Hydraulic Fracturing To Produce Shale Gas

http://all-llc.com/shale/GWPCMarcellusFinal.pdf

Federal Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing? June 6, 2009 Reuters Two members of Congress are working on a bill that would give the federal government regulatory authority over hydraulic fracturing. They are motivated by a concern for ground water protection. Drillers are concerned that new federal regulations will cause permitting delays and increased costs.

Federal Government Regulation of Fracing Shale Gas Wells?

This is an issue worth following. I imagine the average person can be quite alarmed at the idea of an oil and gas company pumping enough water and chemicals into the Earth to fracture rocks enough to produce oil and gas. This technique is referred to in the industry as "fracing" and it is a common practice, but as its use spreads more people are becoming aware of it.

The question here is do we really need Federal regulation of the process of fracing? The states already regulate this activity and it has not been a problem. Why is there this sudden concern now? Is it part of a larger overall plan to hamper oil and gas production? Aren't we trying to limit our dependence on foreign oil and gas?
Peter

House Natural Resources Committee hearing testimony on shale gas drilling today

9:01 AM Thu, Jun 04, 2009 Dave Michaels/Reporter (source)

A hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee this morning will focus on the art of hydraulic fracturing and, more broadly, shale gas production. Some Democrats, including Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado, have charged that hydraulic fracturing can cause groundwater contamination and should be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency. (Gas drilling is currently regulated by state agencies.) A couple weeks ago, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson suggested her agency might reexamine the impact of drilling on drinking water. This further spooked the industry.

Even though DeGette has yet to introduce her bill, the industry has launched a preemptive strike with a coalition called Energy in Depth. Its case got a boost last week, when a report by the Ground Water Protection Council said state regulation was adequate. There are no known cases of contamination due to gas drilling in Texas, according to the Texas Railroad Commission and the Texas Groundwater Protection Committee.

The witnesses include Douglas Duncan of the U.S. Geological Survey; Scott Kell of the Groundwater Protection Council; and Mike John of Chesapeake Energy, a major player in the Barnett Shale. You can watch the hearing here

Optimism Over The Marcellus Shale

In these difficult times, it is encouraging to read some positive economic news. Here we have an example of people doing what Americans do best, using creativity, new technology, and persistance to produce a valuable product where none existed before.

In this case, people are producing large amounts of natural gas from a thick and widespread layer of rock called the Marcellus Shale in the northeastern United States. The Marcellus Shale has been known for over 100 years to contain gas, but it is only recently that operators have found a way to coax this gas out of the ground in enough volume to be of interest. And it is attracting a lot of interest. Search this blog for many more articles about the Marcellus Shale and how it is being developed.
Peter

Marcellus Shale results have National Fuel happy

By David Robinson

NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER (source)

National Fuel Gas Co. executives said they are encouraged by the early results from a new well that the company and its joint venture partner drilled in a potentially lucrative region of Pennsylvania.

The new well, drilled as part of its joint venture with EOG Resources, is producing more than 3 million cubic feet of natural gas a day in its early days of production, National Fuel executives said.

That production rate is nearly nine times the initial production rate of the joint venture’s first well, which was drilled last year and yielded a disappointing gas flow because of an inefficient job fracturing the rock to release the gas.

In all, the joint venture has drilled and completed initial tests on four wells on land it controls in the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania. The latest well’s initial production is double the highest initial yield of any of the three other wells the joint venture has drilled.

“This flow test confirms our expectations for the potential of our Marcellus Shale position,” said Matthew D. Cabell, who runs National Fuel’s oil and natural gas drilling business.

National Fuel has drilling rights on 720,000 acres of land in northwestern Pennsylvania that covers the Marcellus Shale, a geological formation that many experts believe holds vast amounts of natural gas. That gas previously went untapped, until the launch of new drilling techniques that allow the well to be drilled vertically and then horizontally, unlike a traditional well that goes straight down.

Within two years, National Fuel believes the high-yielding Marcellus wells could produce between 30 million and 40 million cubic feet of gas per day. The joint venture is completing work on two other wells. National Fuel’s own drilling program in the region calls for 10 vertical wells and two to three horizontal wells to be drilled this year.

National Fuel also spending up to $30 million build a small-scale pipeline system that will run for about 30 miles through in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania to gather the gas produced at the new Marcellus wells and bring it to nearby higher-capacity pipelines that can access major U. S. markets.

Shale Gas Play In North Carolina?

