American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2018 - 88

SpecialReport: Northeast Activity Profile
Energy Transfer's Rover project, which
Range says is the last of multiple major
natural gas pipelines for which it has
contracted capacity, received approval
during third quarter 2018 for both the
Majorsville and Burgettstown laterals,
allowing Range to begin flowing volumes
in September.
"Our strategy always has been to stay
ahead of the curve and work as closely
as possible with third-party processing
and pipeline partners," Ventura remarks.
"Rover gives us access to additional Midwest and Gulf Coast markets, which
should help reduce corporate basis volatility during the coming years."
In the third quarter, Range reports, its
Appalachia division produced an average
1,988 net MMcfe a day, a 24 percent increase over the prior-year third quarter.
In southwestern Pennsylvania, Range averaged 1,872 net MMcfe/d during the
third quarter.
"I would argue that Range has the
best natural gas assets in North America
when you consider five important factors,"
Ventura suggests. "Those are quality,
quantity, infrastructure, liquids optionality
and stacked pays."
Range indicates its leasehold consists
of 500,000 acres in Southwest Pennsylvania, 90,000 dry gas acres in Northeast
Pennsylvania and another 300,000 legacy
acres in Northwest Pennsylvania. It is
operating three rigs-all drilling in the

Marcellus-in Southwest Pennsylvania.
According to Ventura, Range's NGL
model separates it from other shale
players around the country. "In other regions, producers are not part of sending
products directly to end-users; that is
the midstream companies," he says. "We
take control of the purity products. We
have the advantage of adequate in-basin
fractionation with our partners, and control
of purity products with access to international markets. We sell our NGLs locally and send them to the Gulf Coast
and worldwide."
"We have three outlets for our liquids,"
he continues, pointing out that Range
was a first mover on Appalachian NGL
exports to Europe through ethane sales
using Mariner East capacity. "As the only
producer with propane capacity on Mariner
East 1, we have been able to capture
prices above (those in) Mont Belvieu,
Tx., on average, by exporting the majority
of our propane to international markets
since early 2016."
In addition, the company has been sending normal butane and remaining propane
volumes by way of local rail to the Marcus
Hook export facility near Philadelphia. It
has sold ethane to Norway, Scotland,
Canada and the Gulf Coast, and sold
propane in Europe and in the Caribbean,
with the option to sell into premium Northeast winter markets, as well.
"In total, Range marketed 80 percent

Marcellus Shale pioneer Range Resources indicates its Appalachian Basin leasehold includes 500,000 acres in Southwest Pennsylvania, 90,000 acres in Northeast Pennsylvania and another 300,000 legacy acres in Northwest Pennsylvania. It is operating three
rigs-all drilling in the Marcellus-in Southwest Pennsylvania.

88 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

of its corporate NGL production into
purity markets during the third quarter,"
Ventura notes. As a result, the company
forecasts that its fourth-quarter pre-hedge
NGL differentials will improve to 40 percent of WTI.
Range's liquids production averaged
a record 122,783 bbl/d in the third quarter,
an 11 percent increase over the third
quarter of last year, he details. According
to Ventura, the liquids-NGLs and condensate-contributed 47 percent of total
product revenue in the third quarter. He
notes that the company is producing more
than 11,000 bbl/d of condensate.
Ventura says he has watched Range-
particularly its Appalachian Basin operations-change tremendously since the
company pioneered the Marcellus in 2004,
and then the first successful horizontal
Marcellus well in 2007. "The first big
shale play was the Barnett, south of Fort
Worth," he recalls. "People were looking
around the country, trying to replicate
the Barnett. Although the Barnett is a
Mississippian-age rock and the Marcellus
is a Devonian-age rock, we were fortunate
that we had a creative geologist who realized that our first vertical well looked a
lot like the Barnett. From that small beginning, the Marcellus has become the
world's largest gas field."
Range has grown from what Ventura
describes as a "small company" to one
that he says ranks seventh in total natural
gas production and third in NGL production among independent producers in
North America. Ventura says Range has
both dry and wet gas acreage, as well as
a narrow band in the western half of
Washington County, Pa., that it describes
as "super rich" gas. About 300,000 of its
Southwest Pennsylvania acres lie in Washington County, with the rest mainly in
Beaver and Allegheny counties. Most of
its dry gas acreage in Northeast Pennsylvania is in eastern Washington County
and in Lycoming County.
Going Long
While Range has drilled 15,000-foot
laterals in Southwest Pennsylvania, it recently stepped out and drilled an 18,566foot lateral, setting a record as the longest
Marcellus well. Range also completed
two 18,000-foot laterals earlier this year,
the company says, adding that it expects
to announce results with its year-end
earnings reports.
"We periodically drill a longer lateral
to see what the performance is," Ventura

American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2018

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