Utica Shale

USGS Releases Assessment of Utica Shale

The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released its first assessment of the Utica Shale in the United States and reported that this formation holds 38 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, technically recoverable natural gas (mean estimate).

The USGS also said that the Utica Shale contains a mean of 940 million barrels of crude oil resources and 9 million barrels of natural gas liquids.  Although most industry development has been in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the survey also assessed the Upper Ordovician Utica Shale in Maryland, New York, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The estimated range of undiscovered resources is as follows:

Crude oil - 590 million barrels to 1.39 billion barrels

Natural gas - 21 to 61 TCF

Natural gas liquids - 4 to 16 million barrels

The USGS defines technically recoverable oil and gas resources as “those quantities of oil and gas producible using currently available technology and industry practices, regardless of economic or accessibility considerations.”  Here is a map of the area assessed by the USGS

Rex Energy - More Details On Utica Shale Development From Conference Call

Rex Energy (REXX) held a conference call on August 3, 2011, and discussed additional operational details on the company’s expanding Utica Shale position.

Rex Energy is moving a rig to drill the horizontal leg of a Utica Shale test well in Butler County, Pennsylvania.  This rig just finished a six well pad drilling operation into the Marcellus Shale and Burkett Shale in Pennsylvania.

The name of the Utica Shale well is Cheeseman and Rex Energy expects results from this well in the fourth quarter of 2011.  The Cheeseman well is eleven miles south of the Zion well drilled and completed by Range Resources (RRC)

Rex Energy said that the Warrior Prospect has approximately 80 net drilling locations based on 4,000 foot laterals, with 1,000 foot spacing between the laterals.  Union Drilling (UDRL) will construct a new rig to be used by Rex Energy to develop the play.

Rex Energy comments on Utica Shale Geology

• Utica Shale is Ordovician age and is the source rock for the overlying Silurian sandstones and Cambrian carbonates and sandstones in Ohio.
• Although the total organic carbon content from 2.4% to 3.7% is low compared to other shale plays, the thickness of the shale makes up for this. The Utica Shale in eastern Ohio is 150 feet thick and the Point Pleasant Formation is 140 feet thick.
• The Utica Shale is mature enough in the area that Rex Energy is involved with to produce wet gas.