American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015 - 91

Unconventional Resource Science
Bcfe per well. I am proud of that. Our success is a combination of longer laterals and
shorter stage lengths."
CONSOL was averaging 300 feet per
fracture stage with five clusters in each
stage, according to Neal.
"Now we average 150-foot stages while
still using the same five perforation clusters
per stage," he states. "We are busting more
rock in each segment. We also are experimenting with higher sand loads, but we try
to minimize the variables as we determine
the most effective completion strategy. If we
can fracture the wells with slickwater,
that is our preference, but some stages require gel to put the sand away."
Noble's Rimer adds that the RSCS program allows more contact with the formation.
Neal says CONSOL, which does statistical analysis on every facet of the
completion design, is using mostly 100mesh sand, but still is experimenting on the
most effective size of proppant.
Delay Artificial Lift
The higher pressure on the longer laterals has delayed the need for artificial lift,
according to Joe Fink, vice president of
midstream for CONSOL Energy.
"We have a few wells on plunger lift,
but not many," Fink says. "Our midstream company can lower the line pressure. Going to artificial lift is the last step."
He says there is little water production
in the dry gas area of the Marcellus, and
water production declines as hydrocarbon
production increases in the wet gas area.
He says one important factor in developing the Marcellus is CONSOL's "design

to the bubble."
"Let us say we have a field that is projected to produce 250 MMcf/d," Fink explains. "We design it for 250 MMcf/d,
rather than truncate to the top of the
curve. We are finding through evaluation
that steady improvements in drilling time,
completion techniques and reduced cycle
time during and between each phase of activity translates to higher peak production.
We continually exceed our expectations,
and this is one of the ways we compensate."
Adds Neal, "We are trying to get
ahead by projecting success."
A technological advancement that has
allowed the industry to drill longer laterals, offers Rimer, is a steerable rotary unit,
which was developed in the deepwater offshore.
"It is pretty expensive, but it allows you
to drill a smoother hole and manage the
changes in the formation," he details.
"The unit sends out pulsations, allowing
you to push the tool where you want it to
go. It allows you to stay in the formation.
The holes are so smooth, you can drill
longer laterals."
Rimer says Noble, using a Nomac rig,
drilled a 7,315-foot lateral in 24 hours last
year, which he says may be a world
record.
By drilling a 12,000-foot lateral instead
of three wellbores with 4,000-foot laterals each, which the joint venture drilled initially, Rimer says Noble is able to increase
production with less cost and less environ-

mental impact.
"We also are running wire along the
casing to monitor the rock and where the
sand is going," he adds. "We are fine-tuning our completion technique all the
time."
In the four years since forming the joint
venture with CONSOL, Rimer says Noble has gone from no presence in the Marcellus to 200 employees and a new building being built in Canonsburg, Pa., just
down the street from CONSOL Energy's
headquarters.
"It has been fun to watch," Rimer
lauds.
Recompletion
Fink says another way to increase ultimate recovery from Marcellus wells is to
recomplete older wells with increased cluster spacing.
"We had a six-well recompletion program last year," he reveals. "We have gone
back into our original wells, which now are
four years old. With increased clusters, we
bust a lot more rock, and we have been
able to get back to near original production rates."
For example, he says, some original
wells in the Greenhill Field in Greene
County, Pa., that initially produced 2.5
MMcf/d-4.5 MMcf/d had declined to as little as 200 Mcf/d. By recompleting the
wells, Fink claims CONSOL has been able
to implement a five-to-one increase in daily production, and in some cases a nearly 20-to-1 increase.
Ì

Pennsylvania Well Hits
59 MMcf/d, Range Says
FORT WORTH-Range Resources
Corp. says its Utica/Point Pleasant well in
Washington County, Pa., achieved an average 24-hour test rate of 59.0 MMcf/d
against simulated pipeline pressure and
conditions during an initial flow back.
The well was drilled and cased to a true
vertical depth of 11,693 feet with the
5,420-foot horizontal lateral completed with
32 fracture stages, the company says. The
initial production rates equates to a 10.9
MMcf/d IP rate per 1,000 foot of lateral.
Range Resources says the well confirms its geological interpretation of the
area.
r

Noble Energy and CONSOL Energy have increased lateral lengths in their Marcellus
Shale wells by 46 percent while reducing fracture stages from 300 to 150 feet under
their reduced stage cluster spacing program. This has enabled them to nearly double
estimated ultimate recoveries from 7.1 billion cubic feet equivalent to 13.1 Bcfe per well.

JANUARY 2015 91

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015

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