Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A ) (NYSE: RDS-B ) recently made a significant discovery that indicates the Utica shale extends well past Ohio.
recent wells by Royal Dutch Shell are showing strong natural gas production, too. The big difference is that these wells were drilled more than 300 miles to the east in Tioga County, Pa.
Royal Dutch Shell’s wells, which are near the Pennsylvania-New York border, could extend the play hundreds of miles further to the east than energy companies previously thought. Shell is particularly optimistic because the initial production rates of its first two wells are as good, if not better, than the wells Chesapeake Energy and others in the industry are drilling in Ohio.
Shell’s first well, Gee, had an initial production rate of 11.2 million cubic feet per day when it was completed nearly a year ago. Its second well, Neal, saw peak daily production of 26.5 cubic feet of natural gas per day once drilling finished this past February. Shell has actually been quietly withholding these results because it wasn’t ready to broadcast to its peers that it was sitting on a potentially major natural gas discovery. These results, now made public, suggest the Utica shale is much bigger than producers originally thought.
What does a brand-new, no one’s ever heard of them company like Royal Dutch Shell know about oil exploration?