PPT Slide
Natural Gas Productive Capacity for the Lower-48 States
- Oklahoma gas well completions (including recompletions) are projected to increase to a level comparable to that of the mid-1980s (Figure 4). This translates to a small production increase that reverses the long decline in Oklahoma production. Production can increase because the effective productive capacity increases through 2001 due to the increase in drilling. Because production is modeled to rise, no surplus effective productive capacity develops in 2001.
- Historically, when rig counts have increased, the number of wells drilled per rig has dropped due to a decline in rig efficiency. The wells per rig ratios used here compensate for this expected drilling inefficiency.
- During times of higher prices the average yield per new well completion may decline due to the drilling of wells that are uneconomic at lower prices. No adjustment was made here for potential changes in the initial production rate of new well completions because these rates have been relatively stable in recent years due to technology improvements.