EQT reports highest ever flow rate on shale well

EQT has announced an initial flow rate of 2.1 mcm (72.9 mcf) of gas per day from its first well in the Utica Shale formation. The results came from a 24-hour deliverability test, and mark the highest initial production rate for any shale gas well in the Appalachian Basin.

Located in Greene County, Pennsylvania, the well’s lateral length was 975 metres, far shorter than the average shale well, and far below the EQT’s planned length of 1,675 metres. The well was drilled in 18 fracture stages using ceramic proppant. The Pittsburgh-based company intends to choke the well down to a rate of 0.7 mcm (24 mcf) per day in order to manage proppant stress and study its recovery profile.

The company’s first foray into the deep, dry Utical Shale formation was also the most technically challenging well the company has every drilled, EQT’s president of exploration told investors in a statement. The company has scaled back initial plans to drill five Utica wells in 2015, and has now only confirmed a second in Wetzel County, West Virginia. EQT puts the cost of each well at around $12.5 million.

The news was tempered by the release of EQT’s earnings statement for the second quarter of 2015. The company reported a net income of $5.5 million, a steep decline from $173.4 million in the first quarter, and $110.9 million in the same period in 2014.