Even as late as today, U.S. producers are benefiting from the wisdom of legendary 19th-century newspaper editor, reformer and politician Horace Greeley who once offered the sage advice, "Go West, young man." Indeed, the Rocky Mountain region is virtually exploding with drilling activity as operators flock to the area to unlock the trillions of cubic feet of gas potential trapped within its unconventional-resource plays. However, with the recent unconventional gas-resource drilling successes in the Barnett shale in the Fort Worth Basin in Texas, the Fayetteville shale in north-central Arkansas and the Woodford shale in southeastern Oklahoma, producers are now increasingly hearing the call, "Go East!" There may be much merit to this mindset. One of the bigger operators in all three plays, Oklahoma City's Chesapeake Energy Corp., estimates that to the east of the Barnett-where its leased acreage could hold 4- to 6 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of recoverable gas reserves-the rich 200- to 300-foot-thick shale sections under its holdings in the Fayetteville may yield ultimate recoverable gas reserves of 6 Tcf while the Woodford might offer up another 1 Tcf. Houston's Newfield Exploration Co. is even more sanguine about the potential of the Woodford. By that company's calculations, its acreage in the southeastern Oklahoma shale play could hold a treasure trove of 3 to 6 Tcf of recoverable gas, depending on whether its Woodford position is developed on 80- or 40-acre spacing. For more on this, see the June issue of Oil and Gas Investor. For a subscription, call 713-260-6441.

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