Fayetteville Shale

Declining Royalty Payments from Natural Gas Wells

Many property owners are very surprised when the royalties that they receive from a natural gas well on their property decline sharply. They are learning about production decline curves.

More at Geology.com.

Learning about Oil and Gas Leases

An article in the New York Times reviews some potential rewards and problems that occur when a landowner decides to lease his property for oil and and gas development.

Related: Mineral Rights [1]

[1] http://geology.com/articles/mineral-rights.shtml

More at New York Times.

Recycling Fayetteville Shale Frack Water

Dealing with the waste water from hydraulic fracturing is a problem. A Canadian company working in Arkansas has plans to treat Fayetteville Shale waste water and recycle it for continued drilling.

More in the Houston Chronicle.

Arkansas: Waste Water Injection and Earthquakes

An injection well used to dispose of waste water produced by natural gas drilling in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas was thought to be causing hundreds of small earthquakes. The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission voted to close the disposal well but c…

More at NPR.

Arkansas: Natural Gas Severance Tax Act of 2012

Arkansas has two significant natural gas plays in the Haynesville and Fayetteville Shales. A proposal to significantly increase the natural gas severance tax to 7% has some companies threatening to drill in other states.

More at TodaysTHV.com.

Shale Gas and U.S. National Security

The Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University has published a report titled: “Shale Gas and U.S. National Security”. “This study assesses the impact of U.S. domestic shale gas development on energy security and U.S. national security, with emphasis on the geopolitical consequences of rising supplies of U.S. natural gas from shale and the implications for U.S. foreign policy.” Quoted from the report summary.

Arkansas Governor Beebe Addresses Natural Gas Issues

Governor Mike Beebe of Arkansas answers questions related to natural gas drilling causing earthquakes, environmental problems and economic damage within the State of Arkansas.

Chesapeake Energy: Land Acquisition Machine

A post on the Seeking Alpha blog details how successful Chesapeake Energy has been at rapidly leasing enormous acreages in all of the major natural gas shale plays in the United States. They author calls them a “land acquisition machine”.

BHP Billiton Buys a $4.7B Gas Shale Stake from Chesapeake

BHP Billiton, the worlds largest mining company which also holds major oil and gas interests, has purchased a $4.7 billion stake in the Fayetteville Shale from Chesapeake Energy. More at Reuters.

More on the Guy, Arkansas Earthquake Swarm

We recently posted a video about the earthquake swarm near Guy, Arkansas. Now the NewYorkTimes has an article titled: “A Dot on the Map, Until the Earth Started Shaking”.

Chesapeake Energy Selling Fayetteville Shale Asset

An article on the ABCNews site reports that Chesapeake Energy hopes to sell $5 billion in assets during calendar year 2012. Included in the sale are all of Chesapeake’s holdings in the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas.

Guy, Arkansas Earthquake Activity

During the past three months over 500 small earthquakes have shaken the area around Guy, Arkansas. These earthquakes have been blamed on drilling the Fayetteville Shale, wastewater injection wells and natural processes. Which is it?

Exxon Buys Fayetteville Shale Assets

Petrohawk Energy plans to sell its Fayetteville Shale assets to Exxon Mobil for $650 million. An article in Reuters describes the deal and has comments from industry experts who say that the sale price was lower than they expected.

487 Earthquakes Near Guy, Arkansas

Hundreds of shallow but gentle earthquakes have occurred at depths down to about 12,000 near Guy, Arkansas. The State Geological Survey says that they can not tie them to natural gas drilling but they are investigating wastewater injection as a possibility – there are several injection permits in the area surrounding the earthquake swarm. More at CNN.com

Arkansas: Hydraulic Fracturing Fluid Chemistry

The Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission will require drilling companies to release generalized information about the composition of fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing fluid starting on January 15, 2011. Hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling have been used heavily in Arkansas to develop the Fayetteville Shale. More at Platts.com.

Natural Gas Reserves Shoot Up for Shale States

The Energy Information Administration has published a map that shows the increase in wet natural gas proved reserves by state for 2008-2009. There were huge increases for the states with large shale gas plays such as Marcellus Shale, Haynesville Shale, Fayetteville Shale, Eagle Ford Shale and the Barnett Shale.

