Marcellus Shale - Marcellus Shale Maps - New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia Natural Gas

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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

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What is the Marcellus Shale Formation?

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 2011:  During 2011, the Marcellus Shale fell victim to low natural gas prices due to the ramp up in drilling.  The drilling companies below really cut back on the number of active drilling rigs but we are seeing a tick up in natural gas prices as we head into 2012.  I am expecting the Marcellus Shale to really come alive again during 2012.  Natural Gas prices have the opportunity to hit $5-6 at some point in 2012.  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 2011/2012.

There is a huge drilling boom in the Marcellus Shale and the other shale formations below.  Production is increasing as we head into 2012.  When you see natural gas prices move above $6 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 ShaleBarnett 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

Discuss Stocks - http://stockstobuy.org

Chesapeake Energy CHKMarcellus 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.

Marcellus. First Chesapeake production was 2008. Current gross operated production is 730 million cubic feet of gas equivalent per day. We are the top producer in the play as of July 31, 2011

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

-  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

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Rex Energy REXX - Rex Energy (REXX) Marcellus Shale - Appalachian Basin — Butler County, Pennsylvania - Appalachian Basin

In Butler County, PA, the company has drilled 29 gross (18.4 net) wells year-to-date, with 16 gross (11.2 net) wells fracture stimulated and placed into sales. The company currently has 20 gross (12.1 net) wells drilled and awaiting completion with another four gross (2.8 net) wells completed and awaiting pipeline infrastructure. The company expects to complete its 2011 fracture stimulation program with three wells on the seven well Grosick pad in November. Currently, Rex has one rig in its Butler operated area and will continue the one rig program through the first quarter of 2012. For additional details on current drilling and completion operations, please refer to the company's updated corporate presentation.

The company's midstream partners at Keystone Midstream operated the Sarsen Plant at an average inlet of approximately 30.7 MMcf/d during the month of September. Keystone Midstream has received the permit for the Sarsen Plant's Voll compressor station. The Voll compressor station is expected to be commissioned in January 2012 and will allow the plant to run at its full inlet capacity of 40.0 MMcf/d.

Keystone Midstream's second cryogenic processing plant in Butler County, the Bluestone Plant, is in the final stages of permitting. Pending receipt of this permit under the current timeline, the anticipated commissioning of the Bluestone Plant will be in May 2012. The expected inlet capacity of the Bluestone plant is 50.0 MMcf/d. In January 2012, Rex expects to begin fracture stimulation and completion efforts on its inventory of drilled wells in anticipation of commissioning the Bluestone Plant.

Appalachian Basin — Westmoreland, Pennsylvania

In Rex Energy's non-operated areas within Westmoreland County, Williams (the operator) is continuing to move forward with its 2011 program. At the end of the third quarter, Williams had drilled 20 gross (8.0 net) wells, fracture stimulated 14 gross (5.6 net) wells, and placed 12 gross (4.8 net) wells into service. For additional details on current drilling and completion operations, please refer to the company's updated corporate presentation.

For the month of September, the average gross production from Rex Energy's non-operated Marcellus wells in Westmoreland County was approximately 28.5 MMcf/d. Current expansion plans are underway to increase capacity into the Peoples Natural Gas line by commissioning a 35.0 MMcf/d high pressure line. EQT has also increased the capacity of its system that will allow for an additional 15.0 MMcf/d capacity at the Salem Beagle Club compressor station. Both projects are expected to be commissioned in December 2011.

Appalachian Basin — Clearfield and Centre Counties, Pennsylvania

In Clearfield and Centre Counties, Williams has recently completed fracture stimulation on the four-well Resource Recovery pad. The first two of four Resource Recovery wells, the #3-2H, and #3-4H, were drilled with average lateral lengths of 5,485 feet and have been placed into sales with a five-day and 15-day average rate of 6.0 MMcf/d and 5.7 MMcf/d for each well, respectively. The second two of four wells, the Resource Recovery #3-1H and #3-3H, have average lateral lengths of 4,870 feet, and were recently placed into sales. Production rates from these two wells will be included with the company's next operational update. Williams is not planning any further development in the Clearfield and Centre county area for the remainder of the year.

