Economic viability of shale gas production in the Marcellus Shale; indicated by production rates, costs and current natural gas prices

The U.S. natural gas industry has changed because of the recent ability to produce natural gas from unconventional shale deposits. One of the largest and most important deposits is the Marcellus Shale. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have allowed for the technical feasibility of production, but concerns exist regarding the economics of shale gas production. These concerns are related to limited production and economic data for shale gas wells, declines in the rates of production, falling natural gas prices, oversupply issues coupled with slow growth in U.S. natural gas demand, and rising production costs. An attempt to determine profitability was done through the economic analysis of an average shale gas well using data that is representative of natural gas production from 2009 to 2011 in the Marcellus Shale. Despite the adverse conditions facing the shale gas industry it is concluded from the results of this analysis that a shale gas well in the Marcellus Shale is profitable based on NPV, IRR and breakeven price calculations.

Minimizing residential distribution system operating costs through intelligently scheduled plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging

Rising fuel prices and environmental concerns are threatening the stability of current electrical grid systems. These factors are pushing the automobile industry towards more effcient, hybrid vehicles. Current trends show petroleum is being edged out in favor of electricity as the main vehicular motive force. The proposed methods create an optimized charging control schedule for all participating Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles in a distribution grid. The optimization will minimize daily operating costs, reduce system losses, and improve power quality. This requires participation from Vehicle-to-Grid capable vehicles, load forecasting, and Locational Marginal Pricing market predictions. Vehicles equipped with bidirectional chargers further improve the optimization results by lowering peak demand and improving power quality.

MATURE FINE TAILINGS (MFTs): A STUDY OF COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH AND RHEOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF ATHABASCA OIL SANDS PETROLEUM MINING WASTE APPLIED IN CONCRETE MIXTURES

This study investigates the compressive properties of concrete incorporating Mature Fine Tailings (MFTs) waste stream from a tar sands mining operation. The objectives of this study are to investigate material properties of the MFT material itself, as well as establish general feasibility of the utilization of MFT material in concrete mixtures through empirical data and visual observations. Investigations undertaken in this study consist of moisture content, materials finer than No. 200 sieve, Atterburg Limits as well as visual observations performed on MFT material as obtained. Control concrete mixtures as well as MFT replacement mixture designs (% by wt. of water) were guided by properties of the MFT material that were experimentally established. The experimental design consists of compression testing of 4”-diameter concrete cylinders of a control mixture, 30% MFT, 50% MFT and 70% MFT replacement mixtures with air-entrainer additive, as well as a control mixture and 30% MFT replacement mixture with no air-entrainer. A total of 6 mixtures (2 control mixtures, 4 replacement mixtures) moist-cured in lime water after 24 hours initial curing were tested for ultimate compressive strength at 7 days and 28 days in accordance to ASTM C39. The test results of fresh concrete material show that the addition of air-entrainer to the control mixture increases slump from 4” to 5.5”. However, the use of MFT material in concrete mixtures significantly decreases slump as compared to controls. All MFT replacement mixtures (30%, 50%, and 70%) with air-entrainer present slumps of 1”. 30% MFT with no air-entrainer presents a slump of 1.5”. It was found that 7-day ultimate compressive stress was not a good predictor of 28-day ultimate compressive stress. 28-day results indicate that the use of MFT material in concrete with air-entrainer decreases ultimate compressive stress for 30%, 50% and 70% MFT replacement amounts by 14.2%, 17.3% and 25.1% respectively.

An Isopach Map and a Discussion of the Permian in Wyoming and Adjacent Areas

The accelerated post-war demand for petroleum products with resultant high prices and dwindling reserves has spurred producers to an extensive search for new fields and for ad­ditional production in known fields. Exploration and discov­ery is dependent on the collection and correlation of vast amounts of data both in the field and that found in liter­ature.

History of Petroleum Engineering at Montana Tech

In January, 2010, the Petroleum Engineering department at Montana Tech moved into a new building, the Natural Resources Building, to start a new chapter in the history of the program on campus. Occupying a new building is a positive event, and it coincides with a surge of student enrollment which is prompted by industry needs and world energy demand. This time of new facilities and growing student numbers leads to the question of what the future has in store for the department. It also leads to reflection about where the department has been in the past. This history is a record and a story of that past.

The Value of Negotiating Cost-Based Transfer Prices

This paper analyzes the potential of one-step transfer prices based on either variable or full costs for coordinating decentralized production and quality-improving investment decisions. Transfer prices based on variable costs fail to induce investments on the upstream stage. In contrast, transfer prices based on full costs provide strong investment incentives for the upstream divisions. However, they fail to coordinate the investment decisions. We show that negotiations prevent such coordination failure. In particular, we find that the firm benefits from a higher degree of decentralization so that total profit increases in the number of parameters being subject to negotiations.