A Basin-wide Geologic Resource Assessment of the Upper Devonian Interval in the Appalachian Basin

Douds, Ashley S.B. ¹, Pancake, James A. ¹, and Boswell, Ray M. ²

¹EG&G-NETL

²U.S. Dept. of Energy-NETL

The Upper Devonian interval (Venango, Bradford, and Elk Groups) is one of the most prolific natural gas-producing intervals in the Appalachian basin.  Data from the most recent 5 year reporting period indicate that the Upper Devonian interval accounted for over 90% of the reported production in Pennsylvania and nearly half of all completions in West Virginia.  Despite these statistics, recent natural gas assessments of the interval are lacking. 

The last detailed basin-wide investigation of the Upper Devonian’s resource potential, conducted in 1992 by the Department of Energy (DOE), was not widely released. Since that time, more data points have become available through the release of proprietary data and from recently drilled wells.  However, limited oil and gas industry resources and concerns over sharing confidential information between competing companies has limited efforts for a basin-wide resource assessment of the Upper Devonian.  The DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has recently initiated an effort that builds on the work from 1992 and integrates new data from industry and public sources to assess the remaining potential of this interval.

This study aims to produce a better understanding of the geologic complexities and the size and nature of the remaining natural gas resource of this interval.  Work will include production of detailed, basin-wide geologic cross-sections and maps delineating sandstones of the Upper Devonian interval, followed by a characterization of the remaining natural gas resource in terms of gas-in-place and technically recoverable resource.  Results will be made publicly available on a CD report from NETL.