Utica Update | Russell T. Rudy Energy LLC
“World Oil” reports that oil and gas production from the Utica shale has increased dramatically since 2012. The Utica play, which includes both the Utica and Point Pleasant formations, basically lies beneath the more famous Marcellus shale. Since the Utica is deeper, and therefore more expensive to drill, the Marcellus has received more attention to date. However, the Utica rises from the Southeast to the Northwest and actually outcrops in Quebec, Canada.
The Utica, like the Marcellus, is primarily beneath Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and Ohio. The shale is closer to the surface as it moves toward the Northwest, and is shallow enough to be economically attractive in Ohio where operators have drilled the shallower portions of the play to produce oil. However, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that with low oil prices, firming natural gas prices, and expanding gas processing infrastructure, the focus seems to be shifting to natural gas.
If organic material is buried deep enough, for long enough (we are talking millions of years), it will turn to kerogen, then oil and finally into natural gas. Basically, the more deeply buried the material, the more likely it is to be cooked into natural gas. The “oil window” is the temperature range for the formation and preservation of oil. This is generally considered to be from 60-120 degrees Celsius. More deeply buried, and therefore hotter, material will eventually be transformed into natural gas. This “gas window” is generally 100-200 degrees Celsius.
The southeastern portions of the Utica are deeper and therefore gas-prone, and the northwestern portions more oil-prone. The EIA notes that while initially operators were concentrating on the shallower, northwestern, oil-prone sections of the Utica, they are increasingly looking at the gas potential of the southeastern portion. The agency notes that since 2012 oil production in the Utica has increased from 4,400 barrels of oil per day to nearly 76,000 in June of this year. Concurrently, gas production has risen from 0.1 billion cubic feet per day to 3.5, almost twice the rate of increase for oil.
To read the article in its entirety, please go to http://www.worldoil.com/news/2016/9/23/eia-hydrocarbon-production-in-the-utica-play-increasingly-targets-natural-gas-rich-areas .
To learn more about the geology of the Utica Basin, please go to http://geology.com/articles/utica-shale/ for an excellent background article on the play.
Russell T. Rudy Energy, LLC buys oil, gas and mineral interests nationwide. Please call (800-880-0940), or write (info@rudyenergy.com ) to let us know if you agree, disagree or would just like to comment on this, or any of our posts.
