Ohio's Utica shale is shaping up as a gas-rich, not oil-rich play

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/drilling/ohio-utica-shale-1.291290/ohio-s...

The data appears to show that the Utica shale will be dominated by natural gas more than oil. The oil volumes were lower than had been projected, and that’s likely a disappointment to analysts and energy companies.

"It’s shaping up largely as a natural-gas play," said Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association. "I’m not disappointed or discouraged by the numbers. … But this is a process that takes time to develop."

It is possible that large quantities of oil may still be found in sections of the Utica shale in Ohio, he said.

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Permalink Reply by Jim on June 18, 2013 at 7:47am

An acre foot is one acre-one foot thick.  I'm looking for the amount of oil in one acre that is one foot thick.  It is a way of determining the amount of oil in a formation that is 100 feet thick or 350 feet thick.  If you know how thickness of the formations below your feet, you would be able to figure out how much oil is there.

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on June 19, 2013 at 12:31am

Jim,

Mr. Grayson's thumbnail calc. was based on 900,000 bbls. extrapolated from the EVEP given 30 million bbls per section.

I think it safe to say that only EVEP knows where their 30 million bbls per section estimate came from / was based on.  

It could have been based on your bbls/acre foot yardstick and an average thickness per acre or some combination of other criteria entirely.

There are a lot of different ways to come up with an estimate of anything.

 

Permalink Reply by Jim on June 19, 2013 at 4:50am

Jodi,

Good research.  I have seen Jarvie data from the Barnett Shale that includes S1 and S2 values along with TOC values to determine bbl oil/ac ft.  I'm wondering if the added S1 and S2 values could change the calculations.  I don't expect you to answer this. 

Permalink Reply by ShaleBuster007 on June 19, 2013 at 5:16am

Jim,

Slide 18 has the formula for estimating oil in place on a per foot/per section basis.

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Permalink Reply by Jim on June 19, 2013 at 5:34am

Thanks 007.  Amazing how fast a difficult questions gets answered here at GMS

Permalink Reply by ShaleBuster007 on June 19, 2013 at 5:59am

JODI,

I found this article to be quite interesting regarding the Utica/Pt. Pleasant in Ohio...I believe Gulfport reiterated the same findings earlier in a press conference...did they not?

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Permalink Reply by T. Alexander on June 19, 2013 at 6:29am

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but what I found most interesting in ShaleBuster's link was this tidbit:

An additional characteristic of the Point Pleasant is that it exhibits an unusually low water saturation [an inplication of which] is that wells which have been shut-in for a period of time after completion perform better than those that were brought on production immediately.  Operators have discovered that "resting" wells for 60-90 days following fracture stimulation can increase production rates by up to a factor of five times the rates of wells that weren't shut-in. 

There's so much these companies are discovering as they go that I'm wondering if it just isn't best in the long run for leaseholders to worry less about how quickly they get their land drilled and be more hopeful it doesn't get drilled too early in learning curve.

Permalink Reply by JR on June 16, 2013 at 10:46am
Bob I'd guess its to help prove up the asset and eventually sell at a higher price?
Permalink Reply by arminius on June 16, 2013 at 7:25pm

Bob, perhaps they are.  This past week I spoke with a landowner who lives 2 miles west of Port Washington in Tuscaraws County.  He said he was recently approached by Enervest to lease his acreage for $3500/acre (royalty undisclosed).  This is a first I have heard of Enervest directly approaching a landowner.  Either they need his acreage to complete a unit they hbp or they have such faith in that area of the volatile oil window that they are attempting to get additional acreage on the cheap.

Permalink Reply by TM on June 19, 2013 at 6:46am
I totally agree t Alexander. It is very hard waiting to get drilled on. On the other hand I would rather wait until techniques are improved. I want a productive well to be drilled and not just be a giant science experiment of trial and error. Seems it may even take years to find the right completion techniques in some areas of the play.
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on June 16, 2013 at 3:44pm
Here's an opinion.
I'm thinking it's a 'gas rich' play because
that's what the lessees and developers want
it to be right now.
We're talking about a bunch of billionaires
boys and girls.
Hope all you Fathers had a great Father's
Day - I did.
J-O
Mike MurphyPermalink Reply by Mike Murphy on June 17, 2013 at 5:15am

I agree with  Joseph 

the big money is playing checkers right now 

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