The Utica Shale is also being tested in select PA counties

Exxon Mobil  XOM - XOM has a small position in the Marcellus Shale.  Exxon Mobil has It's own Marcellus Shale assets along with the XTO Energy and Phillips acquisitions.  ExxonMobil concluded the acquisition of the Phillips companies on June 2, 2011. The Phillips transaction included 317,000 net acres across the heart of the rapidly growing Marcellus Shale play and nearly doubles ExxonMobil's acreage to more than 700,000 net acres in the play. XTO will manage the Phillips assets from the recently established Appalachia Division headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Given the proximity to our current operations in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the addition of the Phillips acreage will create significant value by leveraging regional synergies and also makes ExxonMobil a leading leaseholder in the Marcellus. The Phillips properties currently produce 50 million net cubic feet per day of natural gas, which includes both shallow gas and deeper Marcellus production.

- Anadarko Petroleum  APC -  Anadarko Petroleum (APC) Marcellus Shale:  The Marcellus set a weekly high production rate during the quarter of 566 MMcf/d (151 MMcf/d net) from about 150 producing wells. For the quarter, net sales volumes increased almost 300% over the same period of 2010. The company exited the quarter producing more than 600 MMcf/d gross, an increase of about 30% over the 2nd quarter exit rate of approximately 460 MMcf/d.  The company is making significant progress in increasing available capacity on transmission lines with year-end tap capacity expected to nearly double from the beginning of the year to approximately 2.3 billion cubic feet per day.
The company spud 37 operated wells during the quarter with seven rigs and participated in 37 wells with about 13 non-operated rigs. At quarter end, there were seven operated and seven non-operated rigs
in the play.  Anadarko lowered its average drilling cycle time to 20 days during the quarter, which represents a 33% improvement relative to the same period of 2010. The company's water conservation efforts resulted in a 25% reduction in water costs during the quarter when compared to 2010.
 More on APC

Marcellus Shale Map - Marcellus Shale Fairway
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Marcellus Shale

Marcellus Shale Jobs
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Range Resources RRC -  Range Resources (RRC) Marcellus Shale Division -  Significant progress was made on multiple fronts in the Marcellus Shale and the division is solidly on track to reach the 2011 year-end production target of 400 Mmcfe per day net to Range. Currently, total production from the Marcellus Shale is running approximately 350 Mmcfe per day net to Range. In southwest Pennsylvania, Range drilled 42 wells during the third quarter. During the quarter, a total of 28 wells were turned to sales bringing the total horizontal Marcellus wells producing in the southwest to 214 wells. At the end of the third quarter, there were 12 wells waiting on pipeline and 74 wells waiting on completion in the southwest. In northeast Pennsylvania, Range drilled 14 wells during the third quarter. A total of 10 wells were turned to sales during the third quarter. At quarter-end, there were 15 wells on production in the northeast with 11 wells waiting on pipeline and 22 wells waiting on completion.

In addition to the operational progress in the Marcellus, Range made substantial progress during the quarter regarding infrastructure build-out and marketing arrangements. Below are the key accomplishments achieved during the third quarter.  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.

Southwestern Energy SWN  - Southwestern Energy SWN is active in the Marcellus Shale - Appalachia - Southwestern has participated in a total of 40 wells in northeast Pennsylvania, of which 18 were producing and 22 were in progress at September 30, 2011. The producing wells are all operated Marcellus Shale wells located in its Greenzweig area in Bradford County. Net production from the area was 7.4 Bcf and 15.2 Bcf for three months and nine months ending September 30, 2011, respectively, compared to 0.2 Bcf and 0.2 Bcf for the same periods in 2010, respectively. The company is currently running 2 drilling rigs in Susquehanna County.

