Just doing some research on the various plays in PA. Family has a couple of properties in PA, with one now tentatively part of a land group (no bonus check in hand yet). So, obviously my interest in this subject has increased ;)

Regarding the subject line, in doing my research it seems like the dry gas areas are viewed almost exclusively as holding dry gas and not much else. I'm assuming this is mostly true for the Upper Devonian and Marcellus Shale plays. It seems to me that the Utica is more of a mystery (in PA, anyway) since it hasn't really been explored all that much to this point, but obviously there is probably NG down there, at the least.

Of course, we all know that oil is the real prize for both the O&G companies and the landowners given the price of oil. PA at one time was home to a fairly vibrant oil industry, but a lot was sucked out of the ground back in the day, so it seems like NG is the main target these days.

So, to my question, in areas that are considered dry gas areas, does this mean that only gas will be found there? Is it possible that fairly significant reserves of oil could be found in the Utica Shale in PA whenever the O&G companies truly get around to exploring those areas more fully? I've done a fair amount of searching on this subject, but most of what I've read is inconclusive. I'm not getting a sense one way or the other as to what these shale plays might yield in the way of oil, if any.

Secondary question - I was looking through a shareholder's report (I think - not really sure what it was, maybe just a presentation) from Range Resources that shows a cross-section of the various layers in PA. It seems like there is quite a few layers to be explored/drilled, but I guess it also depends on where a property is located. Can one vertical well be used to explore the various shale layers via laterals, or, does a new vertical well have to be drilled in order to explore each level? I assumed that laterals can only be specific to a certain depth, i.e. a vertical well down to the Marcellus would have laterals that only take gas (or oil) from the Marcellus at that level.

Sorry to be long-winded, but I'm just trying to get my head around this stuff now that we're in the middle of it. Thanks.   

Views: 350

Reply to This

© 2024   Created by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher).   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service