ABSTRACT: Analysis of Natural Gas Production from the Mississippian Age "Second Berea" Sandstone in Southeastern Ohio

Thomas E. Tomastik, M. Jay Cavender

The "Second Berea" Sandstone has been a prime oil and gas target in southeastern Ohio since the late 1890s. Rapid development of this horizon took place in southeastern Ohio during the 1920s and 1930s. The introduction of hydraulic fracturing renewed interest in the "Second Berea" during the 1950s to 1960s. Dramatic price increases in the late 1970s to mid-1980s again stimulated exploration and development of the "Second Berea." Today, development of this reservoir includes several thousand wells and encompasses an area covering five counties and 36 civil townships.

The "Second Berea" Sandstone is Mississippian in age and was deposited as a regressive barrier island system, which extended from Gallia County in the south to Muskingum County in the north. This unit is a very fine to medium-grained, subangular to rounded, slightly shaley sandstone. Porosity varies between 6 and 14%, while permeability ranges from 0.012 to 0.097 md. Unit thickness varies from 0 to over 30 ft. Depths to the "Second Berea" range between 1000 and 2000 ft.

Natural gas production data were obtained from 111 "Second Berea" wells currently owned and operated by Columbia Natural Resources. These wells were originally drilled and completed by the Ohio Fuel Gas Company between the early 1920s and the early 1960s. Total cumulative natural gas production ranges from 40 MMCF to over 500 MMCF, and averages about 134 MMCF per well.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90998 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, London, Ontario, Canada, September 10-12, 1990