 Eastern
Region
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Around
and About the Eastern Region
Around and About the
Eastern Region Speaking of hot, the Marcellus Shale
qualifies. Talk about a play that’s changing the pace of a
basin. Late in 2007 Range Resources reported initial test
rates of 1.4 to 4.7 Mcfd for five (5) horizontal wells
drilled in this Devonian-age black shale. Work by Terry
Engelder, Pennsylvania State University, and Gary Lash, SUNY
Fredonia, caught industry’s attention—a natural considering
the huge resource numbers mentioned. A January 2008 PTTC
workshop in West Virginia featured their work, and it
quickly sold out. Highlights of their findings have been
captured in PTTC’s Tech Connections column (www.pttc.org/
aogr_columns/aogrcofeb08.htm)
that was published in The American Oil & Gas Reporter
in February 2008.
Both public and
private companies are going after the Marcellus. Lease terms
have been dramatically affected, and some landowners are
banding together, which has pluses along with minuses for
producers. Horizontal drilling permits in Pennsylvania alone
have increased by more than 100. State agencies are closely
examining water use considering the reliance upon hydraulic
fracturing to develop Marcellus producers. Pipeline capacity
issues with the anticipated gas volumes that will be reached
are being addressed. There is much to be proven during the
next couple years, but the play has legs. (This paragraph
excerpted from (1) “A Public and Private Play, Marcellus
Making East Coast Abuzz,” AAPG Explorer, July 2008, pp.
22-26 and (2) Appalachian Basin’s Devonian: More Than A ‘New
Barnett Shale,' Oil & Gas Journal, Apr. 21, 2008, pp. 38-40.)
Undoubtedly, the Marcellus will be “front and center” in the
AAPG-SPE 2008 Eastern Meeting (see box notice) this fall.
In Michigan there is
an innovative effort moving forward that will impact the
amount of oil that will ultimately be recovered through CO2
flooding. M&M Energy LLC (M&M) is leading the effort to
develop the Great Lakes Energy & Research Park (GLERP). The
proposed GLERP is a large development centered around an
Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power plant
planned to
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be built around the
site of the former Total Petroleum Refinery in Alma,
Michigan. The proposed plant will employ ConocoPhillips
e-Gas technology, which is regarded as the cleanest, most
efficient process for converting coal or coke into a
hydrogen-rich synthetic gas. SemGroup has partnered with M&M
to use the generated CO2 for enhanced oil recovery.
In their 2006
analysis of “Basin-Oriented Strategies for CO2 Enhanced Oil
Recovery (EOR), Illinois and Michigan Basins,” which was
supported by the Department of Energy, Advanced Resources
International (ARI) estimated that 210 million barrels of
oil could be recovered from Michigan if “state of the art”
technology were applied (www.adv-res.com/pdf/Basin%20Oriented%20Strategies%20%20Illinois
_Michigan_Basin.pdf).
State-of-the-art was defined as assuming that the progress
in CO2-EOR achieved in recent years and in other areas were
successfully applied. The plant is not an actuality yet, but
there is positive development in the economic arena. In late
June the Michigan Senate approved a plan that allows power
generated by gasification and CCS to be classified as
renewable energy, making it eligible to be considered under
a statewide renewable portfolio standard. This bolsters
M&M’s GLERP project. (M&M Energy press release dated
6/30/08,
www.mandm
energy.com/documents/mmenergy
_press_release_63008.pdf.) Approval is still
needed from the House. Ultimately, M&M’s analysis indicates
that several IGCC plants would be required to supply
Michigan CO2 EOR demand.
In the Illinois
Basin Rex Energy started ASP (alkaline-surfactant-polymer)
injection in their pilots in the Lawrence Field in early May
(company press release dated May 9,
www.rexenergy.com/index.htm).
Original oil in place (OOIP) in the field is estimated at 1
billion barrels, of which about 400 million barrels has been
produced. Discovered early in the 20th century, the field
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still produces about
1,800 bopd from 1,000 wells. There were seven
surfactant-polymer pilot tests in the 1960s and 1980s, which
were all technical successes but uneconomic due to high
chemical costs with surfactant polymer technology of those
eras. Current ASP technology is much more affordable
(finding and development costs estimated at $11/bbl), while
still realizing attractive recoveries. There are two main
reservoirs—the Cypress and Bridgeport Sandstones. Coreflood
results indicate ASP flooding could recover 21% of OOIP from
the Cypress and 24% of OOIP from the Bridgeport. Rex Energy
implemented two one-acre pilots. With the small size of the
pilots, response is expected within three to four months.
For full field development, Rex Energy plans to develop the
field on 10-acre spacing, implementing one section per year.
(Most information excerpted from “Illinois Basin ASP
Flooding Planned,” Oil and Gas Journal, Feb. 11, 2008.) |
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Workshop Topics
To Look Forward To
(check calendar on
www.pttc.org
for latest information)
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9/18 Reservoir
Characteristics of the Trenton-Black River in Michigan,
Presentations & Core Workshop - Kalamazoo, MI.
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10/11 Geology &
Geophysics Applied in Industry (ExxonMobil) -
Pittsburgh, PA.
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10/11-12 Shale Gas
Project Planning - Pittsburgh, PA.
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10/15 Shale Fracturing
Completions - Pittsburgh, PA.
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10/15 Computer Mapping
for Petroleum Exploration - Pittsburgh, PA.
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