Epsilon Energy Ltd
From Wikimarcellus
In September, 2008, Concord, Ontario-based Epsilon Energy Ltd (EPS.TO) was reported to have leased an additional 10,200 acres in Chemung and Tioga Counties in New York. The acreage is located between its Park Place and Evans Hill projects. The company is the operator and holds a 50% working interest. In total, it owns a 50% interest in approximately 87,200 leasehold acres in New York and Pennsylvania. The company is focused on Trenton-Black River and Devonian shale exploration and development incuding the Marcellus shale formation. The table below shows its total U.S. leasehold by state:
Leasehold Acres
(February 2009)
Appalachian Basin: Gross Net
Pennsylvania 15,000 15,000
New York 32,000 16,000
West Virginia 36,000 15,000
Ohio 40,000 9,000
TOTAL 123,000 55,000
Source: Epsilon Energy website, Apr., 2009
A later September, 2008 report stated that Epsilon had completed two horizontal wells in its Highway 706 project located near Mr. Carmel in north-central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna County. At that time, drilling was still underway on a third well in that area. It had already received water withdrawal permits for fracing and continued drilling from the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) on the project. Epsilon owns drilling rights to 11,500 acres in this development, and most of it is still unexplored.
Fracing of the first of these wells as well as microseismic evaluation was planned for mid-November.
Epsilon provided an operational update in November, 2008 in which they reported a substantial slickwater fracture on its first horizontal well. Initial test results on the well are promising. A January 2009 report took note that the horizontal well was producing 3 Mmcf/day and a vertical well also in the same project produced 1 Mmcf/day.
Epsilon is working on a gathering system and will tap into the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. The initial phase of the company's pipeline infrastructure for the Hwy. 706 project is expected to be complete by the end of June, 2009.
In January, 2009 the company provided another operational update in which it noted that it had completed drilling of the Poulsen 1H, a 2,700 foot lateral horizontal well that is part of its Highway 706 project. It was further mentioned in the same report that Epsilon now owns drilling rights to 32,000 gross (16,000 net) acres in New York State prospective for Marcellus shale. The company so far drilled four horizontal wells and three vertical ones in the Marcellus.
Another January, 2009 report found Epsilon outsourcing the drilling of wells further north in Susquehanna County, PA to Turm Oil.
A February, 2009 report indicates a third well in the Highway 706 project, the Larue 2H, had a production rate over 4.2 MMcf/d. Another Larue well, 1A, had production of 1 MMcf/d. An eighth well in the program, named Hardic 2H, was in the process of being horizontally drilled.
In May, 2009 Epsilon announced that it had begun production from the Highway 706 project. It is both the operator of the project and owns 100% of the working interest. This represented the culmination of 2.5 years of work in which Epsilon had leased 12,000 prospective acres and drilled 3 vertical and 5 horizontal wells. It had fraced and completed 5 of these wells to date. Poulson #1H was the first well to be hooked up, and Poulson #2H was to follow as soon as a few operational issues were resolved with #1H. The company was in the process of installing its pipeline gathering system for these two as well as for some earlier wells that were producing at a combined flow rate of 8.5 Mmcf/d. The entire production from the Project will tie into the Tennessee Gas Pipeline to the south. Epsilon also has a compressor station in this vicinity to compress gas coming from the project wells.
In a June, 2009 update, Epsilon noted that it expected all eight wells drilled so far in the Highway 706 project to be online by the end of the third quarter of 2009. Fracking was underway on four wells. In August, 2009 the company announced that it had begun selling gas from a Marcellus well that was producing 2 Mmcf/d in the project. Epsilon noted that it had only completed the first of five planned stages of a five stage frac on this well. The remaining seven wells were still underway in the development. The company planned to extend its present gathering system to the north of their compressor plant. This facility had the capacity of 7 Mmcf/d, and the company was planning to add a second compressor to expand its capacity.
Update #1: In late October, 2009 the company announced that its first compressor had gone online with production coming from four wells: (1) one short stage horizontal well; (2) one short stage horizontal for which the company planned additional frac stages; and (3) 2 vertical wells. These four wells were to use the full capacity of this first compressor amounting to just over 6 Mmcf/d. It was further announced that Epsilon had completed fracing the last of its eight wells, the LaRue 1B; it is a two stage frac. Both LaRue 1B and the previously completed LaRue 1A were having similar production of 1 Mmcf/d each. At this point there were still four wells shut in on the project, and added together they had production of 10 Mmcf/d. This sum exceeded the capacity of the next compressor the company planned to bring online around November 30. Its capacity is 6.8 Mmcf/d. The company planned to install yet a third compressor to handle the remaining 4 Mmcf/d from those wells shut-in and from its 2010 drilling program. The latter was planned to be 5 vertical wells and 4 horizontal ones.
Update #2: As of November 16, two additional horizontal wells were brought online as well as the second compressor giving Epsilon production in excess of 10 Mmcf/d.
Epsilon also has a presence in the Quebec Saint Lawrence Lowlands Utica shale play where it is partners with Gastem in the Yamaska Project.
The company produces on land in West Virginia and Ohio. In its June, 2009 update, the company announced its intention to sell its Amber Bank and Blue Jacket properties in West Virginia for $13.0 million (US) thus closing out its position in the state. The money raised is to be redeployed for Marcellus shale drilling. Epsilon owned a non-operating interest.
- Zoran Arandjelovic is Epsilon's Executive Chairman and interim President/CEO
- David Heinz, Geologist, is Vice President of Exploration and COO.
