The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has recently approved Gastem USA to hydraulically fracture the Marcellus Shale formation in Otsego Co., NY. I know, the first thing that comes to your mind is “Now wait a minute, I thought New York just approved a 9-month moratorium on hydraulic fracturing?” Well they did but the different about the Ross No. 1 is that 1) it is a vertical wells and 2) it is going to be used to evaluate the production potential of the zone so it is more of a test well. In addition to the Ross No. 1 Marcellus stimulation, Gastem will also stimulate the upper section of the Utica shale with the Sheckell’s No. 1. The Utica Shale lies below the Marcellus shale. The two zone stimulations could increase the per well recoverable resource base of the wells which were previously only stimulated in the lower Utica shale.
An Original Gas-in-Place (OGIP) report was recently conducted on the Ross No. 1 that presented OGIP for the Utica and Marcellus formations of 144.98 Bcf per 640 acres with a 50% probability. The report used core data collected from the well and the results are consistent with other known Marcellus and Utica Shale findings.
Another interesting aspect of these 2 wells is how far north each one is in relation to the 2 reservoirs. The following maps show the location of each well in Otsego County and also where Otsego County is located within the extent of the Marcellus and Utica Shales in New York.
For more information visit the Marcellus Shale Unconventional Update in DI’s DNA.
Justin Birmingham
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- A quick look at the Brown Dense – November 15, 2011
