PA Forced Pooling for Utica Wells Remains Unclear, Confusing

As MDN previously reported, the single most productive Utica Shale well ever (to date) was drilled by Range Resources--in Pennsylvania (see Range Resources Drills Highest-Ever Initial Producing Utica Well). Because of the way PA's laws are written, producers cannot use forced pooling for Marcellus layer wells they want to drill--but they can use PA law to file forced pooling requests for Utica layer wells. Given the success of Range (and others) with drilling Utica wells in PA, it's a sure bet that sooner or later such a request will be filed. Problem is, the forced pooling law was written in 1961 and was designed for conventional/vertical wells, not unconventional/horizontal wells. The law was due to have a test by Hilcorp, but Hilcorp abandoned their request in September 2014 (see Hilcorp Drops Forced Pooling Request in W PA). With that case gone, forced pooling for Utica wells remains a muddled mess in PA...

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