Fayetteville Shale Drilling and Earthquakes?

ArkansasMatters reports that lots of small earthquakes are occurring in Faulkner County, Arkansas. Some people think that they are related to natural gas drilling or hydraulic fracturing in the Fayetteville Shale.

How deep are the earthquakes compared to the depth of the drilling?

How Many Wells Per Square Mile?

Southwest Energy says that they need 10 to 12 wells per square mile to effectively drain the Fayetteville Shale in the Arkansas Arkoma Basin.. That about 53 to 64 acres per well. More at PennEnergy.com.

Shale People Videos

The ShaleCountry website has a collection videos, each featuring a person who lives or works in one of the major natural gas plays. These folks explain their job and how the natural gas industry is impacting their area. Featured are lawyer, roustabout, RV park owner, truck driver, welding supplier, diner worker, farmer, hose supplier, pastor and more. Each video represents a specific gas play such as the Haynesville, Marcellus or Fayetteville.

Shale Country – ShaleCountry.com

Have you seen ShaleCountry.com, prepared by American Clean Skies Foundation?

“Given all the energy buzz about shale gas, as well as the environmental concerns, we wanted to find an engaging way to share the actual day-to-day experiences of people living in the areas where the gas is being produced – the Haynesville shale in Louisiana, the Fayetteville in Arkansas, and the Marcellus in New York and Pennsylvania.” Quote from the “About ShaleCountry.com” page.

Chesapeake Cuts Fayetteville, Looks for Natural Gas Liquids

Chesapeake Energy says that they are cutting back their efforts in the Fayetteville Shale of Arkansas and that will enable them to focus on plays where natural gas liquids make important contributions to income. More at TheCityWire.com.

First LNG Export Plant for the Conterminous US

An abundance of natural gas in the Louisiana-Texas-Arkansas area has prompted Cheniere Energy to consider building the first LNG (liquefied natural gas) export terminal in the conterminous United States. More at Businessweek.com

Shale Trucks Damage the Roads

An article on the WXVT15 website reports that the Arkansas state department of Transportation director is blaming shale drilling trucks for causing damage to the roads.

Fayetteville Shale Gas Play Map

The Arkansas Geological Survey is doing a great job keeping track of activity in the Fayetteville Shale Gas Play and making that information available to the public. Their maps show well locations, well types, horizontal leg direction, target formations, gas pipelines and are accompanied by a spreadsheet with well information.

Shale Gas Drilling & Completions Conference

The agenda for the Shale Gas Drilling & Completions 2010 conference to be held May 26-27 is now online. The conference will “deliver key insight into applying cutting-edge drilling and completions techniques used throughout diverse shale projects in the US & Canada. Leading shale producers will share real life examples of their drilling and completions success and challenges – including experience from the Barnett, Haynesville, Horn River, Marcellus, Woodford and Fayetteville shale plays.”

Natural Gas Shales – Are They Sustainable?

How long will the new natural gas shale plays be producing gas? 20 years? 40? More? This topic was discussed at IHS CERA conference last week in Houston. Some believe that they will be producing gas for a long time.

Jobs in the Fayetteville Shale Gas Play

Fayetteville ShaleGovernor Mike Beebe points to the Fayetteville Shale Play and wind energy projects as bright spots in the Arkansas job climate. More in an article on BusinessWeek.com.

Fayetteville Express Pipeline – 2BCF/day

Fayetteville ShaleA boost for development of the Fayetteville Shale is work starting on the “Fayetteville Express Pipeline” that will carry about 2 billion cubic feet per day from Conway County, Arkansas to the Trunkline Gas Company in Panola County, Mississippi. More on this at Market Watch.

Shale Gas Drilling & Completions 2010

The Shale Gas Drilling & Completions 2010 conference will be held in Houston, Texas on May 26 through May 28, 2010. The conference will deliver “key insight into applying cutting-edge drilling and completions techniques used throughout diverse shale projects in the US & Canada. Leading shale producers will share real life examples of their drilling and completions success and challenges – including experience from the Barnett, Haynesville, Horn River, Marcellus, Woodford and Fayetteville shale plays.” Quoted from the conference website.