Magnum Hunter Resources (MHR) - Utica Shale

By Tim - http://oilshalegas.com

Utica Shale News - Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation (NYSE: MHR) provides an update on the Utica Shale located in Noble County, Ohio.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation (NYSE: MHR) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Triad Hunter, LLC ("Triad Hunter"), has closed on the acquisition of leasehold mineral interests located predominately in Noble County, Ohio (the "Utica Acreage") from an undisclosed seller for a total purchase price of $24.8 million.

The Utica Acreage consists of approximately 15,558 gross (12,186 net) acres predominately located in Noble County, Ohio. The net price paid per acre for this acquisition was $2,037. The majority of the leasehold acreage acquired in this transaction is held by shallower production. The purchase includes all depths of 300 feet below the top of the Queenston Formation down to all further depths. There is no associated shallow production included with this acquisition. There is a possibility of a second closing on another block of similar acreage that may occur on or before April 16, 2012, assuming the Seller can satisfy certain title deficiency requirements.

The Utica Acreage is in close proximity to Triad Hunter's existing acreage position in Washington and Noble Counties, Ohio, and now provides Triad Hunter approximately 18,187 gross (14,815 net) acres in in these two counties, and a total of 23,214 gross (17,316 net) acres that are presently prospective for the Utica Shale..

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Noble County, Ohio - Utica Shale

By Tim - http://oilshalegas.com

Utica Shale News - Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation (NYSE: MHR) provides an update on the Utica Shale located in Noble County, Ohio.

Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation (NYSE: MHR) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Triad Hunter, LLC ("Triad Hunter"), has closed on the acquisition of leasehold mineral interests located predominately in Noble County, Ohio (the "Utica Acreage") from an undisclosed seller for a total purchase price of $24.8 million.

The Utica Acreage consists of approximately 15,558 gross (12,186 net) acres predominately located in Noble County, Ohio. The net price paid per acre for this acquisition was $2,037. The majority of the leasehold acreage acquired in this transaction is held by shallower production. The purchase includes all depths of 300 feet below the top of the Queenston Formation down to all further depths. There is no associated shallow production included with this acquisition. There is a possibility of a second closing on another block of similar acreage that may occur on or before April 16, 2012, assuming the Seller can satisfy certain title deficiency requirements.

The Utica Acreage is in close proximity to Triad Hunter's existing acreage position in Washington and Noble Counties, Ohio, and now provides Triad Hunter approximately 18,187 gross (14,815 net) acres in in these two counties, and a total of 23,214 gross (17,316 net) acres that are presently prospective for the Utica Shale..

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Range Resources Corp. (RRC) : Marcellus Shale Update

By Andrea: http://oilshalegas.com



Range Resources Corp. (RRC) recently released an update on the Marcellus shale located in Washington County, PA and Lycoming County, PA:

Range's Marcellus production exit rate for the third quarter was 191 Mmcfe per day net. Approximately 71% of the production was natural gas and 29% was NGLs and condensate. At the end of the third quarter, approximately 34 Mmcfe per day of net production was shut in waiting on gathering and compression facilities currently under construction. In addition, Range has drilled 44 wells that are waiting on completion, of which 23 are scheduled to be completed prior to year-end. Given excellent drilling results through the first nine months of the year, Range is well-positioned to meet or exceed its Marcellus Shale year-end 2010 production exit rate target of 200 to 210 Mmcfe per day net.

During the third quarter, the Marcellus Division brought online a total of 18 horizontal wells in southwestern Pennsylvania, all in the liquids-rich "wet area" of the play. The wells had average lateral lengths of 3,291 feet and averaged 11 frac stages. The initial seven-day gross production rate for the 18 wells averaged 8.5 Mmcfe per day. All 18 wells are initially producing under somewhat constrained conditions due to gathering and compression capacity, as the facilities are not designed for peak production. Based on initial production results, we expect the average estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of these 18 wells to exceed our average reserve estimate of 5.0 Bcfe per well for the southwest portion of Pennsylvania. Given low natural gas prices, we plan to drill fewer wells per pad, utilizing moderate lateral lengths and frac stages. This will allow us to build production with lower cycle times, while efficiently developing our leasehold position and generating outstanding well economics.

Providing additional upside resource potential from this region without additional acreage costs are a variety of shale formations that lie above the Marcellus formation. Range has now drilled and completed an initial horizontal test well to the Upper Devonian shales. Our first test indicates significant gas in place. The average seven-day test rate for the initial well was 5.1 Mmcfe per day. Range plans several more Upper Devonian test wells in 2011. We believe that a majority of our acreage in the southwest portion of the play is prospective for the Upper Devonian shales.

