Rex Energy Corp. is seeing some positive results from a well targeting Ohio’s Utica Shale, but it is disappointed with a third-party well completion technique at another and is blaming bad weather for delays in turning some wells to sales.

The State College, PA-based company said its G. Graham No. 1H well in Carroll County, OH, came online at a five-day sales rate, assuming full ethane recovery, of 1,710 boe/d, 41% natural gas liquids (NGL), 30% natural gas and 29% condensate. The well went on to average over 30 days 1,256 boe/d (46% NGLs, 33% gas and 21% condensate).

The Graham well produced with an average casing pressure of 2,364 pounds per square inch (psi) during the initial sales period, and 1,672 psi during the average 30-day sales period on a 24/64 inch choke. The well was drilled to a total measured depth of 12,098 feet with a lateral length of 3,973 feet and was completed in 27 stages using a hydraulic fracture technique called “super frac.” Based on composition analysis, gas produced from the well is about 1,262 Btu.

The Warrior North prospect encompasses about 15,900 net acres in Carroll County. Rex CEO Tom Stabley said Friday there were more than 110 drilling locations in Warrior North, and results so far at first Graham well “further demonstrates the potential value of our acreage position.”

A second Graham well in Carroll County, No. 2H, was drilled to a total measured depth of 11,776 feet with a lateral length of 3,572 feet and was completed in 24 stages using an undisclosed proprietary third-party completion technique. During 2Q2013, the company also completed two wells at its Brace West pad using “super frac,” with an average lateral length of 4,400 feet. Rex expects the two Brace West wells to be placed into sales in early July 2013. Rex brought its first Ohio Utica Shale well, Brace No. 1H, online in 2012.

In the Warrior South Prospect, located in Ohio’s Noble, Guernsey and Belmont counties, Rex holds about 4,100 net acres. The first three Warrior South wells were placed online recently but they “encountered additional delays in placing these wells into sales primarily due to inclement weather, which delayed pipeline construction by the third party midstream provider.” Rex said it would provide sales rate details in the near future.

A fourth Warrior South well in a five-well J. Anderson pad is currently being drilled. All the wells are expected to be drilled and placed into sales by late 2013, after which the drilling rig will be moved back to the Warrior North prospect.

In Butler County, PA, Rex said it has added two wells targeting the Upper Devonian/Burkett Shale to its Ballie Trust pad, where the company has already planned four wells targeting the Marcellus Shale. Laterals at the expanded pad will be stacked vertically, with an average lateral length of about 4,400 feet, the company’s longest average among all of its wells in Butler County. Rex drilled its first test well targeting the Upper Devonian/Burkett in 2011 (see NGI, Sept. 26, 2011).

According to Rex, the company doesn’t plan to increase capital expenditures for 2013 because “the incremental cost from the two additional [Upper Devonian/Burkett] wells is offset by decreased drilling and completion costs from operational efficiencies in the Appalachian Basin. Because [we currently expect] these wells to be placed into service late in 2013, the company is not increasing its full year production guidance for 2013 at this time.”

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