Peak Oil News and Message Boards

NYC-based PIRA Energy Group, an international energy consulting firm specializing in global energy market analysis and intelligence, announced the forthcoming release of a study on U.S. energy independence and the shale revolution.

Entitled "The Road to U.S. Energy Independence: The Shale Revolution (News - Alert) and Its Implications for North America's Energy Markets," the study examines the nation’s energy policy that are arising from increasing oil and gas production and falling imports.

Over the past few years, improvements in technology have allowed the USA to discover and develop abundant supplies of natural shale gas across the United States and Canada.

Under this backdrop, the study also examines the complex implications for North American pricing parity, crude and product flows and refining behavior.

The preliminary findings of the study lead us to suggest that the current hype surrounding bio-fuel production will eventually die down and the U.S. will steadily emerge as the world’s next energy leader.

pstarr wrote:So. First the precipitous decline rates of existing tight-shale NG plays most be overcome with ever-increasing new-well drilling and associated costs.

pstarr wrote:Once that is accomplished then the tight NG well heads will be tied into current NG collection pipeline systems, also at a great cost.

pstarr wrote:Then fischer-tropf factories will be built, to convert the NG in liquid petroleum. Or we might convert existing cars and gas stations to use NG. sure.

pstarr wrote:But according to the article this is all great, as it will replace the current hype of ethanol (and 3rd and 4th gen cellulosic/algae) biofuels with a brand new hype--NG mitigation of liquid petroleum decline. wow.

pstarr wrote:The question remains how to pay for $8/tcf drilling costs with $2/tcf ng?

pstarr wrote: As for that Honda? NG conversions are not new, cost practically nothing for the company to claim innovation and emissions control. PR. Nothing but Public Relations.

There's been plenty of debate over the Marcellus Shale natural gas field, but new research adds a twist that could impact political and environmental battles. Two independent financial firms say the Marcellus isn't just the biggest natural gas field in the country — it's the cheapest place for energy companies to drill.

One of the reports adds that the Marcellus reserves that lie below parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and New York are far larger than recent government estimates, while another said the powerful combination of resource, cost and location is altering natural gas prices and market trends across the nation.

The Marcellus could contain "almost half of the current proven natural gas reserves in the U.S," a report from Standard & Poor's issued this week said.

Another recent report from ITG Investment Research, a worldwide financial firm based in New York, found that a detailed analysis of Marcellus well production data suggested that federal government estimates of its reserves "are grossly understated,"


Earlier this year, the federal Energy Information Administration sharply lowered its estimates of Marcellus reserves, from 410 trillion cubic feet down to 141 trillion cubic feet. That adjustment was widely reported, including by The Associated Press.

But that lowered estimate doesn't correspond with actual well production, said Nikhanj. He said their analysis shows that the Marcellus contains about 330 trillion cubic feet of gas, more than double the size of the next largest field in the nation, the Eagle Ford in south Texas.

seenmostofit wrote:

pstarr wrote:So. First the precipitous decline rates of existing tight-shale NG plays most be overcome with ever-increasing new-well drilling and associated costs.

This one has already been completed.

seenmostofit wrote:

pstarr wrote:Once that is accomplished then the tight NG well heads will be tied into current NG collection pipeline systems, also at a great cost.

Also already completed.

Saudi Arabia has big gas plans, with Aramco eyeing a twofold increase in its natural gas production over the next ten years as it seeks to switch local power plants to gas from oil, so it can export more crude. This gas, apparently, could come from shale deposits. The World Energy Council estimates that Saudi Arabia has recoverable gas reserves of 7.49 billion tons of oil equivalent. Proved reserves stood at 8.489 trillion cu m as of 2014. These are just conventional gas figures, the WEC notes. According to Aramco’s head of unconventional resources, Khalid Al Abdulqader, the country’s shale gas resources are “huge.” One of the top spots for shale gas drilling is the Jafurah basin, which is similar in size to Texas’ Eagle Ford, according to Al Abdulqader, but he declined to give any details regarding the reserves in

ROCKMAN wrote:with so much conventional NG why screw with the shales?

ROCKMAN wrote:70 - Sorry, missing your point. You do understand I'm referring to the Saudis messing with their shales, right?

coffeeguyzz wrote:Although not related to the Saudi shale topic, I want to bring to the attention of the serious observers on this site one of the more astonishing 'reads' I've come across in quite some time, namely, the just-released (March 13, 2018) investor presentation from CNX - formerly Consol.

Setting aside the normal chest thumping that operators do in these settings, the data presented regarding the Deep Utica in Pennsylvania is potentially paradigm shattering from an already immense resource, the Appalachian Basin.

In a nutshell, CNX appears to have expanded the productive footprint of the Utica way to the east, northeast from earlier Deep Utica wells in Pennsylvania.
They claim over 1,000 locations to produce 21 MMcfd flatline for 14 months with ultimate EUR of 3.5/1,000' lateral.

Gibberish this may be to the uninformed, but to long time observers, CNX just said that the Utica is, indeed, as big as the Mighty Marcellus.

Wow.

investor presentation from CNX - formerly Consol