Drilling Slowing Down in Marcellus

Over the past 5 years all we have seen is an increase in production and the number of wells in the Marcellus play. This is not the case as of recent however. Low natural gas prices have slowed down the amount of wells being drilled in the region which has some people concerned. Many operating companies have switched their focus to the more liquid regions of the play and areas around the country.

In the Marcellus, this would be located in the Southwest portion of Pennsylvania with Washington county being the main area of interest. This region contains a super rich and wet gas region which has made drilling here more profitable with higher oil prices and low gas prices. Drilling has not completely stopped in the dry gas portions of the play as many companies continue to drill to hold on to their leases. If these operators do not drill for a certain amount of time they could lose their lease and even further lose money while natural gas prices are low.

The low natural gas prices are not hurting just the operating companies but those who own the mineral rights and royalties all across Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Many people have looked to cash out on their minerals by selling them to companies willing to give them a quote and buy their mineral rights. This has brought stability to many people and allowed them to pay off debts or invest their money in other more stable fields of business.

Even with drilling slowing down across the country in many of the shale gas plays, people remain hopeful that the price of natural gas will go back up to levels profitable to drill for. As for now, areas like the Eagle Ford Shale, the Permian Basin in West Texas, and parts of the Bakken in North Dakota are benefiting from this shift towards oil as all of these areas are rich in this.