New Website Shows Maps with Permits, Wells, Pipelines & More

Ever thought to yourself, “Wouldn’t it be great to see what gas well permits have been issued near me, and where gas wells are being drilled—and wouldn’t it be really great if that were shown on a map!”? Such a service is now available—for free. It’s called ShaleNavigator (www.shalenavigator.com) and you can use the service just by registering. Pay a low yearly fee and get some useful extras with your account.

MDN has had several conversations with ShaleNavigator’s creator Ed Camp and has used the application. In addition to showing gas well information, Ed has also charted many of the gas pipelines in the Marcellus region. An extra bonus is that he maps locations mentioned in Marcellus news stories! Read the story, and then click a link to see just where on the map the action in the story is taking place. Cool.

MDN can heartily recommend this online, in-the-web-browser application. Plan to spend a bit of time learning how to use it. It’s a sophisticated program. That doesn’t mean it’s difficult to use—it just takes a bit of time to learn it—like any piece of software.

Below is the official press release announcing ShaleNavigator. Be sure to head on over to the site and check it out!

ShaleNavigator™, a web-based news and mapping system, is now available to help landowners and operators stay current with and interpret what the recent developments mean for their property, property group, or company’s position within the quickly evolving Shale Gas landscapes.

Strong well results have been released, acquisition agreements have been announced, and investment continues to rise, but challenge remains in interpreting the continuous activity at the local level. “The recent well results, new permits, buyouts, partnerships, and new midstream investments all contribute to defining where future development paths are going to be, as well as where value can be found today” says Edward Camp, owner and developer of ShaleNavigator™. “There is a need for a system that can capture and context all this news and information that has such incredible value once layered together, and we believe ShaleNavigator™ has done just that.”

How ShaleNavigator™ translates news into usable, Local information.

Finding out where these events are taking place can be challenging. A recent production report may name a well but the exact location of the well is often left out of news releases; a merger or acquisition release names companies and acreage holdings in the deal, but only city or county names identify where that acreage is; an environmental investigation might name a stream, but the stream traverses 10 miles.

ShaleNavigator™ finds relevant and meaningful news for users, and assigns location to WHERE the news is happening. ShaleNavigator’s™ Newsboard is a unique tool for users to see WHERE news is happening, relative to their property or area of interest. In addition to recent well results and mergers, the Newsboard has shown where well permits, water withdrawal permits, pipeline permits, and even lawsuits are occurring. As a result of the continuous news and map layer updates, ShaleNavigator™ is quite nearly a “Live” map – every day something is added or updated to keep up with development activities.

In addition to the Newsboard, ShaleNavigator™ users can view the latest available well permit and production points for Pennsylvania and Ohio, generalized company lease positions, major pipeline right of ways, and even recent lease offers as layers in the map. Acquired through years of research, difficult to find layers were created by process of assigning real-world coordinates to information, and then conversion to become layers in the map. Other more readily available layers from government sources, and partnerships with private news and data providers supplies additional information that makes ShaleNavigator™ so unique. The web-based program has both free and a full content subscription versions, and gives users access to company lease positions, producing wells, well permits, pipelines, and even recent lease offers. All users can draw on, create, and save their own maps, and even share them with other subscribers.

"In design, we wanted a system that was easy to use, yet powerful in the aspects of total information and functionality, serve a variety of users, and would allow them to view information in the maps as well as create, save, and share maps they create”. Sharing is encouraged among the user community, and users can receive discounted subscriptions if they provide unique and meaningful data. A recent user-submitted lease offer, for instance, can assist other subscribers in their own efforts to negotiate a lease, based on the proximity of the lease offer combined with recent area events and development. Camp explained “We’ve done most of the heavy lifting – the base layer creation, the system development and tools, and the partnerships that our users and subscribers can take advantage of right now. The piece we hope to see growth in is user-contributed information. That “on-the-ground” information is really valuable to the ShaleNavigator™ community, and I think many enjoy sharing their knowledge.”

Accessing ShaleNavigator™

Experience the information advantage ShaleNavigator™ offers by visiting //www.shalenavigator.com and signing up for either a free account or a full content Subscription. For a limited time, a 12 month subscription is being offered for just $290, and includes unlimited map drawing, creation, saving and sharing, and of course, recent lease offer and pipeline layer updates.*

*ShaleNavigator Press Release/PR Web (Oct 28, 2011) – Recent Mergers, Acquisitions, Well Results Shape Dynamic Marcellus and Utica Shale Landscapes, ShaleNavigator™ Maps It