Marcellus/Utica Activity Highlights: May 2017

Water Management Intro

A recent study by the State of Oklahoma’s Water Resource Board on produced water examined water reuse, disposal, economics and options in the Sooner State.

“Oklahoma Water for 2060 Produced Water Reuse and Recycling” was authorized by Gov. Mary Fallin because of “induced seismicity” during the past several years from operators injecting excess water into the Arbuckle Formation.

The recommendations released in April seek to reduce the challenges to water reuse through targeted regulations and legislation including water ownership; bonding; water sharing; right-of-way and discharge delegation.

The report also recommends additionally studying:

• How to facilitate the reuse of produced water in oil and gas operations;
• The feasibility of transferring the Mississippi Lime area produced water to the Stack Play;
• Evaporation as an alternative to injection; and
• Negative and positive environmental and stakeholder impacts, including companies and regulators, as well as any data gaps, before implementing a long-term project.

The best short-term and effective economic solution is for companies is reuse water, followed by putting water in disposal wells, according to the study.

The study also suggested that in the long term, surplus water could be gathered in Alfalfa County and sent to Blaine County for fracturing, reuse or desalinating water for use in power or industrial plants.

In addition, the study examined estimated costs and volumes of surface discharge in Beckham and Grant counties, desalination for power use in Pawnee and Seminole counties and desalination for industrial use in Grant.

Marcellus/Utica Activity Highlights

1. EQT Corp.: 4/30/17

EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT) announced plans to drill 119 Marcellus Shale wells in 2017, with 76 in Pennsylvania and 43 in West Virginia.

The wells will be drilled from multiwell pads and will have an average lateral length of 7,000 ft. The drilling program will focus on the Pittsburgh-based company’s core Marcellus acreage.

EQT intends to drill 81 Upper Devonian wells with an average lateral length of 7,300 ft. These wells will be limited to co-development on Marcellus pads in Pennsylvania.

In addition, EQT plans to drill seven Utica Shale exploratory wells in 2017 with an average lateral length of 6,800 ft. The company owns about 490,000 net acres, which it believes to be prospective for Utica Shale.

2. Ascent Resources: 3/22/17

Ascent Resources LLC, based in Oklahoma City, received a permit to drill a Utica Shale well in Belmont County, Ohio.

The Putney Field venture, #2H-A Seabright Clr Bl, will be in Section 12, Colerain Township. The wildcat has a planned depth of 20,437 ft and is on a 604-acre lease in Lansing, 7.5 Quad.

3. Consol Energy: 3/17/17

Canonsburg, Pa.-based Consol Energy Inc. (NYSE: CNX) plans to drill a Utica Shale well in Ohio’s Monroe County.

A permit has been issued for #11 Switz Nhsu Francis & April Kinzy. The well will be in Section 9, Switzerland Township on a 447-acre lease in Cameron 7.5 Quad. The projected depth of the Stillhouse Field well is 18,589 ft.

4. Antero Resources: 1/5/17

Denver-based Antero Resources Corp. (NYSE: AR) completed a Utica Shale well, #1H Kurtz Unit, from a drillpad in Monroe.

The Barnesville Consolidated Field discovery flowed 42.899 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas and 131 barrels (bbl) of oil per day. It is in Section 5, Summerfield 7.5 Quad, on a 546.89-acre lease. The well was drilled to 18,890 ft., 8,376 ft true vertical, and was completed at 9,054 ft-18,768 ft.

5. Consol Energy: 1/3/17

Consol Energy completed a Utica Shale producer on its Brewster lease in Monroe.

According to the company, #1 SWITZ6DHSU averaged 17.8 MMcf of gas per day during second-quarter 2016. It is in Section 5 of Switzerland Township, Cameron 7.5 Quad, and was drilled to 20,855 ft, 10,604 ft true vertical.

Additional completion information on the Stillhouse Field well is not available.

6. Shell Oil: 10/6/16

Plans for a major petrochemical plant have been announced by Houston-based Shell Oil Co. near Pittsburgh.

Work is expected to begin on the complex by 2017, and the plant will include an ethylene cracker with a polyethylene derivatives unit. Commercial production from the facility is expected to begin early in the next decade using ethane from shale gas producers in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays to produce 1.6 million tons of polyethylene plastic per year.

The plant will be built on the banks of the Ohio River, and placement of the plant will benefit customers due to shorter and more dependable supply chains. Shell executives said that the location is also ideal because more than 70% of North American polyethylene customers are within a 700-mile radius of Pittsburgh.

7. Stone Energy: 10/3/16

A new contract between Stone Energy Corp. (NYSE: SGY) and pipeline operator Williams Cos. Inc. (NYSE: WMB) will allow Stone to restart Marcellus Shale production in Wetzel County, W. Va.

Lafayette, La.-based Stone Energy has producing wells in the county’s Mary Field with volumes of about 45 MMcfe/d.

Production from the condensate-rich Mary Field was shut in in late 2015 due to low gas and NGL prices, as well as high midstream costs. Before being shut in, Mary Field production averaged 130 MMcfe/d.

Stone’s most recent completion in the field is at a Utica Shale well, #6HU Pribble, which had an average gas-sales rate of roughly 30 MMcf/d.