American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019 - 48

SpecialReport: Marcellus/Utica Activity
FIGURE 2
Drilling New Wells from Existing Pads
100,000

Drilled
Wells - 2015

10,000

Wellhead Gas (Mcf/d)

Additional 3 wells

Future
Locations

1,000

100

10
Drilled
Wells - 2014
1
Mar-14

Oct-14 May-15 Dec-15

Jul-16

Mar-17

Oct-17 May-18 Dec-18

Wellhead Gas

dioxide equivalent per Tcfe of gas produced
was 74% below the industry average, he
points out. Southwestern achieved a methane
leak/loss rate of 0.056%, which was 96%
below the industry average of 1.62%.
"Whether it is our freshwater neutral
initiative or our programs to reduce
methane emissions across our operations,
we remain committed to protecting the
natural environment and conducting all
aspects of our business in the most environmentally responsible manner possible,"
Carrell concludes.
Best Economics
When it comes to demonstrating longterm staying power in the Marcellus and
Utica plays, Range Resources Corp. is in
a class of its own. The company drilled
and completed the Marcellus discovery
well in 2004 and has been among the
largest and most active Marcellus and
Utica operators ever since. The reason
for its continued focus on Appalachian
shale gas during the past decade and a
half is simple, explains Chief Operating
Officer Dennis Degner.
"With the benefit of a large, liquidsrich window in southwestern Pennsylvania, the Marcellus offers the best economics of any large-scale, repeatable
play in the country," he says. "A significant
portion of Range's acreage also offers
the benefit of natural gas potential from
the Upper Devonian and Utica Shale formations that lie above and below the
Marcellus, respectively."
For Range Resources, sustainability in
water recycling and emissions reductions
has gone hand-in-hand with its strategy of
returning to existing pads (pad "recycling")
48 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

to drill half its wells during the past year
(Figure 2) while utilizing new directional
drilling technologies to push lateral lengths
farther, Degner details.
With the advantage of a concentrated
position that includes 1.5 million net
acres of stacked pay potential in Pennsylvania, including 3,300 undrilled core
Marcellus wells (Figure 3), Range recycles
100 percent of its produced water, which
makes up 40%-45% of total company
water use, he says.
In addition, the company reports it
has achieved a 153% water recycle rate

in Appalachia by also recycling produced
water from more than 10 other regional
operators through a water sharing program.
Altogether, Degner estimates, Range's
water management efforts saved the company $10 million last year.
"Culturally, we are the type of organization where the best ideas have been
brought forward by our technical and
operating teams at the division level in
Pennsylvania," he says. "Early on, our
team was the driver helping Range pioneer
100% water recycling when a lot of other
folks said it could not be done."
Truck traffic was cut by more than
100,000 trips to locations last year alone
through new technologies and improved
logistics, Degner reports. For example,
the company's water logistics coordination
center-manned 24 hours a day, seven
days a week-ensures that water trucking
is coordinated as efficiently as possible.
Extended Lateral Lengths
A large contiguous acreage position
allows for efficient operations and longlateral development from existing pads,
Degner describes. Preferring a methodical
march of incremental improvements over
time, Range has sought to continuously
improve drilling performance, completion
design and production efficiency. One
obvious manifestation of that approach

FIGURE 3
Appalachian Stacked Pays
(Upper Devonian, Marcellus and Utica/Point Pleasant)
*

~1.5 million net effective acres (a) in PA
leads to decades of drilling inventory

*

Gas In Place analysis shows the greatest
potential is in Southwest Pennsylvania

*

Approximately 1,000 producing Marcellus
wells demonstrate high quality, consistent
results across Range's position

*

Near-term activity led by Core Marcellus
development in Southwest PA

*

Range's Utica wells continue to produce
strongly and its most recent well continues
to be one of the best in the play

*

Adequate take-away capacity in Southwest
PA

Stacked Pay And Existing
Pads Allow For Multiple
Development Opportunities

Gas In Place
For All Zones

Upper
Devonian

Marcellus
Utica/Point
Pleasant
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019
