Artificial lift in the Marcellus examines all options

摘要

Extent of field complicates selection of methods. Range Resources pioneered the Marcellus Shale play in 2004 with the Renz #1 well in Washington County, Pa. Since that time Range has grown to be one of the largest lease holders in the Marcellus with more than 1 million net acres and has more than 600 producing wells in the core area of the play in southwest Pennsylvania. As a production team, we have faced many new challenges and obstacles in developing the Marcellus Field. Geographic diversity, the evolution of drilling and completion techniques, more prolific wells and longer laterals require us to be flexible and innovative with our approach to drilling and producing productive wells. Due to high reservoir pressures and relatively low liquid volumes, our Marcellus wells produce naturally for up to three years before artificial lift is required. We have taken a proactive approach in analyzing the wells for their future artificial lift needs to ensure we can maximize production rates in older wells. Our main tool for candidate selection is Turner's critical flow rate model. Turner's calculation shows us that gas production in these wells can decline to around 11.3 Mcm/d to 12.7 Mcm/d (400 Mcf/d to 450 Mcf/d) before liquid loading occurs.