The company is currently completing a five-well pad in its Greenzweig area in Bradford County which is expected to be placed on production in November. The company also noted that the Ball Myer 1H well which was placed on production on June 23, 2011 is currently producing at a tubing constrained rate of approximately 8.2 MMcf per day at a flowing tubing pressure of 1,300 psi after 120 days of production This well had a completed lateral of 4,502 feet and was fracture stimulated in 19 stages. In total, the company's 17 horizontal wells have average completed lateral lengths of approximately 3,849 feet and have averaged 10.8 stages of completion. Gross operated production from the area is currently approximately 110 MMcf per day and constrained by a temporary pipeline curtailment.

The graph below provides normalized average daily production data through September 30, 2011, for the company's horizontal wells in the Marcellus Shale. The "red curve" indicates results for two wells with 15 or more fracture stimulation stages, the "purple curve" indicates results for eight wells with 10 to 14 fracture stimulation stages and the "green curve" indicates results for seven wells with 9 or less fracture stimulation stages. The normalized production curves are intended to provide a qualitative indication of the company's Marcellus Shale wells' performance and should not be used to estimate an individual well's estimated ultimate recovery. The 4, 6 and 8 Bcf typecurves are shown solely for reference purposes and are not intended to be projections of the performance of the company's wells.

Chevron (CVX) - Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) Marcellus Shale Update - I'll highlight some of our recent activities in the Marcellus Shale. In February of this year, we closed on the acquisition of Atlas Energy and are currently working to complete the integration of these assets into our North America business. In May, we announced the acquisition of assets from Chief Oil and Gas and Tug Hill.

Through these transactions, we added another 228,000 net acres of high-quality Marcellus Shale to our existing footprint. Largely focused in Southwestern Pennsylvania, the acreage includes over 30,000 acres of rich gas Marcellus in Marshall County, West Virginia. This expansion of our shale gas portfolio gives us additional high-quality resources, as well as strong synergies with existing operations.

Talisman Energy TLM  - Talisman Energy (TLM) Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Update - In the Marcellus, the company brought 34 net wells onstream during the third quarter, and will continue to operate with 11 rigs for the remainder of the year. Talisman expects Marcellus production to average approximately 400 mmcf/d in 2011, which is at the upper end of the target range set at the beginning of the year.

Penn Virginia  PVA - Penn Virginia (PVA) Marcellus Shale Update -  Marcellus Shale - During the second quarter of 2011, we drilled three (2.3 net) wells in the Marcellus Shale in Potter County, PA, including two (1.8 net) operated wells and one (0.5 net) non-operated well. One (1.0 net) operated well was completed and two (1.3 net) wells are WOC. We have reduced our 2011 guidance for the Marcellus Shale by six (5.5 net) horizontal wells. As previously disclosed, our recently completed wells failed to meet our expectations, but we plan to test the eastern portion of our acreage position in Potter and Tioga Counties, initially anticipated with vertical wells, commencing in the second half of 2011

Ultra Petroleum  UPL - Ultra Petroleum (UPL) is very active in the Marcellus Formation -  Pennsylvania - Operational Highlights

During the first quarter, Ultra Petroleum and its partners drilled 31 gross (17 net) horizontal wells. As of March 31, 2011, Ultra and its partners have drilled 185 gross (111 net) horizontal wells since the program's inception in 2009.

Ultra and its partners initiated production from 13 gross (8 net) new horizontal Marcellus wells during the first quarter of 2011. The average initial production rate for the wells brought online was 6.5 MMcf per day. At the end of the quarter, there were 105 gross (67 net) horizontal wells producing since the program's inception in 2009.

In western Tioga County, Ultra drilled an extended lateral test to 6,700 feet during the first quarter. Subsequent to quarter-end, the Pierson 810-3H was completed with 27 frac stages and turned to sales at 10.0 MMcf per day. Similar to adjacent well estimates, preliminary results suggest the well's estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) could exceed 8.0 Bcfe, over two times the company's 3.75 Bcfe type curve for this area.

In western Lycoming County, the company brought online a 6-well pad in the first quarter with average per well initial production rates of 7.7 MMcf per day. These wells are demonstrating flatter declines and significantly stronger performance compared to Ultra's conservative 5.0 Bcfe type curve for this area.

