The Energy Consulting Group

Management consultants for upstream oil and gas producers and service companies

The large Marcellus shale gas accumulation is a mix of dry and wet gas (see the map below, "Marcellus Utica Play Areas"). The most prolific dry gas part of the play is in northeastern Pennsylvania, while the wet gas region is in southwestern Pennsylvania. The four activity maps, listed under, "Evolution of Marcellus-Utica Drilling Activity Over Time", illustrate that much of the initial Marcellus drilling was for dry gas. Infrastructure limitations, especially the initial lack of NGL processing capacity, limited development in the wet gas portion of the play. However, between increased processing capacity and increased export capacity, activity in sw PA has increased substantially over the past 2 1/2 years. In addition, the Utica play in eastern Ohio has emerged as a viable wet gas play, as has the Upper Devonian, which overlies the Marcellus throughout most of sw PA.

Selected North American Tight Oil and Shale Gas Plays Click Image for Larger Version	Marcellus-Utica Play Areas  Click Image for Larger Version
Marcellus: Regional Terrain Map with Contours and Play Outline  Click Image for Larger Version
Marcellus:Structure Map Click Image for Larger Version	Rotatable 3D Structure Map:  Investigate the Marcellus structure map, as presented to the left in an interactive manner using a standard browser. (Can use a standard browser with mouse to rotate the map). Rotatable 3D Structure Map with Wells:  Investigate the Marcellus structure relative to Marcellus wells. (Can use a standard browser with mouse to rotate the map).
Marcellus Thickness Map	Rotatable 3D Thickness Map:  Investigate the Marcellus thickness (isopach) map, as presented to the left in an interactive manner using a standard browser. (Can use a standard browser with mouse to rotate the map). Rotatable 3D Thickness Map with Wells:  Investigate the Marcellus isopach relative to Marcellus wells. (Can use a standard browser with mouse to rotate the map).

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Marcellus, Utica, and Upper Devonian Well and Operator Economics

The ECG group has used its proprietary economics program, EVAL, to assess the economics of the primary producing areas in the Marcellus, Utica, and Upper Devonian. The program uses what ECG believes to be one of the most advanced shale play production modeling tools in the industry to forecast three product streams (natural gas, condensate, and NGL), and value each stream separately compared to the capital, operating, and overhead costs necessary to develop and produce the resource. As one might expect, the economics vary considerably, depending on the operator, production profile, and ultimate recovery of gas, condensate, and NGL.

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Appalachia Production Volumes

Appalachia Area Gas Production Click Image for Larger Version	US Natural Gas - Marcellus, Utica, and Eagle Ford Breakout Click Image for Larger Version
Marcellus Rate and Recovery Performance Overtime (Dry Gas) Click Image for Larger Version If need details on rate and ultimate recovery, please send us an e-mail.	What is obvious is that a large part of the production growth shown on the previous two slides is due to improving technology and better understanding of the reservoir.  The figures to the left clearly illustrates the positive impact on rate due to these factors experienced by two Marcellus operators.

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Marcellus Area Drilling Activity
(includes Utica and Upper Devonian)

The four activity maps presented below indicate that the drilling footprint for the three plays (Marcellus, Utica, and Upper Devonian) is expanding, especially into northern West Virginia, and eastern Ohio. It is likely this broadening of activity will also deepen as NGL processing capacity undergoes a massive expansion in the tri-state area (northern West Virginia, eastern Ohio, and southwestern Pennsylvania) between 2012-2014.

Evolution of Marcellus-Utica Drilling Activity Over Time

Marcellus-Utica Drilling Activity (Raw data only.  Rig counts have not been filtered for depth, or well geometry) Reported Drilling Activity: July 25, 2008	Marcellus-Utica Drilling Activity (Raw data only.  Rig counts have not been filtered for depth, or well geometry) Reported Drilling Activity: June 17, 2011
Marcellus-Utica Drilling Activity (Raw data only.  Rig counts have not been filtered for depth, or well geometry) Reported Drilling Activity: November 28, 2014	Marcellus-Utica Drilling Activity (Raw data only.  Rig counts have not been filtered for depth, or well geometry) Reported Drilling Activity: February 28, 2019

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