Gulfport Has More Exciting News For Ohio’s Utica Shale

Source: Energy In Depth: the Ohio project

UPDATE (9/5/2012, 05:00 pm ET): I originally reported in August about the outstanding single stage fracture tests Gulfport performed on 3 of their wells prior to putting them into a resting period.  Fortunately for us Gulfport has now flowed one their wells to test production rates.  The Boy Scout 1-33H well in northern Harrison County was recently opened up over the weekend to test the initial production rates coming from their well.  Although the natural gas production is lower than the Wagner Well, it makes up for it with significant condensate and natural gas liquids production.

Gulfport’s Boy Scout 1-33H well tested at a peak rate of 1,560 barrels of condensate per day and 7.1 MMCF per day of natural gas as well as 1,008 barrels of NGL per day assuming full ethane recovery and a natural gas shrink of 25%, or 3,456 barrels of oil equivalent per day.  Through composition testing the gas registered at a 1,310 btu rating making it liquids rich.

It looks like Gulfport and other companies will continue putting up strong numbers in Harrison County and hope to continue the trend in surrounding counties.

—Original post from August 27th, 2012—

As reported earlier in the month, Gulfport has the newly minted largest well in Ohio, the Wagner 1-28H.  While these results are outstanding for the company as well as those of us who reside in the Utica Shale development area, these were not the only results they released on a recent earnings call.  In addition to the Wagner well, Gulfport also released single stage hydraulic fractured test results for three more wells before putting all three into a resting period which increases production.

Many of you are probably wondering what is a single stage hydraulic fracture test?  All shale wells utilize what is called a multiple stage hydraulic fracture completion throughout the horizontal portion of the well.  For instance, the process was repeated 28 times in 28 different sections of the horizontal lateral for the Wagner well.

Before they hydraulically fracture the final stage of the lateral, Gulfport set a permanent plug isolating the final stage or the stage closest to the wellhead to test while letting the rest of the stages rest. It has been termed, a test and rest procedure.  While this test is not perfect it allows the company to get a snapshot of possible productivity of a new well.

All three wells that have been tested are located in three different counties and post three unique results.  They all look very promising and hope to provide Gulfport with three more phenomenal wells in the Utica Shale.

The first well tested was the Boy Scout 1-33H well in northern Harrison County. The well was drilled to a total vertical depth of 7,704 feet with a 7,974-foot horizontal lateral and was completed with a 22-stage hydraulic fracture completion. The well produced a maximum rate of 470,000 cubic feet of gas per day. After about five and a half hours the well began making condensate. Within one and a half hours, the test concluded and produced 40 barrels of condensate.

The next well, the Groh 1-12H, is in northeastern Guernsey County near Antrim. That particular well was drilled to a total vertical depth of 7,289 feet with 5,414 foot horizontal lateral and was completed with a 15-stage hydraulic fracture completion. From this single stage the well was measured at a peak rate of 384,000 cubic feet of gas per day and 192 barrels per day of condensate.

The final well, Shugert 1-1H well in Belmont County near Barnesville, was drilled to a total vertical depth of 8,661 feet with 5,758-foot horizontal lateral and was completed with a 16-stage hydraulic fracture completion. This particular well was measured a peak rate of 2.9 million cubic feet of gas per day.

These are all great numbers and the natural gas coming out of these wells is all what is defined as wet or containing other hydrocarbons.  For example, the natural gas coming into your house from your utility averages a rate 1,027 Btu’sor British Thermal Units.  The Btu rates coming out of these wells are in the range of 1,200 to 1,309 Btu’s which means they contain wet gas and will be processed to remove hydrocarbons like ethane, butane, propane and pentane which bodes well for companies and the area.

Each one of these wells is estimated to be very successful, with each of them producing different compositions of natural gas, natural gas liquids and oil.  All three wells will be put into production throughout the month of September.  While its too early to tell exactly how much of an impact these wells will have on Utica development and the local economy, its safe to say they represent a sign of good things to come.