Atlas Energy..........Titan of the Marcellus

Atlas Energy Resources this morning announced the completion of yet another record breaking vertical in the Marcellus Shale. The well produced 5.0 mmcf in its first 24 hours inline and in the last 25 days has produced over 81 mmcf. Atlas utilized the same two stage frac that has proven so effective on its last six verticals. The first five wells where the technique had been used averaged initial production of 2.1 mmcfd. The average of the last seven now stands at 2.5 mmcfd.

Rich Weber, President and Chief Operating Officer, commented that the results are indicative "not only the effectiveness of our completion designs, but also the quality of our acreage."

Even though this last completion is showing greater recovery efficiency than any Marcellus horizontal on record, Weber is hopeful that the frac design will still yield outsized results when applied to horizontals. He noted, "The potential of horizontal wells having frac designs with up to eight stages is very exciting given the exceptional results from our two stage verticals."

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Permits Here....Get Your Permits Here...Get 'em While They're Cheap

PA DEP Gets Approval to Raise Marcellus Permit Application Fees

Pennsylvania's Environmental Quality Board today approved a Department of Environmental Protection request to impose new fees for Marcellus Shale drilling permits that will replace the $100 flat fee with a variable fee structure based on well depth. Though fees have not increased in the state since 1984, the new structure will result in a cost of $900 for a 1500' deep Marcellus Shale well plus $100.00 for each 500' of total depth. Applying for a typical Marcellus well permit with a total depth of 10,000' will cost $2,600 by the early Spring of 2009.

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Representative DeWeese Encourages DEP

Drop the Sledge and Hire More Staff

In a letter to acting Secretary of Environmental Protection John Hanger, Representative & Majority Whip, Bill DeWeese, Greene, Fayette & Washington counties, encouraged Hanger to rescind any blanket decree afflicting scientifically sound operators in the Marcellus Shale. He is, of course, referring to the DEP order banning the treatment of frac water in the Monongahela River Basin by municipal treatment plants. This decree, designed to reduce the TDS (total dissolved solids) in the river has resulted in a range of consequences from a total shut down of fraccing operations to the addition of significant costs to transport frac flowback to one of the few available treatment plants in the state. According to DeWeese, the decree makes no distinction between those operators and those of a lesser quality who might have inadequate or few pollution controls in place.

He also suggested that the agency expedite the permitting process so the natural gas industry doesn’t gravitate outside of the borders of the Commonwealth.

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