US releases estimate of Utica Shale reserves
Topics: From the Wires, News
Drilling companies beginning to explore the Utica Shale got a piece of good news Friday when the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the rock formation in Ohio, Pennsylvania and other states holds enormous reserves of natural gas and oil.
Releasing its first estimate of the Utica, the USGS calculated the shale formation holds about 38 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas, 940 million barrels of oil and 9 million barrels of natural gas liquids like ethane and propane.
The Utica lies beneath the Marcellus Shale, where energy firms have drilled thousands of unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania in recent years. The Marcellus is considered to be one of the richest natural gas reserves in the world.
Drillers are just beginning to tap into the deeper Utica. A report this week by the IHS consulting firm said more than 135 drilling permits have been issued for horizontal wells in the Utica, and 11 wells completed, with the most productive located in Harrison and Carroll counties in eastern Ohio.
The geological survey’s Utica estimate covered parts of Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Such estimates are highly variable and subject to revision. The USGS estimated last year the eight-state Marcellus region contains some 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas, far more than its 2002 assessment of just 2 trillion.
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