Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on March 9, 2012 at 2:16pm

Thanks for your informative reply Thomas. One question; by electronic meter do you mean digital? If so, I am pleased to hear that they will be used routinely.

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on May 16, 2014 at 2:08pm

Thomas,

I have been researching what other states with gas and oil fields do re. auditing of gas and oil production and have found that some use 3rd party companies to independently do the auditing. Does your company do this in another state? I have sent you a friend request so we can talk about this.

Kathi

Permalink Reply by Utica Shale on March 9, 2012 at 2:58am

Kathi,

 Many of the newer O&G leases do have a some what vague Audit clause but I do not know of any lease that has a clause regarding Digital vs. Analog measurement.

 Your question is regarding verifying volume.  Another question is, "What percentage of that volume contains the higher valued gases other than cheap methane?" How can the landowner ever know that?

 

" ... Natural gas processing consists of separating all of the various hydrocarbons and fluids from the pure natural gas, to produce what is known as 'pipeline quality' dry natural gas. Major transportation pipelines usually impose restrictions on the make-up of the natural gas that is allowed into the pipeline. That means that before the natural gas can be transported it must be purified. While the ethane, propane, butane, and pentanes must be removed from natural gas, this does not mean that they are all 'waste products'.

In fact, associated hydrocarbons, known as 'natural gas liquids' (NGLs) can be very valuable by-products of natural gas processing. NGLs include ethane, propane, butane, iso-butane, and natural gasoline. These NGLs are sold separately and have a variety of different uses; including enhancing oil recovery in oil wells, providing raw materials for oil refineries or petrochemical plants, and as sources of energy. ... "

 

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on March 9, 2012 at 2:21pm

That is a good question Utica. Perhaps Thomas can give some input.

Kathi

Permalink Reply by matthew h mcsparren on March 9, 2012 at 2:48pm

Kathi: a landowner should request a gas sample be run through a gas chromagraph, before the gas leaves their ground. this will give you a breakdown of the % of elememts that make up the Natural Gas stream leaving your lease. ( ex. methane 82%/ propane 5% / ehtane12% ) rest would be smaller % to total 100%. This ex. would be wet gas, high hydrates.

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on March 9, 2012 at 4:04pm

Thanks Matthew. Am I right in thinking that these values will change over time and should therefore be done with some regularity to have an accurate picture?

Kathi

Permalink Reply by matthew h mcsparren on March 10, 2012 at 5:36am

Depends on flow rate. Anything over 2 million per day should have one a month. Over 10 million should have chromatagraph on site to provide updates to the data in the measurment inst. every 10 minutes or so. One BTU difference in the measurement in high flow can make a large error. electronic inst. are very accurte, but only as good as the info. installed and the calibration. 

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on March 9, 2012 at 4:11pm

Thanks Thomas. I hope that I don't sound paranoid but a recent royalty check just had an adjustment line and when I asked why they said it was because there was an error in July because the chart was lost. I'm sure there has to be a better system.

Kathi

Permalink Reply by Kathi Albertson on March 9, 2012 at 3:34pm

Thanks to all of you for the informative comments you are contributing to this discussion. Due to a recent article in the Akron Beacon Journal citing a study done by the major colleges in NE Ohio that claimed unexplained discrepancies in production reports from gas well producers in Ohio, there are significant questions about the honesty of the companies involved. This is compounded by the fact that county auditors have not had access to the meters at the well head, not that they have had the training to understand them if they had access. It sounds like there is hope for the future, even if the auditors have to hire a third party to do the readings for them. I think it will help a lot of us to think that we are getting paid fairly, hoping that we get to the production phase in the first place.

Kathi