In an article on the FuelFix website, David Porter, Texas Railroad Commissioner (the Railroad Commission regulates natural gas drilling for the State of Texas), says that the Eagle Ford Shale has the potential to be the greatest economic driver in the history of South Texas.
Mainland Resources announced that they spent $9.5 million to drill a Haynesville Shale well to 22,000 feet, recover 21 feet of Haynesville core from a depth of 20,415 feet and set production casing. This was one of the deepest on-shore wells drilled during 2010 and may be the deepest production casing ever set in a gas shale play. The well was drilled in Jefferson County Mississippi.
From a Chief press release: Recent wells placed online in Northeast Pennsylvania [...] are averaging between 4.7 and 8.0 MMcfd with an average lateral length of 2,568 ft. [...] In Central Pennsylvania, two recently completed wells had an average test rate of 4.9 MMcfd and 5.3 MMcfd with lateral lengths of 4,864 ft and 4,143 ft respectively.
SeekingAlpha.com has a really interesting article on the wellhead side of natural gas economics that most people will be able to read and understand. The title is: “Estimating the Breakeven Costs of Shale Gas“.
“Shale gas development drove an 11 percent increase in U.S. natural gas proved reserves last year, to their highest level since 1971, demonstrating the growing importance of shale gas in meeting both current and projected energy needs,” said Richard Newell, EIA’s Administrator. “Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania were the leading states in adding new proved reserves of shale gas during 2009,” he said. Quoted from the EIA Summary: U.S. Crude Oil, Natural Gas, and Natural Gas Liquids Reserves, 2009.
“Carrizo’s initial two Eagle Ford Shale wells were drilled from a common surface location in central La Salle County, Texas. The Mumme 10H had a 24-hour initial production rate of 1,011 barrels of oil per day while the Mumme 12H had a 24-hour initial production rate of 1,220 Bopd.” Quoted from the Carrizo press release. They are flaring 2Mmcf of gas per day waiting on pipeline.
Chesapeake Energy had a Barnett Shale well in north Texas produce an average of 17.8 million cubic feet per day for the month of September. The well now holds the Barnett Shale record for monthly natural gas production from a single well. More at iStockAnalyst.com.
Atlas Energy’s Third Quarter Production Report shares information on a number of Marcellus Shale wells in Fayette, Greene, Westmoreland, Washington and Indiana Counties of southwestern Pennsylvania. The report has production statistics (averaged every 30 days to illustrate decline rates), lateral lengths and number of frac stages.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India has drilled the first shale gas well in the state of West Bengal. More at Platts.com.
The North Dakota Oil and Gas Division has an online query system that allows you to look-up production and location information for Bakken / Three Forks Horizontal wells by producing zone.
If you follow the news about natural gas from shale you might appreciate the presentation of information in “Frac Attack: Risks, Hype, and Financial Reality of Hydraulic Fracturing in the Shale Plays”. View the report.
“Despite a sharp decline in Henry Hub spot prices from the levels reached in the summer of 2008, natural gas production in the Barnett shale in Texas continued to climb through the middle of 2009 and appears to have reached an undulating plateau since then. Production growth in the Barnett shale comes from several large natural gas producers who continued to maintain strong production even in an environment of relatively low natural gas prices.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration’s Natural Gas Update.
Westmont Resources Inc. will acquire 92 wells in the Chattanooga Shale of Scott County and Morgan County, Tennessee that are presently owned by Domestic Energy Corp. This announcement reveals some information about the Chattanooga and the wells that have been drilled. More at the Oil and Gas Journal.
During 2009, the economic downturn cut the use of natural gas by commercial and industry customers while the amount of gas used for electricity generation increased. Production levels continued to increase even though prices remained weak. See the review at the Energy Information Administration website.
