Antero Reduces Frac Stages to Increase Well Production
DENVER -- Antero Resources LLC, the company that's reported the best results to date in the southern tier of Ohio’s Utica shale play, says it is will use shorter-stage lengths to hydraulically fracture wells for oil and wet gas production.
During the second quarter, Antero said it began completing most of its liquids-rich Marcellus shale wells with shorter stage lengths. Antero’s traditional frac design resulted in stage lengths averaging 350 feet per state compared to the newly completed wells that averaged stages lengths of 150- to 250 feet.
While the wells using the shorter-stage completions have limited production history, Antero said it is “encouraged by the well results as well as those of other operators in the southwestern core of the Marcellus shale that have implement shorter stage lengths and reduced cluster spacing.”
Based on the first 17 wells completed, the average increase in initial production rates was 25% to 35% when compared to similar wells within the same geographical area, the company said. Per 7,000 feet of lateral drilling, this would increase incremental cost of additional frac stages by 20% or $1.5 to $2 million per well.
Antero reported last month that its Yontz 1H well in Monroe County tested at an astounding peak rate of 8,879 barrels of oil equivalent per day and was producing 38.9 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, by far the strongest well found in the Utica to date.
Four other Antero wells in Monroe County also tested strong. The Rubel 1H tested at 7,917 barrels of oil per day, the Rubel 2H (2) well tested at 7,816 barrels of oil per day, the Ruble 3H (2) well tested at a rate of 7,097 barrels of oil per day, and the Norman 1H well tested at a rate of 6,181 barrels of oil per day.
Antero plans to drill 128 Marcellus and 20 Utica horizontal wells in 2013; it currently is operating 15 drilling rigs in the Marcellus and four in the Utica. The company holds 329,000 net acres in the Marcellus and 102,000 in the Utica.
Yesterday the company's board of directors yesterday approved a $500 million increase in its 2013 capital budget to $2.45 billion, including $1.45 billion for drilling and completion, $400 million for land and $600 million for midstream infrastructure. As of June 30, Antero’s capital expenditures total $1.2 billion.
The drilling and completion budget increased by $250 million in order to use the shorter stay lengths for 36 liquids-rich Marcellus wells, to drill three and four more horizontal wells in the Marcellus and Utica shales, respectively, and to increase the lateral length of certain wells.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
CLICK HERE to subscribe to our free daily email headlines and to our twice-monthly print edition.