Marcellus Dillers Getting A Bonus

Range Resources, one of the first oil and gas companies to drill into the Marcellus, has just increased the estimate of their 'Unproven Reserves'. What that means is, they now think that they can get a lot more gas out of the ground than they previously thought. Why do they think that?

First of all, their Marcellus Shale gas wells in PA are producing way better than they had hoped. Secondly, there is more gas in the Upper Devonian Shale (just above the Marcellus) and in the Utica Shale (below the Marcellus). As they learn more about the potential of these other shale formations, it's highly probable that the reserve numbers will increase even more.

The bottom line is, the land and mineral rights above the Marcellus Shale is becoming more and more valuable.

Another Marcellus Joint Venture

Triana Energy and Marathon Oil will be joining forces in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in a venture to produce natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. They reportedly have access to 82,000 acres in northern West Virginia and Fayette County, PA. They plan to drill 4 wells this year, but it's estimated that the total acreage could support up to 350 horizontal wells.

PA 'Clears The Air'

One of the many 'trumped up' charges from the Anti-Natural Gas Crowd is that the air pollution (caused by the drilling operations) will cause health problems. To find out for sure, the Pennsylvania DEP conducted a four week study of the air quality around Marcellus Shale drilling operations. The study focused on Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as well as other potential pollutants that are associated with natural gas well operations. They found no threat to human health in any of their testing.