Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Energy Companies | Gulfport Energy | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Reserves (Proved and Unproved) | Statewide OH

Gulfport 2015 Update: Reserves Up 83%, NatGas Production Triples
February 3, 2016February 3, 2016

Gulfport Energy, a Utica Shale driller quite active in Ohio until mid-2015 when they began to pull back, released their fourth quarter and full year 2015 operational update yesterday. But not their financials–that comes later this month. There is no mention of drilling activity in 4Q15 (nor any guidance for 2016). We previously brought you the rumor that Gulfport was pushing the pause button on their drilling activities, back in November (see Rumor: Gulfport Energy Suspends Some (All?) Ohio Utica Drilling). However, data from the forthcoming Volume 3 of the 2015 Marcellus and Utica Shale Databook, which covers permit activity for from September through December 2015, shows that Gulfport received 30 permits in Ohio during that period of time. So it appears they have continued their program, albeit scaled back. The 4Q15 and full year 2015 update shows Gulfport’s oil and gas reserves have grown 83% for 2015 over 2014, and natural gas production tripled year over year. Production/operations-wise, 2015 was a very good year for Gulfport. What’s left to be seen is whether it was a good year for Gulfport financially too. Here’s the operations update…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Antero’s Proved Resources Up 4% to 13.2 Tcfe, 3P Hits 37.1 Tcfe
January 28, 2016January 28, 2016

Antero Resources, with 569,000 under lease, is one of the biggest leaseholders and one of biggest drillers in the Marcellus/Utica. Every year, in order to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission rules, companies like Antero revisit and revise what they call “proved reserves.” That is, how much gas (and NGLs and oil) do they have in the ground? There’s different types of reserves, with proved having the highest confidence. There’s also the “3P” reserve number: proved, probable and possible. 3P has a lower standard to qualify. The news from Antero is that as of Dec. 31, 2015, the company has 13.2 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe) of natural gas sitting under their leased acreage. That’s a 4% increase over year-end 2014. Antero’s 3P reserves totaled 37.1 Tcfe at the end of 2015…
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Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

EIA: Shale Rockets U.S. Proved O&G Reserves to New Records
November 24, 2015November 24, 2015

Our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), yesterday released their annual report of proved oil and natural gas reserves in the United States for 2014. The report, titled “U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves, 2014” (full copy embedded below) shows proved reserves for natural gas rose by 34.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), or 10%, to a record high of 388.8 Tcf in 2014. Oil reserves rose 3.4 billion barrels, or 9%, to 39.9 billion barrels. That’s the highest oil reserves have been since 1972! This is the second year in a row for a new natural gas proved reserves record high, and the sixth year in a row for oil proved reserves (see last year’s report, EIA: Proved Reserves for Natgas Up 10% Last Year, Marcellus Leads). As a quick reminder, proved reserves are, according to the EIA, “those volumes of oil and natural gas that geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.” That is, proved reserves are what’s in the ground now, can be gotten out, and we can prove it. This is a great report, full of excellent data and interesting charts and graphs…
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BP | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

New BP Technology Report Predicts O&G Supplies will Double by 2050
November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

Peak Oil theorists like Art Berman won’t be happy with the latest report just published by oil giant BP. BP and other large energy companies publish annual energy outlook studies that we’ve highlighted in the past (see BP’s Annual Energy Report: Smallest Demand Increase since 1990s). For the first ever, BP has just published a report called the BP Technology Outlook (full copy below) that reveals much of their internal research on new technologies that will keep energy supplies plentiful and affordable, “enough to meet projected demand many times over” according to the study’s authors. While BP pays much lip service to so-called renewable sources of energy in this new study, here’s the part that will give Berman and other Peak Oil fanatics heartburn: “applying today’s best technologies to discover oil and gas resources could significantly increase ‘proved reserves’ from 2.9 trillion barrels of oil equivalent to 4.8 trillion barrels – nearly double the 2.5 trillion barrels required to meet projected cumulative global demand through to 2050.” Did you catch that? New tech available today can and will double the amount of recoverable oil and gas. So much for Peak Oil and Gas! We’re awash in it and will remain so for generations…
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Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved) | Utica Shale

WVU Research Shock Finding: Utica is as Big as Marcellus!
July 15, 2015July 15, 2015

Data from a two-year geological study conducted by the Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium, a group of state and federal officials along with university researchers representing West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and New York, was presented yesterday in Canonsburg, PA. The study, titled “A Geologic Play Book for Utica Shale Appalachian Basin Exploration” (full copy below), finds the Utica Shale play has 20 times more recoverable natural gas than thought just three years ago–an astonishing 782 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Utica. Here’s the shocker news coming from the release of this new study: The size and potential recoverable resources in the Utica are “comparable” to the Marcellus play, the largest shale oil and gas play in the U.S. and the second largest in the world. You read that right. The Utica is potentially as big as the Marcellus! The Utica is located pretty much underneath the Marcellus. The depths vary, but the Marcellus is around a mile down and the Utica around two miles down. Researchers at the top-notch West Virginia University took the lead in publishing the report. Here’s how they’re reporting it…
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CNG/LNG | Commodity Price | Crude Oil | Decline/Depletion Rates | Economic Impact | Education | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | M&A | NGLs | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Regulation | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Join MDN at RBN Energy’s “Summer in the City” Event July 23 – NYC
June 30, 2015July 9, 2015

