30-06-05
A consortium of the US Department of Energy, several states, 17 energy companies and an industry group plans an exhaustive study in search of new oil reserves beneath the Appalachian foothills. The two-year review is being sparked by record-high prices for crude oil and the country's continuing need for it.
Standing in the way of the revival of the Appalachian basin as a top
oil-producing region are the same factors that sent speculators elsewhere after
the area's heyday: the expense of and technical obstacles to finding the
reservoirs, digging deep enough to strike and moving the oil where it needs to
go.
Appalachian oil made the Rockefeller family fabulously wealthy when some of the world's first wells were dug in 1859, and the region remained a significant producer through the early 1900s. A 260-mile stretch centred on northwest Ohio saw nearly 100,000 wells that produced about 600 mm barrels. But eventually coal trumped crude as the area's most valuable and accessible natural resource.
Now scientists are poring through existing records to make educated guesses as
to the existence and location of bigger, deeper oil deposits. Geological
similarities between the basin and the oil fields of west Texas have them
excited about the possibilities.
"It won't replace Saudi Arabia, but it could be important," said Brandon Nuttall,
a petroleum geologist from Kentucky who is part of the project.
Earlier wells typically were dug to a depth of about 1,400 feet. If jackpot reservoirs at extreme depths -- elephants, in industry slang -- exist in the basin, researchers estimate they could lie as far down as 20,000 feet.
"A way to think of the basin is as a closed, big Webster's Dictionary. In the
past, we drilled down to about the letter 'D,'" said Kathy Flaherty, a petroleum
geologist with Abarta Oil & Gas in Pittsburgh. "Now, just think of what is past
the letter 'D' in your dictionary. Geologists are starting to imagine that. If
we put a hole deep enough down, who knows what we will find."
A 20,000-foot well would cost at least $ 6.82 mm to dig and maintain, according to the Energy Department.
"If you don't know you're going to find anything, it is hard to get somebody to
give you that kind of money," said James Drahovzal, an earth scientist with the
Kentucky Geological Survey. But with crude oil selling at $ 60 a barrel and gas
going for $ 2 a gallon, industry officials are hoping they'll find something
worth bringing up.
"There's all that sedimentary rock out there we've not explored. There could be
a world-class field out there," Drahovzal said. "But we're not sure. All we can
say is there might be. Conditions appear favourable."
Source: Associated Press