At the end of the first quarter, Ultra's inventory of wells either waiting on completion or awaiting pipeline connection was 80 gross (44 net) wells. Ninety percent of this year's expected well startups will occur in the remaining nine months of the year with 148 gross (75 net) horizontal Marcellus wells online by the end of 2011. For the year, Ultra anticipates its total Pennsylvania production will grow 2.5 times the company's 2010 Pennsylvania annual volumes.

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.

July 2011 Update - The company drilled (spud) 61 gross horizontal wells during the second quarter 2011; 33 targeting the Huron play with an average length of pay of 5,160 feet; and 28 targeting the Marcellus play with an average length of pay of 5,035 feet. The company drilled 112 gross horizontal wells during the first six months of 2011; 61 targeting the Huron play and 51 targeting the Marcellus play.  More on EQT

Cabot Oil & Gas COG -  Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) has land in the Marcellus Shale development field particularly in West Virginia & Pennsylvania.  Since the conference call last quarter, Cabot has achieved a new 24-hour production record of 517 Mmcf per day in Susquehanna County from 94 horizontal wells, with cumulative production to date of approximately 175 Bcf. "Specifically we have seen one horizontal well produce 4.0 Bcf in 347 days and a different horizontal well reach 3.0 Bcf in 223 days," said Dan O. Dinges, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "All told, we have 30 wells with cumulative production of more than 2.0 Bcf each, and of note, our two extended lateral wells have cumulative production of more than 2.8 Bcf each in about 150 days." Cabot's position in this prolific area of the Marcellus, resulted in Cabot recording 16 of the top 20 production wells for the first six months of 2011, as reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

In addition to productivity gains, Cabot is improving operational efficiency. A recent horizontal well with a 3,500' lateral, reached total depth in just 12.5 days. In the third quarter, the Company turned-in-line 17 horizontal wells, all of which are producing at curtailed rates, pending new infrastructure commissioning.   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 ATLS -  Atlas Energy ATLS Marcellus Shale -  ATLS expects to connect 16 Marcellus horizontal wells, drilled through the partnership management business, during the first quarter 2012. Eleven of these wells were drilled in 2011, and five of these Marcellus wells have been previously drilled and completed and are awaiting pipeline connection.

EXCO Resources XCO - Exco Resources (XCO) 2011 Update Marcellus shale  - Marcellus Shale - Our current gross operated Marcellus shale production is approximately 100 Mmcf per day, which represents an increase of more than 50% since the end of the second quarter 2011. We have implemented a development program within our acreage in northeast Pennsylvania and an appraisal program primarily in central Pennsylvania. We plan to drill 49 gross (16.0 net) operated wells in the Marcellus shale play in our Appalachia region during 2011. Of the 49 wells, 42 gross (12.8 net) will be development wells and 7 gross (3.2 net) will be appraisal wells. We are currently drilling with four operated rigs, three of which are in our northeast Pennsylvania development area. Our net drilling dollars are reduced by the effect of the carry we receive from BG Group. Approximately $78.8 million of the carry remains available to us from BG Group as of September 30, 2011. We expect that the remaining carry amount will be used in the first half of 2012.

 

We spud 12 new operated wells and drilled and completed 11 gross (4.0 net) operated wells during the third quarter 2011 in the Marcellus shale. In northeast Pennsylvania, we turned six wells on two pads to sales at the end of the quarter with an average IP rate of 6.4 Mmcf per day from an average lateral length of approximately 3,400 feet. In our central Pennsylvania area, we turned five wells to sales from two pads during the quarter with an average IP rate of 5.0 Mmcf per day from an average lateral length of approximately 4,100 feet. We are also focused on building our field infrastructure in support of our expected levels of activity. Along with efficiency gains derived from our drilling and completion program, these infrastructure investments are expected to be the primary drivers to reduce our average development well costs. 


 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.
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- 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.

