Saturday, May 16, 2015

Utica Shale - Nat Gas Production Soaring Past Others

Steep natural gas production increase continues
The latest report from the U.S. Energy Information on the Utica Shale (combined Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia production) continues to show a dramatic rise in natural gas production from the Utica. And the Marcellus Shale is in a class of its own, with production nearly equal to the next four combined. The diagram below, excluding the Marcellus in order to show relative scale amongst the other top natural gas producers by rank, illustrates the steep natural gas production increase from the Utica.

Data from eia.gov, retrieved May 14, 2015.





























Abbreviated YOY data from the top six natural gas producers (including the Marcellus)

Data from eia.gov, retrieved May 14, 2015.







Utica ranked 6th in U.S in natural gas production, soon to be 5th
The Utica Shale is ranked 6th in monthly natural gas production, having taken the number 6 spot from the Woodford in November 2014. And while most of the shale natural gas plays showed steady or slightly declining year over year production, only the Eagle Ford, Utica, and Marcellus shales showed a relatively steep increase. And with the near leveling of the Fayetteville the Utica should pass the Fayetteville in total monthly production in June of this year. After that, the Haynesville should be the next to be overtaken the Utica Shale in monthly natural gas production, likely by the end of 2015 or early 2016.

Utica second in production increase, first in percentage increase.
The Utica Shale experienced the second overall largest production growth with 2.45 Bcf per day in April 2015, up 1.59 Bcf/day from April 2014. The increase was surpassed only by the Marcellus with showed a whopping 15.24 Bcf per day in April 2015 vs. 12.51 Bcf per day in April 2014, up 2.74 Bcf/day. Though the Utica Shale more than doubled in natural gas production over the last year, and just shy of tripling, holding the distinction of largest (by far) percentage increase.



Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Utica Shale OH - Permit Time-Lapse Map

Utica Shale Ohio Permitting Activity

A time-lapse map showing surface locations and dates permits have been issued over time. Time-lapse runs through May 9, 2015. Use slider on bottom left to see time or pause and restart.


 

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Utica Shale: Two OH Counties Contributing to Half of all Drilling

According to the May 9, 2015 update from the Ohio DNR, combined, Belmont and Monroe Counties in Southeast Ohio account for nearly half of all Utica Shale wells classified as currently drilling,

Together the two counties are the home of 108 of the 223 wells classified as currently drilling,  and account for 88 of 209 wells permitted so far this year. With drilling costs running into the millions of dollars for each well, drilling activity is a big bet. And following the money is a good indicator of areas that are hot.

Map of all wells currently classified as drilling in Belmont and Monroe counties as of the May 9, 2015 report.

Zoom in, pan, and click for detailed information on each well.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Top Utica Shale Drillers Reporting Earnings this Week

A big week coming up
After Antero Resource’s Q1 015 earnings report April 30, a raft of earnings reports are due out this week. Antero reported Utica production up 43% from Q4 2014 to Q1 2015. And also last week, Hess  reported earnings, April 29th, when they announced a reduction in their 2-rig Utica program to a 1-rig program by June. Earnings calls can reveal a great deal and much will be written of what is said.

Earnings reports coming out May 4th week from top Utica Shale players in Ohio include  (Investor page links included)

Chesapeake Energy (May 6th, 8am CT)
Gulfport Energy (May 6th, 8am CT)
Eclipse Resources (May 6th, at market close)
Carrizo (May 6th, 11am)
Rice Energy (May 7th, 9am ET)
PDC Energy (May 7th, 11am ET)

Much should be revealed
After investor calls I’ve found SeekingAlpha.com to be a great place to scan and read call transcripts where much more insight is provided than the earnings report itself.

The earnings announcements should offer additional insights into what we might expect for the year with respect to rig count and activity in the Utica Shale.

Utica Shale Wells Drilling in Ohio as of May 2, 2015

The May 2nd, 2015 report from the Ohio DNR reports 222 wells drilling as of May 2nd, down 31 from 253 reported April 11th. The drop coincides with announced rig reductions by some of the operators.

Map
Zoom in, pan, and click on any symbol (surface location, bottom hole location, wellpath) to see data. Click within county to see county.


By County  (wells drilling)
Monroe (53), Belmont (46), Harrison (42), Guernsey (31), Noble (23), Carroll (10), Jefferson (7), Columbiana (6), Tuscarawas (2) Portage (1), Trumbull (1)

By Operator (wells drilling)
American (52), Antero (44), Gulfport (24), Chesapeake (23), Rice (20), Eclipse (13), Hess (10), Carrizo (8), PDC (8), Triad Hunter (7), XTO (3), Atlas Noble (2), Hilcorp (2), Chevron (1), CNX (1), Enervest (1), EQT (1), Halcon (1), Mountaineer (1)