Source: RADAR | November 2, 2017

The top two US gas plays, the Haynesville and Marcellus shales, are reaping the rewards of increased natural gas exports and domestic consumption, and the Platts RigData Analytics team, writing in the latest issue of RADAR, expects the trend to continue well into the future. 

Examining the first 3 quarters of this year, in comparison to those of 2016, the Haynesville and Marcellus shales have experienced substantial growth in their active rig counts and new well starts. The current YTD well counts of both plays have already surpassed the total number of wells drilled in all of last year, and the top operators are increasing their efforts after having clued into rising consumption in the present and future. 

Among these two gas plays, the North Louisiana portion of the Haynesville Shale has seen the largest percentage increase in its average rig count and new well starts, which can be largely attributed to its close proximity to the new facilities being built by the chemical industry on the Gulf Coast.

As a whole, the play’s top 10 operators have already drilled 225 new wells in the Haynesville after drilling only 130 wells during 2016’s first 3 quarters.  The average number of total new wells drilled per quarter by the top 10 operators in the Haynesville was 7.5 YTD 2017, for a gain of +3.1 wells/quarter, or +69%, when compared to 2016’s 4.4 wells/quarter.

Call 1-800-627-9785 to subscribe to Platts RigData RADAR, the leading statistical monitor of overall land rig market activity and drilling trends by region, play, operator, driller, and many other proprietary metrics.

​