Consol Energy CNX - Consol Energy (CNX) Marcellus Shale Update - For drilling in the Marcellus and Utica shales,   CONSOL Energy had a very successful 2011 Marcellus Shale drilling program. In 2011, in the Marcellus Shale Joint Venture with Noble Energy, 78 gross wells were drilled, all by CONSOL. The geographic breakdown is as follows: 19 in Central Pennsylvania, 50 in Southwest Pennsylvania, and 9 in Northern West Virginia. Total daily (net) Marcellus Shale production nearly doubled from 40 MMcf per day as of December 31, 2010 to 77.5 MMcf per day as of December 31, 2011. During 2011, 57 horizontal wells were placed online. Total well costs averaged $5.0 million per well. The average completed lateral was 3,853 feet (or, 3,367 perf-to-perf), with twelve frac stages. Maximum 24-hour production averaged 5.0 MMcf per well, while peak 30-day production averaged 3.5 MMcf per well per day. EURs averaged 5.2 Bcf per well.

Central PA: During the fourth quarter of 2011, CONSOL Energy continued to successfully de-risk its huge Marcellus Shale acreage position with the 10-well Hutchinson pad in northwestern Westmoreland County. As earlier reported, the 10-well Hutchinson pad, the company believes, is the industry's largest single pad drilled to date in the Marcellus Shale. The 10 wells were drilled and completed for approximately $48 million, with drilled laterals cased and completed totaling 41,200 feet (or, 3,983 feet per well, perf-to-perf). The pad had 138 continuous frac stages, which used 47 million pounds of sand and 47 million gallons of water.

This pad had 24-hour peak production of 8.3 MMcf per well, and 30-day peak production of 4.2 MMcf per well, along with an average EUR of 4.9 Bcf per well.

In Central Pennsylvania, CONSOL Energy currently has two rigs drilling.

Southwest PA: CONSOL continues its full-scale development drilling at several Nineveh pads in Greene County. During the fourth quarter, CONSOL brought 13 wells online at several pads with (perf-to-perf) laterals averaging 3,491 feet. These wells had 24-hour peak production of 4.6 MMcf per well, and 30-day peak production of 4.0 MMcf per well, along with an average EUR of 6.5 Bcf per well.

In Southwest Pennsylvania, CONSOL Energy currently has two rigs drilling, and Noble Energy has one drilling in the liquids-rich area of the play.

Northern WV: In Barbour County, where the company has extensive acreage, two wells were drilled and completed during 2011 with laterals of approximately 4,000 feet. These Phillipi-1 wells have average EURs of 5.3 Bcf per well. Four wells were also drilled in 2011 in Upshur County, on the southern fringe on CONSOL's holdings, with laterals averaging 3,200 feet. Three of these Alton-1 wells have average EURs of 2.3 Bcf per well. A fourth had mechanical issues and was abandoned. CONSOL Energy currently has one rig drilling in Northern West Virginia.

Petroleum Development Corp PETD - Petroleum Development PETD Marcellus Shale - PDC's Marcellus joint venture recently initiated its second-half 2011 drilling program of nine horizontal Marcellus wells. Completions are expected to begin in September and will continue throughout the remainder of 2011. Production growth in the Appalachian Basin from this nine well program is expected to be significant as the Company moves through the third and fourth quarters of 2011. Based on results of the initial six wells in this play, the Company anticipates reserves from its Marcellus drilling program to increase from a range of 3 to 5 Bcfe per well, to a range of 3 to 6 Bcfe per well.  Operating plans for the nine well program in the second-half of 2011 are to drill 4,000 to 6,000 foot horizontal laterals with 12 to 18 stages per well, for a total drill and complete cost of approximately $5.2 to $6.4 million. Overall, the most recent horizontal completions contributed to a 118% improvement in Appalachian production in the second quarter of 2011 compared to second quarter 2010.

Barton R. Brookman, Senior Vice President — Exploration and Production, commented, "We are very pleased with our operating team's execution in the development of both the horizontal Niobrara and Marcellus Shale programs.

