Seneca Resources Corp.’s third operated horizontal well in the Marcellus Shale flowed at a 24-hour initial production (IP) rate of more than 10 MMcf/d and averaged 9.5 MMcf/d over seven days, the National Fuel Gas Co. exploration subsidiary said Tuesday.

Seneca and joint venture partner EOG Resources Inc. for the past two years have been testing the potential of Seneca’s 935,000 net acres in the Pennsylvania portion of the gas shale play (see Daily GPI, Aug. 10; Feb. 8, 2007).

“Our seven-day initial production rates for our Tioga County [PA] horizontals are averaging 6.7 MMcf/d, far above the industry average,” said President Matthew D. Cabell. “With three high-rate wells drilled and completed, we are more confident than ever in our ability to efficiently and effectively develop our substantial acreage position. We now have two Seneca-operated horizontal rigs running and anticipate drilling 50-70 horizontal wells during fiscal 2010, including those operated by EOG Resources in our joint venture.”

The midstream subsidiary, National Fuel Gas Midstream Corp., also began flowing gas in November on the first phase of the company’s Covington Gathering System, which is in Pennsylvania. Construction on Covington began in July. The Covington system consists of eight miles of mostly 12-inch diameter high-pressure gathering lines, dehydration facilities and an interconnection to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline system operated by El Paso Corp.

Covington is designed to serve natural gas producers in the region, including Seneca, with capacity of up to 100 MMcf/d. The midstream unit plans to expand Covington this winter.

“We continue to make considerable progress on our Marcellus-related initiatives,” said CEO David F. Smith. “The successful completion of our third Seneca-operated horizontal Marcellus well and our ability to complete the Covington project in such an efficient manner demonstrates our ability to execute on our Marcellus strategy.”

©Copyright 2009Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.