Range Resources discusses area gas drilling

By SUMMER WALLACE-MINGER, Staff writer
BAVINGTON, Pa. — Carl Carlson, Range Resources Corp. director of community and government relations, gave a presentation on the company’s natural gas drilling operations Wednesday at the Burgettstown Grange.

Carlson spoke about leasing rights, drilling and extraction of the natural gas.

He explained briefly that the commonwealth sits over the Marcellus Shale, a source of natural gas, and noted energy companies are in the initial stages of exploring the possibilities of extracting the natural gas after it was recently realized the shale had a much larger reservoir of gas than previously believed.

Carlson said the company will be drilling horizontally, instead of vertically, because instead of a single “zone” extracting natural gas from the shale, as many as 10 can be utilized. Range Resources ordinarily drills 3,000 feet into the rock horizontally. He explained that, after the initial hole is drilled, a mixture of sand and water is forced into the shale, fracturing it and releasing the gas.

Approximately 4,000 gallons of water per minute are forced into the pipe, he said, adding water sources include water tankers which are brought in, local streams and farm ponds, with the permission of the owners. At times, the company establishes plastic-lined freshwater collection points. Approximately 2.5 to 3.5 million gallons of water could be used per well, he said.

Carlson informed the approximately 30 residents in attendance the wells which will be constructed in Washington County are much larger than before, with the mast of the well as high as 180 feet. A gas well site is approximately two-and-a-half acres, which accommodates the well, pumper trucks, sand bins, augers, blenders and a pit for the disposal of drill cores.

It takes between 15 and 30 days to drill a well, and while a well is being drilled, operations continue 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“The only day they close down is Christmas day,” said Carlson. “The equipment is too expensive to allow it to sit.”

He noted there was noise and lights associated with the operations.

“There will be noise and lights,” he said. “They (the wells) make noise. They have diesel engines — a little bit of banging.”

He also spoke about increased traffic, as workers and materials moved to and from the sites, and he added the heavy trucks could damage the roads.

“Range Resources is very, very active in trying to work with townships to get roads repaired,” he said.

He also spoke about reclamation efforts, noting Range Resources grades back to the original contour “as much as practical,” buries the core pit and reseeds or mulches the area, according to the desires of the property owner.

Carlson spoke about lease terms, noting each company has their own, but there are some similarities that are industry-wide, including clauses giving the leasing company sole rights to fossil fuels beneath the property during the term of the lease. He explained energy companies usually pay a set fee on a per acre basis, and will either pay once a year or the entire fee up front for the “primary” lease period.

He explained a primary lease period lasts an established length of time, during which the energy company can drill exploratory wells and try to determine if there is a viable source of natural gas available.

Range Resources attempts to obtain leases for several adjacent properties, he said, adding the company prefers to lease in blocks of 640 acres. The cost of leases have increased since the discovery that the Marcellus Shale contains a large reservoir of gas.

Carlson told those in attendance that, should a well begin production on a site, then the lease would enter a “secondary” lease period, which would last as long as the well is viable. He noted wells in the Marcellus Shale area are expected to last between 30 and 50 years.

In addition to the lease fee, if a gas well begins operation, the land owner will receive one-eighth of the revenue from the gas produced from that well, said Carlson. He added that, should the company have to invest in lines to transport and store the gas, by law, that could be a consideration in the royalty a land owner receives.

Carlson observed the current gas pipe line infrastructure has been constructed to transport natural gas from the Gulf to the East Coast and added there is not a large amount of additional capacity, especially during the peak months of summer, when gas is stored for the demands of winter.

“There are going to be a lot of pipes built,” he said, initiating a conversation about obtaining easements to route gas pipe lines.

If the energy company does not establish a well by the end of the primary lease period, then the lease would be terminated, and the property owner would be free to lease it again, if they so desired.

Range Resources uses a variety of techniques to determine where to drill, including geo science, 3-D seismic maps and core samples. He added the company uses “thumper trucks” for some of the seismic mapping, and other times, drill a 10-foot deep hole in which small loads of dynamite are detonated.

Several residents questioned the protocol in a situation where a land owner did not own the mineral rights involved with his property, and those rights were leased to an energy company. Carlson noted, in such a case, the energy company can come onto the property without the consent of the land owner, but must attempt to work with the land owner to establish the well in a “reasonable” position.

Also under discussion were the setbacks which must be established between a well and a residence, and whether a well must be set back from property lines. Carlson said, technically, there is no law from abutting a horizontal well against a property line, Range Resources keeps the wells back 330 feet, which is the distance for deep vertical wells, because it is sometimes necessary to punch through the shale, an action which would require a setback. He also noted horizontal wells could not extend under a property line.

Carlson also informed the residents the company takes water samples of all wells within a 1,000 radius of the site of a gas well. He noted, should a containment leach into the water, the drilling company would be held responsible.

Carlson said the company employs a third-party to take the samples and provides the land owners with information on the well.

To protect the ground water from contamination, the gas line is encased in a layer of steel and concrete until 50 feet below the deepest known source of ground water, he said.

Carlson noted, when the pipes were taken through the ground water, it can stir up sediment, causing ground water to be cloudy for a period.



(Wallace-Minger can be contacted swallace@pafocus.com)