. We’re pleased to have achieved this sizeable acreage position
centered on the Wetzel-Marion-Doddridge Counties area, which looks to be one of the most – if not the most
– prolific part of the Marcellus resource in Appalachia.”
Encana ECA - Encana has recently entered the Marcellus Shale
- More to come in the following months ahead.
Stone Energy SGY - Appalachian Basin (Marcellus Shale Play). As discussed previously, Stone has commenced its 14 well
horizontal drilling program for 2010. Stone currently has two horizontal rigs and one vertical rig operating in the play.
One of the horizontal rigs is working under a three year contract. To date, Stone has drilled four company-operated horizontal
wells in West Virginia. These wells are scheduled to be fraced and completed during the third
quarter, and production from the first of these wells is expected by the fourth quarter. The Company also spudded its first
operated horizontal well in Pennsylvania in July. Additionally, Stone is participating in
two non-operated horizontal wells in West Virginia. One of these wells has been drilled and
is waiting on completion and the other is currently drilling. These wells are located on the same pad and will be fraced after
drilling operations are finished. The Company is reviewing various infrastructure options for marketing the production
from the operated vertical and horizontal wells.
Pioneer Drilling PDL - During the second quarter, we established an Appalachian
drilling division to focus on operations in the Marcellus Shale. We currently have one drilling rig
operating in our Appalachian division, with a second rig expected to begin operating by late August
2009. In addition, we launched wireline operations in the Marcellus Shale play.
StatOil STO - On 26 March Statoil signed an agreement with Chesapeake which added approximately 59 thousand net acres to Statoil's current
600 thousand net acre position in the Marcellus shale gas play.
Williams WMB - Earlier this month, Williams completed the major acreage acquisition in the Marcellus Shale that
was announced on May 25. The acquisition included approximately
42,000 net acres, primarily located in Susquehanna County in northeastern Pennsylvania.
Williams acquired the acreage from Alta Resources LLC and its partners for $513 million, including
closing adjustments. The company also purchased a 5-percent overriding royalty interest on the approximately 48,500 gross
acres associated with the acquisition for $84 million, which reduces the royalty burden.
Williams is also in the process of completing the acquisition of 8,000 additional net acres in another
attractive area in northeastern Pennsylvania. The two transactions are expected to add approximately
1.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe) of total net reserves potential. The completion of these
deals more than doubles Williams' acreage in the Marcellus Shale to approximately 97,000 net acres at an average cost of less
than $7,000 per acre.