MDN invites you to join us in attending RBN Energy’s “State of the Energy Markets” one-day event in New York City on July 23. Before you hurry to say “yes,” a few caveats. It costs money (a lot of it). It’s aimed at executives working in the industry, as well as traders and investors. If that describes you (and we know that many of you read MDN), you may be interested in attending. We guarantee it will be a great event. Rusty Braziel & company will provide an overview of the key issues facing natural gas, NGLs and the crude oil market. They will explain how the markets for those three commodities interact and affect each other. They will also take a look at prices, where they may be heading, and how infrastructure affects price. If you are really “into energy” as we are, this is a must attend event. Details are below, along with a link to register…
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Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

EIA List of Top 100 Oil & Gas Fields – Shale has Changed the Picture
April 27, 2015April 27, 2015

In 2009 the number one oil producing formation in the United States was Prudhoe Bay in Alaska. Six years later Prudhoe Bay has fallen to #3 in the list, surpassed by both the Eagle Ford (#1) and Permian Basin (#2), both shale plays in Texas. In 2009 the mighty Marcellus was in the bottom half of the list of the top 100 producing formations. Today? It’s #1, thanks to the miracle of fracking shale. Last week the U.S. Energy Information Administration released an updated list of the top 100 U.S. oil and natural gas fields. Below we have that report, showing the top 100 oil fields and the top 100 natural gas fields. Shale has literally changed the landscape of the oil and gas industry in our country…
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Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

New Report: Marcellus/Utica Holds 35% of U.S. Recoverable Natgas
April 9, 2015April 9, 2015

The Potential Gas Committee (PGC), a private non-profit organization loosely affiliated with the Colorado School of Mines, performs a comprehensive study of potential supplies of natural gas in the United States every two years. In April of 2013 MDN reported the committee’s findings of just how much gas is down there (see Marcellus Region Contains Huge 33% of All U.S. Recoverable NatGas). It’s two years later and time for a new report. PGC is reporting because of shale and new technology, the U.S. now has more technically recoverable natural gas than it has ever had in its history–over 2,515 trillion cubic feet. Two years ago the Marcellus/Utica represented 33% of the entire supply of recoverable natural gas. Now? That number is up to 35%. Below we have the press release and detailed summary of the report, along with a slide deck published by the PGC yesterday…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Expert” Predicts Marcellus Production Will Peak in 2015
April 8, 2015April 8, 2015

An alarmist article appears on the Seeking Alpha website which posits (indeed strongly implies) that production in the Marcellus Shale will top out in 2015 and then begin to decline. The article bases this assertion on the observation that other shale plays in the U.S. have already turned the corner and have started to decline. The article is authored by Bill Powers–ring a bell? He’s been making the same prediction since 2012 when he published a “peak natural gas” book–and he’s been trying to peddle his book ever since (see Energy Industry Expert Says Shale Gas Will Last < 10 Years). Back in 2012 Powers said we have a 5-7 year supply of shale gas and that’s it. Last time we checked the numbers (now 2 1/2 years later from Powers’ original prediction date), shale production continues to go through the roof with no signs of slowing down, and proved reserves of shale gas continue to grow exponentially…
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Industrywide Issues | Research | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

EIA: Marcellus Biggest US Gas Field, Eagle Ford Biggest Oil Field
April 7, 2015April 7, 2015

Last week our favorite government agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, published an update to their U.S. Crude Oil and Natural Gas Proved Reserves research. The update/report, titled “Top 100 U.S. Oil and Gas Fields” (full copy below) shows the 100 largest U.S. oil and gas fields by their estimated 2013 proved reserves. That’s the top 100 oil fields, and a second list for the top 100 gas fields–based on 2013 estimates for reserves. It probably won’t surprise you to learn the #1 gas field in the U.S. is the Marcellus. It may (or may not) surprise you to learn the #1 oil field in the U.S. in 2013 was the Eagle Ford (again, based on reserves). It likely will surprise you, as it did us, to not find the Utica/Point Pleasant anywhere in either list! But then we remembered that the Utica was just getting under way in 2013. Still, not even in the top 100? Seems a bit off to us…
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Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Range Resources Corp | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Range Resources Cuts 2015 Budget 46%, Focus Continues on Marcellus
February 25, 2015February 25, 2015

