Marcellus Shale Coalition
In 2014, the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) joined West Virginia University (WVU) and Ohio State University to create the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Laboratory (MSEEL), a test well project intended to improve natural gas production efficiency and minimize environmental impacts at hydraulic fracturing sites throughout the Marcellus Shale region. Five years and a long list of accomplishments later, MSEEL continues to yield new knowledge with an additional test well that is helping researchers discover and disseminate technical knowledge to assist the nation in maintaining its energy security and improve the competitiveness of the oil and gas industry, all while protecting the environment.
The Marcellus Shale play is a large area that encompasses 104,000 square miles and stretches across Pennsylvania and West Virginia into eastern Ohio and western New York. It is the largest source of natural gas in the U.S. The natural gas of the Marcellus Shale play is trapped in low-permeability shale and requires hydraulic fracturing to allow the gas to flow to the surface via a well bore.
MSEEL is funded by the DOE, with NETL providing project management and technical oversight. The project provides an unbiased view of the environmental impact of the drilling and stimulation processes. Earlier MSEEL efforts focused on a dedicated field site and laboratory at the Northeast Natural Energy (NNE) production site in Morgantown, West Virginia, and produced reams of useful research information that increased reserves at the Morgantown MSEEL site by 20 percent and produced wellsite best practices that were incorporated into NNE operations.
MSEEL work included the creation of a dedicated scientific observation well to collect detailed subsurface data with seismic array instruments to monitor stimulation events in two wells.
According to NETL's John Duda, MSEEL's current research is based on earlier successes and is occurring at a new wellsite near Core, West Virginia. "The current R&D is geared toward cost-effectively improving gas recovery from horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing in the region," he explained. "The initial efforts advanced hydraulic fracture stimulation techniques that NETL researchers pioneered years ago. A key objective of the field test is to demonstrate more cost-effective techniques for the development of advanced completion strategies that can be applied to other areas of the Marcellus S hale play to improve overall resource recovery efficiency."
One major difference from when NETL initiated the research to today's efforts is the improvement in technologies that are now available to facilitate the new research. "For example, aided by advanced numerical modeling developed by WVU, the project team will calibrate results from a large array of data acquired via less expensive, new tools at the Core site," Duda said.
MSEEL is making material impacts on the oil and gas industry. "If MSEEL can prove that these and other technologies under consideration work and lead to improved well results, lessons learned from the project can lead to more efficient and effective resource recovery in the region and possibly throughout other U.S. shale plays, thereby improving the nation's energy security and industrial competitiveness," Duda explained.
For more information, visit www.netl.doe.gov or call (412) 386-4984.