(source) Although North Carolina has no current oil or natural gas production, drilling methods developed in other states might be used to tap natural gas reservoirs beneath several North Carolina counties. The U.S. Unconventional Shales Gas Rush New methods of natural gas production are turning previously unproductive rock units across the United States into some of the largest natural gas reservoirs in North America. The Barnett Shale of Texas, the Marcellus Shale of the northeast, and the Haynesville Shale of Louisiana all went from relatively unproductive rock units to reservoirs hosting wells capable of yielding several million cubic feet of gas per day. Natural gas companies are paying landowners above these reservoirs thousands of dollars per acre for temporary drilling rights. If gas is produced from their property they will also receive royalty payments - which could be thousands of dollars per year per acre for as long as the well is productive. These successful gas plays have a few things in common: they are developed in deeply-buried, organic, low-permeability shales that were once marginal producers or unproductive. Today these shales are producing abundant quantities of natural gas through horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Horizontal Wells and Fractured Reservoirs Normal wells are drilled vertically down through the reservoir rock unit. If the reservoir is 100 feet thick then the well has a “pay zone” of 100 feet. However, if the well is drilled straight down, turned horizontal within the rock unit and drilled several thousand feet horizontally then the well has a pay zone of several thousand feet (see diagram at right). In other parts of the United States this drilling method is turning low-yield rock units into attractive reservoirs. A well enhancement technique known as hydraulic fracturing is also being used in other states. It increases the permeability of the reservoir rock. After a horizontal well is drilled, water is pumped down the well to produce a very high pressure within the reservoir rock unit. This high pressure can fracture the rock, producing a fracture network drain natural gas from a large volume of rock and allow it to seep into the well. Organic Shale In North Carolina Rock units in the Dan River Basin and Deep River Basin of central North Carolina are potential candidates for the drilling methods used in other states (see location map at right). Each of these basins contains a sequence of sedimentary rock several thousand feet thick. The potential natural gas reservoirs in these basins are gray and black organic shales that are thought represent ancient lake sediments, deposited over 200 million years ago. The Cumnock Formation of the Deep River Basin and the Cow Branch Formation of the Dan River Basin both contain organic-rich shales that might yield commercial quantities of natural gas. The Gas is Just One Piece of the Puzzle If these rock units are able to yield abundant quantities of gas two more things will be needed to make them commercial: 1) nearby customers who are ready to buy a steady flow of gas; and, 2) a gas pipeline system that will collect the gas from the wells and transport it to consumers. Although natural gas companies are normally the ones who drill wells, Universities, local governments and gas-consuming companies sometimes drill wells on their own property, consume the gas on-site or use it to generate electricity. They spend a few million dollars on the well and have a steady flow of gas that will last for years. Will It Happen in North Carolina? The new drilling methods could make North Carolina the newest gas-producing area in the United States. The United States Geological Survey and the North Carolina Geological Survey have done preliminary research that makes these shales look promising (see “Information Sources” box at right). Now it’s up to the gas companies and North Carolina entrepreneurs to investigate. Last update of this article: May 15, 2009.

Information Sources

More Horizontal Drilling In South Texas

Some (for example Petrohawk) think the Cretaceous Eagle Ford Shale may be Texas' next big shale gas play. In typical fashion, a vertical well is first drilled, cored, logged and tested. The vertical well is used for control, or as a standard by which to evaluate horizontal wells drilled nearby. The vertical well can be re-entered, or offset and then a new well bore is "kicked-off" and drilled laterally, or horizontally into the most prospective-looking layers of shale, often as far as 4-5,000 feet.

"Horizontal" is actually an over-simplification. What the operators try to do is drill parallel to bedding so the well bore stays in the preferred stratigraphic interval. That may not always be as simple as it sounds. The trick is steering the drill bit while the well is drilling. And this is where the services the Dallas-based consulting company Horizontal Solutions International come in.

Once the well has been drilled, the well is cased and cemented. The data is evaluated and a frac treatment (hydraulic fracturing) is planned. The horizontal section is then perforated and selectively "fraced", usually in stages. Then the well is opened up tested and often produced at exceptionally high rates of gas flow. Imagine having 4,000 feet of perforations in your pay zone! "Old-time" geologists and engineers can only dream with envy at modern technology.

If you would like more information on steering a horizontal well, contact me at geo-pete@live.com.


Texas-South

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 5 -- St. Mary Land & Exploration Co., Denver, is drilling the horizontal section of its first operated well targeting Cretaceous Eagle Ford shale.

The company cored the Eagle Ford in a vertical hole in the Maverick County well before plugging back and kicking off the lateral. It will run a microseismic study as it fracs the well.

The company plans to drill three more horizontal Eagle Ford wells later in 2009 and will continue participating with TXCO Resources Inc. and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in the joint venture that targets the Pearsall and Eagle Ford shales.

Search For New Shale Gas Plays Continues

This is good news for the industry. It seems there are many, many places where gas-containing shales like this one in Utah can, and should be tested. I hope this is successful. I wonder how many geologists are going back through old mud logs and looking at gas shows detected while drilling through shales? I wonder how many of these old mud logs are preserved and accessible?
Peter


Barrett probing two eastern Utah gas shales
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, May 6 -- Bill Barrett Corp., Denver, expects to learn the outcome by mid-2009 at a horizontal well spud late in the first quarter of 2009 seeking gas in Upper Mississippian Manning Canyon shale at 8,000 ft true vertical depth.

The prospect lies in northern Emery County southeast of Price, Utah, along the San Rafael Swell on the Uinta basin southwestern flank. Numerous wells as far west as Drunkards Wash coalbed methane field in Carbon County have had gas shows in Manning Canyon.

The horizontal well offsets an initial vertical well drilled in 2008 that indicated good gas shows and high gas content in core. Bill Barrett holds 50% working interest in the deep prospect.

The company has also drilled two vertical wells to 3,900 ft in the fractured Juana Lopez shale member of the Upper Cretaceous Mancos formation, in which it has 100% working interest. It plans to complete testing those wells in 2010.