Comment

Comment by george m vietze on November 12, 2018 at 7:50am

What does the future hold for natural gas in Erie County,Pa.??  As an owner of over a 100 acres of mineral rights in Erie County,Pa. I have an interest in the future of natural gas and although a novice about the industry I have researched enough to have an opinion.  The lack of Marcellus gas in Erie County have focused natural gas development in counties in Pennsylvania that produce Marcellus.  Shale gas in general has had its challenges some being the cost and technology of drilling and faster decline rates that limit the return on investment expected by gas companies.  My research had shed light on natural gas resources in Erie County, Pa. on Upper Devonian strata and mainly  the Rhinestreet area of that strata.  It seems that is contains a more permeable sandy area and prior production areas have indicated a slower decline rate with a long life for wells.  The Upper Devonian is above the Marcellus and Utica which makes it less expensive to drill.  Since the Marcellus areas also have the option of tapping the Upper Devonian area I don't expect early development in Erie County but progress has been made with horizontal drilling in Upper Devonian area in other counties in Pa.  Comments from others that may have more experience than I do is welcome but I would like to inform owners of mineral rights in Erie County that the future may include Erie County.

Comment by george m vietze on September 29, 2014 at 11:08am

Update: September 29, 2014

Stedman Energy was issued a permit to drill a natural gas well in Lowville,Pa. (Wattsburg area)

near Route 8 and Hwy 89.

I will try to post the information and would someone on this site try to locate the map on the well site, I was unable to find on the DEP site.

Authorization ID:	1037407
Permit number:	049-25432
Site:	R MEABON 12 OG WELL
Client:	STEDMAN ENERGY INC
Authorization type:	Drill & Operate Well Permit
Application type:	New
Authorization is for:	FACILITY
Date received:	07/28/2014
Status:	Issued on 9/24/2014

Comment by uncle sye on April 30, 2014 at 2:35pm

I somehow missed the article in the paper. Great news. I am excited for the future of Northwestern Pennsylvania!

Comment by george m vietze on April 22, 2014 at 12:15am

The recent article in the Erie Times about the natural gas plant in Erie County (Union City) that proceses natural gas into liquified gas taken mainly from over 6500 existing Medina wells in the area justified the $10million invested in the plant.  The Medina wells have been producing for many years and many of the wells have seen their best days.  Newer technology has made it efficient to drill new wells and tap the Upper Devonian strata that lies beneath that area of Pennsylvania above the Marcellus which is not prevelant in this part of the state.  Eventually the deeper Utica will be developed and some companies have their eye on even deeper area such as the Knox layers (Trenton Black River and Beekmantown) and the oil that permeates below.  Don't count our Erie County, the future looks bright as newer technology fine tunes itself, the gas and oil is not going to evaporate and patience is the name of the game.  With the processing plant available in Union City to separate the existing natural gas the incentive to drill will attract more development in the near future.  Now is the time to plan for that future, open up those bank accounts,  see your accountants and attorneys and plan for your future, its looking brighter and brighter.

Comment by george m vietze on April 18, 2014 at 11:50pm

Erie County has been slow to expand their resources since the "Marcellus Shale" boom but for some of us who live here its considered a blessing.  The resources beneath our are not evaporating and the mistakes learned by those in other area become our learning curve.  Most of the landowners did not know very much about the gas and oil industry let along about the geology of the area.  Understanding about who to do business with and more importantly who NOT to do busi ness with is very important.  Technology is moving fast and things are changing and improving rapidily.  This has given Erie County a little more time consider how to plan for the future.  

The building of infrastructure is very important, both National Fuel Gas and EmKey Energy,LLC are important assets to Erie County.  National Fuel Gas is a public utility company who not only provides natural gas service to residents of Erie County but purchases and distributes natural gas to the marketplace.  EmKey Energy, an Erie,Pa.

company is a private company the builds natural gas distribution in our area and owns

private wells as well as many natural gas leased properties.  The expansion of the Port of Erie will eventually allow the shipping of natural gas products as well as natural gas to other large marketplaces both on the east coast as well as overseas.  Empire Energy USA has a major investment in Erie County as well as other places and they are part of a large public company with major resources in both Pennsylvania and New York and the gas situation being on hold in New York will add additional focus in Pennsylvania.  The technology to develop and expand natural gas stratas will help develop areas that in the past have been neglected because of poor production will eventually bring more natural gas to the marketplace.  It may have been slower in coming but the knowledge of who to work with and who not to work with is invaluable and the fact that both the "oil" people and the natural gas people are working different stratas we are being researched from top to bottom and eventually more production will be the result.

The names I mentioned, in my opinion, will be key players in the future of Erie County and from what I know, are the kind of players that will be around as the technology develops the infrastructure will be expanded to accomodate the market.

As Erie expands its Bayfront together with the expansion of the Port of Erie and the redevelopment of its downtown and the economic benefits of both oil and natural gas the future of Erie County shines bright on the horizon.

All we need now is the incentive to build and INDOOR beach on the Bayfront and those of us

who want to leave in the winter months would prefer to stay closer to home.

Comment by uncle sye on April 18, 2014 at 2:05pm

I live just inside Warren County, near Columbus and Rex Energy had been around leasing properties about two years ago. There hasn't been any activity lately. I would expect some wells to be drilled soon. Time will tell.

Very exciting to hear about the activity and promising results in Wattsburg. Such a great opportunity for many people in the area to prosper and enjoy the gift underneath our feet. How lucky are we? Good luck

Comment by george m vietze on April 18, 2014 at 10:09am

The group that drilled Adameck#1 are with SLC Energy,llc and have leased approx 2,000 additional acres near that well.  The test results were good enough for them to bring in family members and their goal seems to be "oil".  They say they have over 10+ properties to drill in Greenfield, Venango and Greene Township (Erie County,Pa.).  It looks like they are starting in Albion where the permitting process in underway.

The Adameck#1 test well was over 7,200' and they have test results all the way down to the Roserun, which was their target area.  Their actions demonstrate they like what they see.  Time will tell.

I do not know of any deep well activity but the talk from the gas companies that have worked that area for years is that the Upper Devonian area have potential and plans seem to be being made to explore that potential.  We all are awaiting the results of the wells in the Adameck#1 area especially since they are mainly "oil" people who believe the areas below the Utica could be their payoff.  We are being explored top-to-bottom and the area has existing distribution lines.

Our property is 270 acres and has an existing National Fuel Gas high pressure and also a low pressure line.  The high pressure line can accomodate up to around 900 lbs. but typically operates much lower.  The owner of our lease is a large Erie company who specializes in constructing distribution lines and is looking for the right partner to possibly drill some wells.

I will keep you posted when I know more but it has been a pretty quiet winter and spring should bring out the flowers and hopefully the driller rigs.

Comment by uncle sye on April 18, 2014 at 9:33am

Any recent activity in the county?