Wyoming’s next wave of natural gas drilling

Pristine to Polluted | More Wells, Fewer Emissions | Next Wave of Natural Gas

It may seem counter-intuitive to propose some 21,000 new wells in Wyoming at time when natural gas prices are still depressed due to large new supplies in the southern and eastern United States. But producers are looking to the future, and Wyoming will remain a prime location for gas development for decades to come.

With the completion of the Wyoming-to-Oregon Ruby Pipeline this summer, Wyoming will — for at least a little while — have more export capacity than production. Ample export capacity makes Wyoming an attractive place to develop natural gas because producers don’t have to take discounted prices to get their gas into a pipeline. And some major producers can potentially play to whichever markets — east or west of Wyoming — are paying the best price.

Below is an overview of some of the major natural gas projects in preliminary stages of analysis at the Bureau of Land Management.

— Compiled by Dustin Bleizeffer

Proposed Wyoming energy development on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land. (click to enlarge)

Normally Pressured Lance Formation

TARGET: Deep natural gas
LOCATION: Adjacent to Jonah field in Sublette County
OPERATOR: EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc.
PROJECT AREA: 141,000 acres
ESTIMATED WELLS: 3,500
ANALYSIS: Environmental Impact Statement
STATUS: Initial scoping was completed in April.
BLM Contact: Kellie Roadifer, Pinedale Field Office (307) 367-5309.

LaBarge Platform Infill

TARGET: Natural gas
LOCATION: Straddling the Green River and the Sublette and Lincoln counties border
OPERATORS: EOG Resources Inc., ExxonMobil Production Co., Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Wexpro Co.
PROJECT AREA: 218,000 acres
ESTIMATED WELLS: 838 wells from 463 pads
ANALYSIS: Full environmental impact statement
BLM contact: Lauren McKeever, Pinedale Field Office (307)367-5352.
Project website

Gun Barrel, Madden Deep, Iron Horse

TARGET: Deep natural gas
LOCATION: Eastern Fremont County
OPERATORS: EnCana Oil & Gas USA Inc., Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co. LP and Noble Energy Inc.
PROJECT AREA: 146,000 acres
ESTIMATED WELLS: 1,470 (130 new wells annually for 10 to 15 years)
ANALYSIS: Full environmental impact statement
STATUS: Federal scoping process began in June 2008
DESCRIPTION: The companies proposed a “full field” development scenario.
BLM contact: Chris Krassin, Lander Field Office (307) 332-8452.
Project website

Beaver Creek

TARGET: Coal-bed methane
LOCATION: Nine miles south of Riverton
OPERATOR: Devon Energy Production Co.
PROJECT AREA: 16,518 acres
ESTIMATED WELLS: 208 coal-bed methane on 40-acre spacing, and 20 conventional natural gas.
ANALYSIS: Full environmental impact statement
DESCRIPTION: An environmental assessment was completed in September 2007. Devon then completed 20 pilot wells confirming commercial quantities of coal-bed methane.
BLM contact: Curtis Bryan, Lander Field Office (307) 332-8415.
Project website

Moxa Arch Infill

TARGET: Natural gas
LOCATION: West of Green River, bisected by Interstate 80
OPERATORS: EOG Resources Inc., with some other interests
PROJECT AREA: 475,808 acres
ESTIMATED WELLS: 1,861 new wells, of which 1,226 would be drilled in the “core” area (in addition to prior authorization for 1,400 wells)
ANALYSIS: Full environmental impact statement
STATUS: Beginning work on supplemental draft
BLM contact: Michele Easley, Kemmerer Field Office (307) 828-4503.
Project website

Hiawatha Project

TARGET: Natural gas
LOCATION: South of Rock Springs, straddling the Wyoming-Colorado border
OPERATORS: QEP Resources and Wexpro Co.
PROJECT AREA: 157,361 acres
ESTIMATED WELLS: 4,208
ANALYSIS: Full environmental impact statement
BLM contact: James Speck, Rock Springs Field Office (307) 352-0358.
Project website

Continental Divide-Creston (infill) Project

TARGET: Natural gas
LOCATION: Wamsutter area, straddling Interstate 80
OPERATOR: Devon Energy Corp., BP America Production Co.
PROJECT AREA: 1.1 million acres
ESTIMATED WELLS: 1,250 by Devon, 7,700 by BP
ANALYSIS: Full environmental impact statement
BLM Contact: Eldon Allison, Rawlins Field Office (307)328-4267.
Project website

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