Yesterday Range Resources published a recap of the company’s performance in 2014 along with comments and guidance on 2015. In 2014, Range production averaged 1.16 billion cubic feet equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) which was 32% liquids. That’s a 24% increase from 2013 levels. Range’s proved reserves rose 26% to 10.3 trillion cubic feet equivalent by the end of 2014. Range expects 2015 output to reach 1.3 Bcfe/d. Even with an expected 20% increase in production for 2015, Range, like most other drillers is cutting way back. Their 2015 capital budget is being slashed 46% to $870 million (down from $1.3 billion in 2014). The good news is that 95% of the 2015 budget will be spent right here–drilling in the Marcellus Shale…
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Eclipse Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Eclipse Resources Proved Reserves for 2014 Jump 353%
February 25, 2015February 25, 2015

Eclipse Resources is a “pure play” energy company–concentrating their efforts in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region. They’re one of the smaller drillers in the northeast. But hey, we love ’em all–big and small. Well, we love almost all of ’em. 😉 Eclipse reported last week that their proved reserves–the amount of gas that can be economically extracted from their acreage–increased 353% last year! That’s an impressive number. Of course you have to put it in perspective. The total amount of proved reserves for Eclipse’s acreage is 355.8 billion cubic feet equivalent. The northeast’s largest drillers–like EQT, Antero Resources and Range Resources–have proved reserves exceeding 10 trillion cubic feet equivalent, which is 28 times or more the size of Eclipse’s proved reserves…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

EQT Proved Reserves Up 29% in 2014, EURs Up 10%
February 6, 2015February 6, 2015

Among the mountain of news pushed out yesterday by EQT is a rundown on the company’s proved reserves, which rose 29% in 2014 to a whopping 10.7 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe). In their announcement about reserves, EQT mentions that estimated ultimate recoveries (EUR) per well are even higher than they hoped for: EUR of proved Marcellus wells drilled in 2014 averaged 7.9 billion cubic feet equivalent (Bcfe) as opposed to Marcellus wells drilled in 2013, which were estimated at an average of 7.2 Bcfe (up 10%) per well. EUR means the total amount of gas a well is expected to pump over its lifetime. Here’s a rundown on EQT’s reserve numbers, including 3P numbers (proved, probable and possible)…
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CONSOL Energy | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

CONSOL Proved Reserves Jump 19%, Completed 53 Wells in 2014
February 4, 2015February 4, 2015

Yesterday CONSOL Energy, the coal company that’s rapidly converting into a gas drilling company, issued an update to say that their proved gas reserves jumped 19% in 2014 over the same estimates in 2013. CONSOL says they now can reasonably expect to extract 6.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, of which 89% is in the Marcellus Shale. CONSOL produced 236 billion cubic feet equivalent of natural gas in 2014. They drilled and completed 53 new wells in 2014…
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Antero Resources | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Antero Proved Reserves Rocket Up 66%; Dev Costs Just $0.61/Mcf
January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

Antero Resources, one of the largest drillers in the Marcellus and Utica Shale region, issued a press release yesterday to crow about some important numbers. The first important number is 66%–as in Antero’s “proved reserves” of natural gas (and liquids and oil) jumped 66% in 2014–to a mind-blowing total of 12.7 trillion cubic feet equivalent (Tcfe). Proved reserves means using existing technology and under these economic conditions, Antero can reasonably, with very high confidence, extract at least 12.7 Tcfe. Astonishing. Another number to crow about: $0.61, as in it costs the company only 61 cents per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) to find and develop/extract that gas. Of course what’s missing in that number is the midstream component–processing and pipelining it to market. But still, it shows that these large companies can still make money even in a low cost environment, which is reassuring…
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Blue Ridge Mtn Res/Magnum Hunter | Energy Companies | Industrywide Issues | Reserves (Proved and Unproved)

Magnum Hunter Drilled 24 NE Wells in 2014, Proved Reserves Up 25%
January 22, 2015January 22, 2015

Yesterday Magnum Hunter Resources, a growing driller in the Marcellus/Utica region, announced their “proved” reserves have jumped a healthy 25% by the end December 2014 over a year earlier. Proved reserves are defined as the estimated quantities of oil and gas which geological and engineering data demonstrate with reasonable certainty (90% or more certainty) to be recoverable in future years from known reservoirs under current economic and operating conditions. Magnum Hunter’s estimated total proved reserves increased in 2014 to 83.8 million barrels of equivalent (or MMboe), compared to 67.3 MMboe at the end of 2013. They reckon it breaks down as 70% natural gas and the rest natural gas liquids, condensate and oil. Magnum Hunter’s acreage in the Marcellus and Utica is impressive: they now own 80,000 net acres in the Marcellus and 125,000 net acres in the Utica. Last year they drilled 24 wells in the Marcellus/Utica. They have their eye on a potential future 1,000 more drilling locations in WV and OH…
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