Consol Energy Inc. announced Friday that it would begin shifting its Utica Shale program in Noble County, OH, from exploration to development mode, after seeing encouraging results and data from its test wells and those of its competitors in the play.

The Canonsburg, PA-based company also said its natural gas division produced 41.8 Bcfe during 4Q2012 — a 5% increase over the 39.7 Bcfe produced in 4Q2011 — while natural gas production for the full year 2012 was 156.3 Bcfe net.

Consol said it predicts production will range from 170 to 180 Bcfe net for the full year 2013, and 39 to 41 Bcfe during 1Q2013. The latter is a slight decline from the 41.8 Bcfe produced during the preceding quarter, which the company blamed on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) schedules and other seasonal factors.

The company said it currently has two horizontal drilling rigs in the Utica, and plans to drill 11 wells in Noble County in 2013. The company estimated that production from the 11 planned wells would be less than 5 Bcfe because of infrastructure requirements. Consol is also a joint venture (JV) partner with Hess Corp. in the Utica. According to Consol, Hess drilled two wells and completed one well for the JV in 2012, and has one rig in Hess’ operated portion of JV acreage in eastern Ohio. That rig will be used to drill 16 horizontal wells in the Utica for the JV in 2013.

In the Marcellus, where Consol has a JV with Noble Energy Inc., there was also success in 2012. The company said that JV drilled 89 gross wells during the year — 64 by Consol and 25 by Noble. Of the 64 wells drilled by Consol, the average 24-hour flow rate totaled 8.1 MMcf/d, while the average 30-day rate was 4.7 MMcf/d and estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) per well averaged 5.9 Bcfe.

The company said it currently has two horizontal drilling rigs in southwest Pennsylvania, and plans to drill 23 wells in Greene and Washington counties, PA, in 2013. And although Consol doesn’t have any rigs in central Pennsylvania, the company said that in 2013 it plans to drill five horizontal wells targeting the Mamont field in Westmoreland County. In northern West Virginia portion of the Marcellus, Consol said it has completed three wells in Barbour County and six wells in Upshur County, with EURs of 7.5 Bcf and 3.2 Bcf, respectively. The company said it currently doesn’t have any drilling rigs in the region, but plans to drill eight wells in Barbour County to test the productivity of its leased acreage.

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