Co-organized by the International Gas Union (IGU) and the American Gas Association (AGA), and with the full support of an industry-led steering committee, World Shale Gas is the only platform bringing together the companies and organizations that will shape the future of the shale gas industry and make it a reality world-wide.

World Shale Gas is an international conference and exhibition where resource holders, governments, state companies and regulators throughout the world can meet all key enablers – from the independent gas operators that have been leading the US shale gas industry for the past 10 years, to investors, geophysical, service, engineering, construction, consulting and risk management companies.

Together they will discuss the challenges and opportunities in the shale gas industry, and the vital elements of its development around the globe: latest technologies, new resource plays, best practice, cost control, financing, regulation, the environment, and its impact on the gas market.

Key speakers will include Dr Datuk Abdul Rahim Hashim, President of the International Gas Union and Torstein Indrebø, Secretary General of the International Gas Union.

Among others, the conference will represent the following groups:

* NOCs, governments and ministries of petroleum and mineral resources keen to develop their plays
* Regulatory and environmental bodies
* Independent gas producers that have been leading the North American shale gas industry for the past 10 years
* New IOCs entering the market
* International and national associations of gas producers, engineers and suppliers
* Service and Technology providers: geophysical, drilling and completions, hydraulic fracturing, pumping, reservoir optimisation and wastewater treatment, amongst others
* Consulting and risk management firms
* Investors, banks and investment firms

“The success in the USA can be applied to the rest of the world, and is already revolutionizing the market,” says the Conference’s website. “To do so, technologies, best practice and knowledge sharing are vital and must evolve to meet specific, local challenges, and keep development costs under control.”

SOURCE:
World Shale Gas 2010

To join that select group, a well’s output must average more than 8 million cubic feet of gas per day during its peak month.

Fewer than 1 in 1,000 Barnett wells has attained such a lofty yield for a month, which is enough gas to meet the heating and cooking needs for about 3,300 homes for a year, based on American Gas Association usage data.

While the Barnett Shale underlies more than 20 North Texas counties, the top “sweet spots” are in Tarrant and Johnson counties. All of the 35 biggest wells are in those counties, according to a new report by the Fort Worth-based Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter.

The premier producer, hands down, is the Day Kimball Hill A1 well in Arlington in far southeast Tarrant County, which averaged 12.97 million cubic feet of gas per day in October. It’s the only well averaging more than 10 million cubic feet daily, but all of the top 10 wells averaged 8.2 million or more daily, and all of the top 35 averaged more than 6.3 million daily, which is triple what many typical Barnett wells produce.

Natural gas giant

The big wells epitomize what the Barnett has become — a whopper of a natural gas field, whether measured by state or national standards.

In 2008, the Barnett passed the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico and Colorado (discovered in 1927) to become the most productive natural gas field in America, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Steve Grape, a petroleum engineer and agency official in Dallas, said he won’t have the final 2009 field-by-field production numbers until after he receives data in April.

“In my personal opinion, the Barnett is still ahead — but without numbers to back it up, it’s all hat and no cattle,” said Grape. It’s possible, he said, that the San Juan might have nudged ahead of the Barnett.

Barnett production peaked at 5.1 billion cubic feet per day in early 2009 and is currently about 4.8 billion, said Gene Powell, publisher of the Powell Barnett Shale Newsletter and a veteran petroleum researcher.

Weaker gas prices have pushed down Barnett production, but Powell said the rig count could make a sharp uptick if prices rise to $6.50 or $7. Futures prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange recently have been below $5.

Tops in Texas

The Barnett is by far the largest gas-producing field in Texas, which leads the U.S. in gas production. And only Russia produces more gas than the U.S.

Texas Railroad Commission data show that the Barnett produced 1.76 trillion cubic feet of gas in 2009, or nearly 10 times the 182 billion cubic feet of the second-biggest field, the Carthage (Cotton Valley) in East Texas. From January through October 2009, the Barnett accounted for 26 percent of Texas’ gas production.

Tarrant County, which historically had minuscule gas production throughout the 20th century, is now the No. 1 gas producer among the states’ 254 counties. There are about 1,000 producing wells within Fort Worth alone, Powell said.

By Jack Z. Smith for the Star-Telegram. March 6, 2010.

SOURCE:
Star-Telegram: “‘Monster’ Wells Epitomize What The Barnett Shale Has Become”

The study, “Validation of Direct Natural Gas Use to Reduce CO2 Emissions,” found that when a societal subsidy such as a rebate or a tax credit is put in place to encourage the use of natural gas appliances, significant savings in energy costs, CO2 emissions, energy use, and electricity use can be achieved.

The report: Validation of Direct Natural Gas Use to Reduce CO2 Emissions

Source: American Gas Association

An excellent source for statistics and information on the natural gas industry and its various sectors is the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA was created in 1977 as the statistical arm of the Department of Energy, charged with developing energy data and analyses that help to enhance the understanding of the energy industry. For a good overview of relevant updated statistics related to the natural gas industry, view the EIA’s summary statistics on natural gas.

Below are some statistics on the makeup of the natural gas industry in the United States. Follow the links to view the most up to date information on each sector:

• Producers – There are over 6,300 producers of natural gas in the United States. These companies range from large integrated producers with worldwide operations and interests in all segments of the oil and gas industry, to small one or two person operations that may only have partial interest in a single well. The largest integrated production companies are termed ‘Majors’, of which 21+ are active in the United States. Information on the production of natural gas is available on EIA’s website.

• Processing – There are over 530 natural gas processing plants in the United States, which were responsible for processing almost 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and extracting over 630 million barrels of natural gas liquids in 2006. For more information on natural gas processing, visit the Gas Processors Association.

• Pipelines – There are about 160 pipeline companies in the United States, operating over 300,000 miles of pipe. Of this, approxiamtely 180,000 miles are interstate pipelines. This natural gas pipeline infrastructure is capable of transporting over 148 Billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas per day from producing regions to consuming regions. To see a list of major pipeline companies, including links to their websites, visit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

• Storage – There are about 123 natural gas storage operators in the United States, which control approximately 400 underground storage facilities. These facilities have a storage capacity of 4,059 Bcf of natural gas, and an average daily deliverability of 85 Bcf per day. The EIA maintains a weekly storage survey, monitoring the injection and withdrawal of stored natural gas. This survey gives a good indication of the status of the natural gas market, measuring the natural gas that is extracted or stored at any one time in response to the demand for natural gas. Learn more about statistics and information related to natural gas storage in the United States.

• Local Distribution Companies – There are about 1,200 natural gas distribution companies in the U.S., with ownership of over 1.2 million miles of distribution pipeTo learn about the status of distribution restructuring across the United States visit the EIA. To learn more about natural gas distribution companies and their regulatory structure, visit the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The American Gas Association is also an excellent source for information on LDCs.

• Marketing – The status of the natural gas marketing segment of the industry is constantly changing, as companies enter and exit from the industry quite frequently. As of 2000, there were over 260 companies involved in the marketing of natural gas. In this same year, about 80 percent of all the natural gas supplied and consumed in North America passed through the hands of natural gas marketers. The volume of non-physical natural gas that passes through the hands of marketers is very large, and can be much greater than the actual physical volume consumed. This is an indication of vibrant, transparent commodity markets for natural gas. (For example, in 1998, it is estimated that for every thousand cubic feet of natural gas consumed, about 2.7 thousand cubic feet passed through natural gas marketers. For more information on natural gas and energy marketers, visit the National Energy Marketers Association.

Posted by: C.Keddy
(source: Energy Information Administration (EIA).