EQT Corp., Pittsburgh, has suspended a test program in the Utica shale to concentrate on drilling in the Marcellus shale boosted by its planned acquisition of Rice Energy Inc., Canonsburg, Pa. (OGJ Online, June 19, 2017).
EQT last December said it planned to drill seven deep Utica exploratory wells with an average lateral length of 6,800 ft on its 490,000-net-acre leasehold.
In a statement with its second-quarter 2017 earnings report, it said the Rice acquisition changes the plan.
“In anticipation of the merger with Rice Energy, EQT has suspended its Utica test program as improved returns on Marcellus wells resulting from longer laterals made possible by the Rice acquisition are higher than the return expected on the average Utica well today,” it said.
EQT lowered its 2017 production outlook by 10-15 bcfe to reflect the suspension.
It said it spudded 66 gross wells during this year’s second quarter, including 43 Marcellus wells, with an average expected length of pay of 8,200 ft, and 23 Upper Devonian wells, with an average expected length of pay of 8,300 ft.
EQT’s core Marcellus development area is in southwestern Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and northern West Virginia. The core Upper Devonian acreage lies within the Pennsylvanian part of that area.
The company reported second-quarter net income of $41.1 million, compared to a loss of $258.6 million in the comparable period of 2016.
