Experts Question Move by Feds to Hack Estimate for Marcellus
Reserves by 66 Percent
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
24 January 2012
By Timothy Puko
The Department of Energy cut its estimate for the Marcellus
shale's unproven natural gas reserves by 66 percent, but industry
officials and geologists say that doesn't diminish the formation's
true bounty.
The mile-deep formation has 141 trillion cubic feet of "unproven
technically recoverable" reserves, based on current technology,
down from the previous estimate of 410 trillion, the government
said on Monday in its Annual Energy Outlook. About 482 trillion
cubic feet can be produced from shale basins across the nation,
down 42 percent from 827 trillion in last year's outlook.
That trend should have been expected, industry officials said. As
drilling companies chart the formation, they're essentially moving
gas volume from unproven to proven reserves.
Companies are driven to prove them in order to quickly increase
their own value, said Greg Wrightstone, vice president of geology
at Mountaineer Keystone LLC.
"This is the only topic where the numbers continue to jump and
people call it a decrease," said Matt Pitzarella, spokesman for
Range Resources Corp. "It doesn't make a lot of sense."
What's left uncharted in the Marcellus would meet U.S. gas demand
for about six years, using 2010 consumption data, according to the
Energy Department. That's down from 17 years in the previous
outlook. That downward trend is likely to continue as companies
prove more reserves, Wrightstone said.
"Drilling in the Marcellus accelerated rapidly in 2010 and 2011,
so that there is far more information available today than a year
ago," the Energy Department said.
The daily rate of Marcellus production doubled during 2011. Shale
gas from formations nationwide will probably account for 49
percent of total U.S. dry gas production in 2035, up from 23
percent in 2010, the Energy Department said.
The Marcellus shale is a rock formation under much of the
mid-Atlantic region, including West Virginia, eastern Ohio, most
of Pennsylvania and southern New York. Shale producers use a
technique known as hydraulic fracturing, in which water, sand and
chemicals are pumped underground to break rocks, hold them open
and extract gas.
Penn State University geosciences professor Terry Engelder helped
set off a gas rush through the region in 2008 and 2009 by
projecting nearly 500 trillion cubic feet of natural gas could be
produced from the entire formation. Engelder yesterday sent an
e-mail in response to the report, saying he stood by his initial
figures.
Timothy Puko can be reached at tpuko@tribweb.com or 412-320-7991.