American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2016 - 89

SpecialReport: Marcellus/Utica Activity
SOL completed in the first quarter, incorporated plugless completion technology
and produced more than 4.8 Bcfe in its
first 60 days of production with nine of
the 10 wells in-line. The strongest well
on the GH53 pad, the GH53F, produced
830 million cubic feet equivalent in its
first 60 days, according to Neal.
He also notes that the company's 12well GH46 pad in Greene County, which
also was turned on line in the first quarter,
cumulatively produced 10.5 Bcfe in its
first 90 days.
Neal relates that CONSOL's Gaut 4I
well in Westmoreland County, Pa., remains
the second strongest producing well in
the dry Utica across the industry, producing
3.4 Bcfe in its first six months. "And that
is with a managed pressure drawdown,"
he adds. "We are very pleased with that."
Neal says CONSOL will drill out the
GH58 seven-well pad in the Green Hill
area in the fourth quarter. "We expect to
get great results," he maintains.
Staking A Claim
While the core of the core of the Marcellus, and subsequently the underlying
Utica Shale, undoubtedly is in Greene
and Washington counties in the far southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, Apex
Energy watched the natural trend-interrupted only by metropolitan Pittsburgh-
as it put together its acreage position.
"The play doesn't know political lines
and geology doesn't care what county it
is in," CEO Mark Rothenberg muses.
Rather than "slug it out" in Greene
and Washington counties with larger competitors, Apex staked a position to the
east and northeast of Pittsburgh in Westmoreland and Armstrong counties, Pa.
Rothenberg says Apex has 40,000
acres, mostly contiguous, in the two counties, giving it the opportunity to drill
longer laterals without surface constraints.
Apex was able to acquire a consolidated
25,000-acre block, which is 20,000-25,000
feet across. Although the company has
drilled several 6,000-8,000 foot laterals,
it currently is drilling 13,000-foot laterals
with plans for future wells to be 8,00012,000 feet horizontally, which Rothenberg

Apex Energy employs 2,000 pounds of proppant per lateral foot in its Marcellus Shale
completions. With 150-foot stage spacing, the company gets 80-90 fracture stimulations
per lateral, and is producing 30 million cubic feet of gas a day from five wells in Westmoreland and Armstrong counties, Pa.

says still is 50-100 percent longer than
most Marcellus wells in southwestern
Pennsylvania. Most of company's focus
is on western Westmoreland County at
present.
Apex had one rig running in October
and five producing Marcellus horizontal
wells.
"At the end of 2015, we had three
wells on line and more than 20 MMcf/d
of production," Rothenberg recalls. "We
have added two wells this year and our
production is up to more than 30 MMcf/d."
He says the company plans to drill a
well a month with its one operated rig. It
is drilling four or five wells per pad, and
he says Apex's goal is to add a pad every
quarter. Its next pad will be completed in
first quarter 2017.
Its wells in western Westmoreland
County are dry gas (about 1,030 Btu),
which allows Apex to take the gas straight
to the pipeline without any processing.
"We are sitting right on one of the
largest storage facilities in the country,
and we have four interstate pipelines running through our leases," Rothenberg observes. "We have great access to takeaway capacity into Pittsburgh, into the
Dominion South pool to the East Coast,
or the Atlantic Coast pool for the Southeast.
We can flow our gas to the west, too, if

we want."
Jump To It
Even with the low commodity prices
over the past couple years, Rothenberg
claims Apex has had an economic program
yielding high rates of return. It has choked
back its wells, holding production flatter,
but he says they still are incredibly strong.
The company is employing about 2,000
pounds of proppant per lateral foot, according to Rothenberg.
"We have 150-foot stage spacing,
which means our laterals have 80-90
fracs on them," he relates. "We are not
here to invent anything new. We are down
the middle of the fairway. We don't drill
enough to experiment. We watch closely
where the trends are leading and then
jump right to it."
Rothenberg acknowledges that the Utica could extend into its acreage in Westmoreland and Armstrong counties.
"The unfortunate thing about the Utica
is that it is under the Marcellus," he
states. "That core Utica may come into
play down the road. But when considering
the Utica, at least for us, it can't compete
economically with the Marcellus."
Still, it is there, he allows, holding the
potential for double the pleasure.
❒
NOVEMBER 2016 89



American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2016

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2016 - Contents
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