Marcellus Shale Reserves Could Be Bigger Than Expected
Test wells in the Marcellus region have led some researchers and energy companies to believe there may be more shale gas in the rock belt than once believed.
Initial estimates say that there may be a decade’s worth of additional reserves in the Pennsylvania play which could be easily tapped by the existing drilling projects currently in operation.
One of the companies conducting these preliminary tests is Texas-based Range Resources Corp, who told Reuters it had successfully tested two wells in the Upper Devonian Shale above the Marcellus, and the Utica, below it.
“The results are very promising,” Range spokesman Matt Pitzarella wrote in an email. “Even though it’s still very early, the prospects are very good, indicating that either of these formations could be stand-alone gas fields.”
Cabout Oil & Gas Corp. also recently completed a successful test well into the Purcell Limestone, between the upper and lower Marcellus levels.
Current estimates by geologists say the Marcellus shale play holds about 489 trillion cubic feet of gas, enough to meet total U.S. needs for about 20 years at the current national consumption rate of some 23 trillion cubic feet a year.
Short URL: http://naturalgasforamerica.com/?p=925
Posted by admin
on July 2nd, 2010. Filed under Marcellus Shale, Shale Basins, Shale Gas.
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