Reader Provides Update On Interesting Driller In Appalachia -- November 17, 2017

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Small outfit in the Appalachian Basin - Eclipse Resources - just drilled the longest lateral at 20,800 feet, named Mercury well. 

ECR now has about half dozen wells 19,000 foot plus lateral length, targeting condensate rich area of Utica. 

Drilling is generally one run, spud to TD in 16 or 17 days time. 

Extraordinarily economic approach. 

Virtually all Appalachian operators are trying for 15,000 foot laterals as the gas flowing for the following decades will be extremely inexpensive to produce. 

These operational procedures will continue to spread to the Bakken and other 'shale' plays as refinements continue to manifest.

For a short period of time early in the boom, and in some cases still today, Bakken operators drilled some short laterals, slightly less than a mile in length. Now, the "standard" length for a Bakken lateral is a bit less than two miles long. A few folks are suggesting that we will start to see laterals  3 x 4,500 feet or 13,500 feet long. A 20,000-ft lateral in North Dakota will be the length of four sections.