Over the past two years, Range has concentrated its leasing activities to filling in and blocking up its key acreage positions. In addition to acquiring fill-in leases in these areas, we have completed several acreage trades with third parties. The acreage trades allow each party to block up their respective leasehold positions. Recently, Range completed a trade in which it acquired approximately 42,000 net acres in our core area of southwestern Pennsylvania. The new acreage has longer term and adds more than 500 horizontal drilling locations in Washington County, an area where infrastructure is already in place and Range has had significant drilling success. To facilitate the trade, Range transferred approximately 55,000 net acres, of which 47,000 acres are located in West Virginia and 8,000 acres are located in Bradford and Sullivan counties in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The Marcellus infrastructure build out continues to progress on schedule. In the southwestern portion of the play, committed wet gas processing capacity has increased to 185 Mmcf per day, and is scheduled to expand to 390 Mmcf per day by third quarter 2011. Range also has access to an additional 40 Mmcf per day of wet gas processing on an interruptible basis. Dry gas capacity is currently 25 Mmcf per day in southwestern Pennsylvania, increasing to 65 Mmcf per day by year-end 2010. In the northeastern portion of the play, the build out of the first phase 150 Mmcf per day Lycoming County gathering system is on schedule for a year-end 2010 start up, with capacity increasing to as much as 350 Mmcf per day by year-end 2011.

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Washington County, PA - Marcellus Shale Update

By Andrea: http://oilshalegas.com

Recently, Range Resources Corp. (RRC) released an update on the Marcellus Shale, located in Washington County, PA:

Recently, Range completed a trade in which it acquired approximately 42,000 net acres in our core area of southwestern Pennsylvania. The new acreage has longer term and adds more than 500 horizontal drilling locations in Washington County, an area where infrastructure is already in place and Range has had significant drilling success. To facilitate the trade, Range transferred approximately 55,000 net acres, of which 47,000 acres are located in West Virginia and 8,000 acres are located in Bradford and Sullivan counties in northeastern Pennsylvania.

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Marcellus Shale: ATN Atlas Energy Washington PA

Atlas Energy ( ATN ) has come out and given shareholders a drilling update on the Marcellus Shale. Atlas Energy is currently active in the following Pa counties: Washington, Greene, Fayette.

Atlas Energy ATN announces today that it has completed a vertical well in the Marcellus Shale that produced a record 5 million cubic feet of natural gas into a pipeline over a 24-hour period and, after 25 days of production, has produced approximately 81 million cubic feet. Atlas completed this well using a two-stage frac design that it pioneered earlier this year, which was drilled on the Company's own account. The Company has now successfully completed seven two-stage vertical fracs in the Marcellus Shale and has averaged initial rates of production for 24 hours of 2.5 million cubic feet per day. The Company intends to complete all future vertical Marcellus wells with similar multi-stage fracs. Atlas has performed over 100 vertical Marcellus completions.
"These results reflect not only the effectiveness of our completion designs, but also the quality of our acreage," stated Richard D. Weber, President and Chief Operating Officer. "The potential of horizontal wells having frac designs with up to eight stages is very exciting given the exceptional results from our two stage verticals."
Atlas is also currently operating an extensive horizontal Marcellus program and expects to complete 12 wells by early in the second quarter of 2009. Ten of these wells will be drilled in a 50/50 joint venture with an industry partner in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The remaining two wells will be drilled in eastern Greene and western Fayette counties of Pennsylvania in an industry consortium where Atlas will have a 25% working interest. In each case, Atlas will be the operator. The Company is currently running two horizontal rigs. The first two wells have been drilled and cased to 2,400 feet and 3,800 feet, respectively, and will be completed and turned into line in January.
In addition, Atlas continues to hedge the price it receives for its natural gas production, with hedges in place through 2013 at prices ranging from approximately $8.00 to $9.00 per mcf. The Company's hedge positions for 2009 and 2010 account for approximately 79% and 63%, respectively, of its recently disclosed production volume for the third quarter of 2008.

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Marcellus Shale: Washington County, Pa Update 10/22/08

Today, 10/22/08, Range Resources ( RRC ) and MarkWest Energy ( MWE ) announced the commencement of the initial phase of Pennsylvania’s first large-scale gas processing infrastructure with the successful launch of a mechanical refrigeration processing plant in Washington County.

Today’s announcement is the culmination of efforts by Range Resources and MarkWest to bring Marcellus Shale gas to the local market. Over the past four years, Range Resources has invested more than $700 million in leasehold, drilling and infrastructure.

MarkWest is investing approximately $200 million to construct midstream infrastructure to gather and process the natural gas that Range Resources is extracting from the Marcellus Shale. MarkWest’s investment includes the refrigeration plant announced today, which has capacity to process 30 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf per day) of natural gas. In addition, MarkWest is constructing a 30 Mmcf per day cryogenic processing plant that is expected to commence operations late in the first quarter of 2009. The cryogenic plant is being constructed next to the refrigeration plant and includes a depropanizer to extract propane from the gas stream, which will be sold regionally. MarkWest’s planned investment also includes a 120 Mmcf per day cryogenic plant with a depropanizer to extract additional natural gas liquids from the gas stream. The 120 Mmcf per day cryogenic plant is expected to be completed in late 2009. MarkWest is also evaluating the installation of a large fractionation facility to further enhance the value of the recovered natural gas liquids. http://oilshalegas.com