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An Overview and Recent Experiences in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale Play

Duane Nichols — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 21:59:24 +0000

: Professor Anthony Ingraffea

Fluid Migration Mechanisms Due To Faulty Well Design and/or Construction

By Anthony R. Ingraffea, Ph.D., P.E., October 2012.

SUMMARY. See full paper “here.”

The most recent experience with shale gas wells in the Pennsylvania Marcellus play reflects long term, world-wide industry data with respect to new wells with compromised structural integrity. Operator-wide statistics in Pennsylvania show that about 6-7% of new wells drilled in each of the past three years have compromised structural integrity.

This apparently low failure rate should be seen in the context of a full buildout in the Pennsylvania Marcellus of at least 100,000 wells, and in the entire Marcellus, including New York, of twice that number.

Therefore, based on recent statistical evidence, one could expect at least 10,000 new wells with compromised structural integrity. It is too early to discern whether the other industry experience with this technical problem, an increase in loss of integrity with well age, will also be reflected.

However, at play in modern shale gas development are many of the key factors identified by industry researchers as having a negative influence on well structural integrity: the need for deviated wells, rapid development of a field, presence of “shallow” high-pressure gas horizons, and disturbance of young cement due to adjacent drilling activities on the same pad.

Display 1: 1,609 wells drilled in 2010. 111 well failures. 6.9 % rate of failure.

Display 2: 1,979 wells drilled in 2011. 142 well failures. 7.2 % rate of failure.

Display 3. 1,040 wells drilled Jan/Aug 2012. 67 well failures. 6.6 % rate of failure.

Display 4. Consistent with previous industry data, and not improving.

Topic in Youngstown on November 7th: Myths and Realities of Shale Gas

Duane Nichols — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 21:26:01 +0000

From: The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – 10/30/12

“Unconventional Gas Development from Shale Plays: Myths and Realities” is the topic of a presentation November 7th at Youngstown State University. The speaker is Anthony R. Ingraffea, the Dwight C. Baum professor of engineering in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University.

Ingraffea will make his presentation via a live video conference to be followed by a question-and-answer session. The presentation will explore some myths and realities concerning large-scale development of natural gas deposits in shale plays in the Northeast.

These concern the geology of the plays and the resulting development and use of directional drilling; high-volume, slickwater hydraulic fracturing; multi-well clustered pad arrangements; the effects of these technologies on waste production and disposal; and contamination of water supplies. The presentation will also explore the cumulative effects of gas development on greenhouse gases emited into the atmosphere.

Ingraffea, a Weiss Presidential Teaching Fellow at Cornell, did research and development there for the oil and gas industry for 25 years, specializing in hydraulic fracture simulations and pipeline safety. He twice won the National Research Council/U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics Award for Research in Rock Mechanics.

The presentation is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the James Dale Ethics Center, the College of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics, the Department of Civil/Environmental & Chemical Engineering and the Department of Geological & Environmental Sciences.

The presentation, free and open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Room 1171 of Williamson Hall.