American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2017 - 83
its coal mining and natural gas divisions by the end of the year. "That will free both entities," he remarks. "They won't be competing for capital." CONSOL has become a giant natural gas producer with 6.3 Tcf equivalent of proved reserves. Craig Neal, vice president of operations for the E&P Division, says CONSOL has reduced its leased acreage slightly from a peak of 1.4 million acres after a swap with Noble Energy. "But we picked up core acreage in West Virginia," he says. CONSOL is targeting both the Utica and Marcellus shale in southeastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. "Through May, we had drilled 15 wells with two horizontal rigs," he reports. "I am proud that we have been able to take a well to total depth about every 10 days." CONSOL Energy's primary focus this year has been in Monroe County, Oh., drilling dry gas Utica wells. Neal says the company also has drilled two dry-gas Utica wells in Westmoreland County, Pa., which are offset from its successful Gaut pad. "These are deeper wells," Neal states. "The first well took 43 days to drill. We drilled the second well in 34 days. We expect to get that down to 25 days or fewer. We also have drilled a couple of Marcellus wells in Washington County, Pa." He says CONSOL Energy has a mix of Utica dry gas in southwestern Pennsylvania and Monroe County, Oh., and the more liquids-rich Marcellus in southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It also has some wet gas drilled-but-uncompleted wells in West Virginia that it acquired in the Noble transaction. Improved Efficiency CONSOL Energy increased its production guidance for 2017, according to Neal. In fact, it has doubled its Marcellus well EURs. He says it has been able to do that through a number of factors that improve efficiency. For example, by reducing drilling and completion cycle times, Neal says CONSOL has been able to bring the average pad on line 30 days sooner. "That reduces the time from when we spend the first dollar to when the first dollars come in," he imparts. "Another contributing factor is reducing our production downtime by 72 percent. We have been able to improve efficiency without sacrificing our core value of safety and compliance. We have kept AUGUST 2017 83
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