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.”

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.

An article in the Evansville Courier & Press reports that Eagle Resources is planning to drill the New Albany Shale in Edwards County Illinois. They have paid $6/acre/year for the leases.

“The U.S. Department of Energy announces the release of Modern Shale Gas Development in the United States: A Primer. The Primer provides regulators, policy makers, and the public with an objective source of information on the technology advances and challenges that accompany deep shale gas development.” Quoted from fossil.energy.gov. Download the .pdf

Ziff Energy Group has a press release on their website predicting that unconventional gas plays now active across North America will account for 53% of the continent’s gas production by 2020.

Atlas Energy is going to drill over 100 horizontal wells in the New Albany Shale by the end of 2009.  They have rights to over a quarter million acres above the New Albany in the Indiana portion of the Illinois Basin.  More in the Oil and Gas Journal.

Aurora Oil & Gas Corporation traded acre-by-acre a large number of New Albany Shale leases in an effort to optimize their holdings. The trading partner in this deal was not mentioned. See the report at YourOilAndGasNews.com.

Rex Energy says that they sold 79,000 acres of holdings over the New Albany Shale in Indiana for $8.4 million. They plan to use the money on their Marcellus Shale exploration projects. More at Market Watch.

Kentucky USA Energy is drilling multiple wells in the New Albany Shale in the Illinois Basin of western Kentucky. They have gas production from several wells and are preparing a gas gathering system. More at Marketwatch.com.