SHALE PLAYS

The Haynesville shale play of Northwestern Louisiana is the darling of the gas industry. To some, it is the savior of the energy future of America and will lead the energy industry into the next generation.
The measuring stick of a successful well in this play is as follows:

Bad well = 2 BCFG

Good well = 6 BCFG

Are you kidding me? Are they really paying $8 million to $9 million for a well that has reserves of up to 6 BCF and may be as low as 2 BCF?

I am not going to go into the merits of frac stages and the amount of water used and waste created. Not going to mention the hazards of fracing into the shallow fresh water aquifers.

The frac thing I want to talk about is this - just what are you fracing? My belief is that you are fracing, and thereby, interconnecting the small stringers of sand that are interbedded in the shale. This may be why the "sweet spots" of the various shale plays are getting smaller the more they are drilled. It ain't just about shale - it's about the sand. It has always been about the sand. (Sorry limestone, I never really liked you anyway).

Could the future bring us the incredibly shrinking shale play?

Jack

Over