The Marcellus shale is similar to Da Vinci’s portrait of Mona Lisa—it has natural, structural fracturing—notes Penn State professor of geosciences Dr. Terry Engelder. He addressed Houston Producers’ Forum members at a mid-July program that drew a few hundred E&P executives, financiers and investors—a large number for a midsummer energy program in Houston.

Watch the video interview with Dr. Engelder.

Aging of the Mona Lisa painting has produced cracks in the paint, he noted, and the fractures are very similar to that visible from the surface in Pennsylvania in the Appalachian Basin covering Marcellus shale gas. Engelder’s often-humorous presentation ranged from discussing the Mona Lisa to Charlie Wilson of “Charlie Wilson’s War” to peak-oil theorist M. King Hubbert.

Engelder estimates Marcellus gas to be more than 600 API at the bottom 30 to 40 feet of the structure, compared with 300 API at the sweetest depth of the Haynesville shale play in northwestern Louisiana, and this “may make it unique among the black shales.”

He noted that a challenge to producing Marcellus shale gas is that “this ain’t Texas” (although the boundary of the play is more than half the size of Texas). Produced water in Pennsylvania has to be disposed of on the surface, as the subsurface is rock, while produced water from Barnett shale-gas operations can be reinjected due to the subsurface’s sandy nature.

“There are only three effective disposal wells in all of Pennsylvania,” he said, drawing gasps from several audience members.

A consortium of Appalachian producers—Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Chief Oil & Gas LLC, EOG Resources Inc., Equitable Resources Inc., J-W Operating Co., Marathon Oil Corp. and Range Resources Corp.—has been formed to address water conservation and disposal.

Engelder and Penn State put out a press release in January about the potential of the Marcellus shale play. He told Houston Producers’ Forum members that comments include:

-- “You stirred up a hornet’s nest” from a state well-permitting official (who wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of calls for permitting information);

-- “It is unfortunate that Dr. Engelder mentioned a severance tax” from a lobbyist (as Engelder believes imposing a severance tax would increase transparency of operators’ results in the play);

-- “You know you are famous, don’t you?” from a Congressman; and

-- “Where are the sweet spots in the Marcellus?” from individuals in Texas, particularly Fort Worth.

Engelder told Oil and Gas Investor in an exclusive interview that developing the Marcellus will require cooperation among producers, landowners, legislators, tax collectors, investors, environmentalists and gasfield workers. Investors will need to be patient; the play won’t be developed in six months.

“This is America’s prize.”