Trans Energy Inc. has begun drilling the Lucey #1H well, its seventh horizontal Marcellus Shale well in Marshall County, WV, the company said. The drilling of the Keaton #1H well, which was begun by the independent exploration and production company in November (see Shale Daily, Nov. 23, 2010), has been completed. St. Marys, WV-based Trans Energy said it completed the 11-stage hydraulic fracture (frack) of Stout #2H in Marshall County last week and this week will begin the process of drilling out the frack plugs; fracking is scheduled in March for Keaton #1H and in February for Groves #1H, the company said. Trans Energy is moving to a development phase from an exploration phase as it develops its acreage position in northern West Virginia.

Purestream Technology has contracted with SM Energy to deploy its Trilogy System, which can process up to 63,000 gallons of wastewater per day, at a well site in McKean County, PA. Salt Lake City-based Purestream’s system was created to alleviate the environmental impact of hydraulic fracturing by evaporating produced and flowback water at the well site. It would be the second installation of the system in the Marcellus Shale; PDC Mountaineer LLC previously adopted the technology at a well site in Taylor County, WV.