Noble Energy (NBL) - Noble Energy (NBL)  enters the Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Field - And finally, we announced and closed in the quarter the acquisition of a very significant position in the Marcellus Shale to the formation of a joint venture with CONSOL Energy. As a result, we now find ourselves rapidly speeding toward a significant inflection point in our growth profile. An inflection point that's driven by accelerating Niobrara drilling, the new and rapidly growing Marcellus production, as well as the pending startups of Aseng in West Africa, as well as Raton South in Galapagos in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

- 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 - Stone Energy (SGY) Appalachian Basin (Marcellus Shale Play).  In West Virginia, the third-party Caiman pipeline is projected to be tied in during the fourth quarter with volumes from 11 wells in the Mary field. The late December exit rate from Appalachia is projected to be 30-40 MMcfe per day, including liquids. Current projections now call for 25 horizontal wells to be drilled in 2011, utilizing one horizontal rig and one top-hole rig (up from previous guidance of 21-24 wells). Up to 16 wells are expected to be fractured during 2011. Current net production from the Katie area in northeast Pennsylvania and Heather/Buddy area in West Virginia is approximately 15 MMcf per day.

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 Company WMB - Williams Company WMB Marcellus Shale - In the Marcellus shale, the company is currently operating four rigs and expects to increase its level of drilling activity to eight or nine rigs by the end of 2012. In Susquehanna County, the company has approximately 70 MMcf/d of production waiting on the expected September 2011 completion of the Laser pipeline.

Gastar Exploration GST - Gastar Exploration (GST) Marcellus Shale - In Marshall County, West Virginia, we currently have two drilling rigs working in our Marcellus West area. By year-end 2011, we expect to have nine horizontal Marcellus wells on sales and 10 horizontal Marcellus wells drilled and awaiting completion. All of our Marcellus Shale wells drilled in Marshall County are part of our joint venture with Atinum Partners Co, Ltd. (the "Atinum Joint Venture"). After all drilling and completion costs have been incurred, our working interest in these wells will range from 40% to 50%.

In mid-August 2011, we began producing the Wengerd 1H and 7H horizontal wells at an initial combined 30-day average gross sales rate of approximately 7.1 MMcf per day of natural gas, 176 barrels of condensate and 347 barrels of natural gas liquids (“NGLs”). On September 23, 2011, the pipeline operator shut in the pipeline due to weather-related damage to the natural gas and condensate gathering system. While the pipeline was being repaired, we installed tubing into the two Wengerd wells that would enable us to improve NGLs and condensate recovery and returned them to production on October 21, 2011. Initially, production was restricted due to excessively high line pressures following the pipeline repair, but this matter was recently resolved. The two wells’ most recent combined four day average gross sales rate is 8.1 MMcf per day of natural gas, 200 barrels of condensate per day and 490 barrels of NGLs per day.

Also in Marshall County, we have completed fracture stimulation operations on the Corley pad (four horizontal wells), with first sales anticipated in mid-November 2011. Currently, we are commencing fracture stimulation operations on the three-well Simms pad with first production anticipated mid-December 2011. As of September 30, 2011, drilling operations have been completed on the Hendrickson 1H, 2H and 4H wells, and we completed drilling operations on the Hendrickson 3H and 5H wells in late October 2011. Fracture stimulation operations on all five Hendrickson wells are anticipated to commence in March 2012, and first sales are anticipated in the second quarter of 2012. Currently, we have commenced drilling operations from the Hall pad (three wells) and the Burch Ridge pad (five wells), and we expect to commence drilling operations on the Accettolo pad (three wells) prior to year end.

On our Marcellus East position in Preston County, West Virginia, we have drilled one horizontal well to test this acreage, which is 100% owned by Gastar. In August 2011, we completed the Hickory Ridge 2H horizontal Marcellus well, a 2,500-foot lateral completed with a 10-stage fracture stimulation, and we are currently flowing back completion fluids. First sales from the Hickory Ridge 2H are anticipated by year end. Our focus for the remainder of 2011 and through 2012 in the Marcellus East acquisition area is to perform a 3-D seismic survey over a portion of the acreage, with no additional wells currently planned during that time frame.

In Butler County, Pennsylvania, Gastar and Atinum have been participating in seven wells with Rex Energy as operator. Three wells are expected to be on sales by year-end, with the remaining four wells expected to go online in early 2012.

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