West Virginia well puts state’s shale on the map
Saturday, October 18, 2014
It was once thought that West Virginia’s shale was too shallow to be economically viable for oil and gas companies, but one well is proving that assumption wrong.
The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register reports that the Magnum Hunter Stewart Winland well in Tyler County, West Virginia is producing an average of 46.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.
The well is drilled more than two miles into the ground and then stretches about a mile horizontally. The Stewart Winland well may indicate that the rest of West Virginia’s Utica Shale is also productive.
Via: The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register > Well Smashing Records
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Shale FAQ
What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.