Utica Shale

National Fuel Gas Company Updates Utica Shale Operations

National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE:NFG) reported the completion of two horizontal wells drilled into the Utica Shale in McKean and Forest counties in Pennsylvania.

National Fuel Gas Company said that both Utica Shale wells are shut in for 60 days and will be put onto sales in November 2012.  The company reported that Tionesta well in Forest County had all hydraulic fracturing stages completed successfully, while the Mt. Jewett well in McKean County had only three hydraulic fracturing stages completed successfully.  National Fuel Gas Company said that the problem with the Mt. Jewett well was unrelated to the quality of the reservoir.      

National Fuel Gas Company plans to drill the Owl’s Nest well into the Utica Shale in fiscal 2013.   

National Fuel Gas - Utica Shale Summary

National Fuel Gas (NFG) held a recent analyst meeting and disclosed additional information on the company’s position in the Utica Shale in Pennsylvania and Ohio.  The company is at an early stage of evaluation of the potential and can’t yet determine the acreage exposure or resource potential of the Utica Shale.

National Fuel Gas drilled a vertical well in the Jewett area of McKean County, Pennsylvania in June 2011.  The company found 400 feet of gross reservoir at a depth of 10,000 feet in the Utica, Point Pleasant and Trenton formations.

National Fuel Gas plans to spud a vertical well in the Henderson area in September 2011 and another horizontal well in the Tionesta area in 2012.  The company believes that most of its acreage is located in the dry gas window of the play.

National Fuel Gas conducts its exploration and production operations as Seneca Resources Corporation.