Gas Wells ??

[Al]

Does anybody have a gas well or know anybody that has drilled one?

We just had a 20kw automatic backup generator installed to keep the business powered. Its propane powered.

The installer told me that there is alot of natural gas in Ky. He is installing a 45kw continuous run gen in a house in somerset next week and its going to be powered by a gas well they have.

He said its $25,000 to have a well drilled but there is no guarantee of the volume of gas. A continous run gen is $11,000. Thats $36,000+ for your own power plant. It would take 5 to 7 yrs to get your money back.

He said his neighbor has a gas well that they use to run their furnaces.

 

[ptbrauch]

I was in a house once that had their own well in Whitley Co. They used what they could and sold the rest. They had everything they could gas powered--including the refrigerator. They even kept the furnace at what felt like 90 degrees.

 

[Al]

I would love to get my own power system and tell the power company to take a hike but its really expensive to dig a well.

 

[Foam Steak]

Do you own the mineral rights on your property? Thats the first question. Second, I think you need to have a certain amount of contiguous property to sink a well. I am not sure what ammount that is. But you could go in with a few nieghbors.
Third, if you have all of that you may be able to get an oil/gas company to drill a well for free. If they sink a well on your property you could get a gas line to your house and a percentage of the profit from the sale of the rest.
It may be worth a call to a couple small oil and gas companys to find out.

And don't quote me on any of this stuff, it has been so long since I was around any of this I could be totally off base. I also was in a different part of the country, so the laws could be different in KY.

 

[trust me]

Some wells hit, some don't. Most wells in my area start off great and then slowly drop off to nothing. Yet, there is one near me that has produced continuously since about 1946, but it could give up tomorrow.

If you are within 500 feet (I think) of a property, line, you are taking someone else's gas and must pay a percentage to them. Geologists tell them where to sink a well, depending on geologic fractures hundreds or thousands of feet deep they claim they can find. Most gas companies will offer the landowner 12.5% and possibly a little money up front if you can negotiate it. You can get free gas service to your residence if the well is a good one. In my experience, when the well plays out, they walk away, leaving pump jacks and lines laying everywhere. I'm sorry if that offends anyone, but I see it all the time.

I'd like to be independent of the electric company too, but I'd hate to rely on a combustion engine for 24/7 electric service, especially with the initial investment being so steep.

 

[ceohunter]

I'm with trust me on this one. A combustion engine as your only power source. You have to keep the oil changed every 200 hours, that is just a little over a week. Some of the 45kw liquid cooled models run at 3600rpms and some at 1800rpms. 8,736 hours per year running 24/7. What is the life expectancy (hours) of a 4 stroke combustion engine?

I have seen cabins in remote places have their only source of power from a generator but they are not the primary residence.

A 45KW gen is going to have to flow about 700,000 BTUs. The one you have there needs 294,000 BTUs at max load.

By the way, those 20KW gensets are really cool. That transfer switch is huge.

 

[Al]

Intercounty energy told us that their lines are in really bad shape and they recommend all business to get a backup power source because there are going to be more power losses and they give no priority to business.

And they are right they have miles of lines going through thickets and through he middle of mature trees. They have neglected maintaining their lines. Near me there are lines sagging across hollows and you can see where leaves on trees are burnt.
Flocks of birds on these lines flying off all at once cause breakers on the transformers to flip.
Last year a squirrl got zapped on a neighbors transformer and it caught on fire and fell off and started a brush fire. The power was out a day and a half.

 

[treerat]

well our heating is working out great,,,,,,,since we put the woodstove in at the end of december,,,,our electric bill went from 250 a month down to 60 a month,,,,,,needless to say we don't use the electric furnace anymore,,,,,but trying to keep the woodstove regulated where it keeps it about 78 is real hard,,,,just recently learned how to do that,,,some days it has gotten up to about 90,,,had to open all the windows for about a half hour or so,,,,,i have enough oak and hickory now for 2 years,,,,,,,

 

[rock802]

well I'am a driller on a drilling rig here in LEE co. the company i work for owns there own drill. the owner has gone in partners with other people looking for gas, for the gas you have to go around 4500 ft. in this erea. for these wells they contracted it out, the going price 2 yrs. ago was 17.00 a ft. then you still don't know if you will get anything. in the past 4 yrs. they have done 2 of these and they both have been dry, and our geoligist picked the locations. there is more gas in far eastern ky.
and trust me is kinda right, our company has about 1650 oil wells in LEE and WOLFE co. however they only produce about 700. the non producers have old units on them etc. look abanded, but they are not. they still own all rights to them, many of these were drilled in the early 1900's

 

[buckdroppings]

well our heating is working out great,,,,,,,since we put the woodstove in at the end of december,,,,our electric bill went from 250 a month down to 60 a month,,,,,,needless to say we don't use the electric furnace anymore,,,,,but trying to keep the woodstove regulated where it keeps it about 78 is real hard,,,,just recently learned how to do that,,,some days it has gotten up to about 90,,,had to open all the windows for about a half hour or so,,,,,i have enough oak and hickory now for 2 years,,,,,,,

I'm with you. I have the heat pump on during cool weather but when it's cold wood stove make a big difference. Our biggest elec bill this winter was $80. Hard to beat that. I have a propane furnace that is brand new. We have had it on twice in three years. With all the storms the last few months I've got enough wood for a couple of winters. We go through about 4 chords a winter.

 

[JDMiller]

Just reading through the post and seeing a lot of comments that are correct as was told to me recently.

To make a long story short.... I've been contacted by a petroleoum / gas company interested in drilling for natural gas on our farm. We met with their geologist & rep from the company in January. Apparently some technology has changed on extracting nat. gas from certain layers that was'nt done too many years ago.

According to what they told me... in Kentucky...you have to drill at least 500 ft from your property line or split production profit with the adjoining property owner. Theres also some limitations on the number of wells vs. x-ammount of acerage. With our place ...300 acres...property boundaries basically we can have 6 wells but a lot of it has to do with the way our land lays. If it were just a basic square of acerage... you could have more.

They basically have one year & two attempts with each well to get everything drilled & producing. The well head itself will be fenced and basically take up a 5 ft by 5 ft area and all wells will be connected to ditribution piping from your property.

The first year... you receive no profit. The second year..if a well produces max capacity... they told us on average you would basically begin receiving around $2400 or slightly less a month for each well... pending you have 100% of the mineral rights. They also deem access to inspect & maintain the wells any time but would be responsible for maintaing roads & gates.

They also grant use to one well for personal use no charge. Otherwords we could run a gas line to our cabin and power any natural gas using device..un-metered.

It sounds good but theres lots of variables. We have not signed a contract to date.

 

[mossyhorns]

Why not just get some of Algore's flatulent, greenhouse gas producing, global-warming causin' cows? Better yet, just stick a hose up ol' gas-bag Gore himself.

 

[treerat]

there is a cheaper way then drilling a well,,,,,,EAT MORE BEANS,,

 

[NonTyp]

The first year... you receive no profit. The second year..if a well produces max capacity... they told us on average you would basically begin receiving around $2400 or slightly less a month for each well... pending you have 100% of the mineral rights. They also deem access to inspect & maintain the wells any time but would be responsible for maintaing roads & gates.

They also grant use to one well for personal use no charge. Otherwords we could run a gas line to our cabin and power any natural gas using device..un-metered.

It sounds good but theres lots of variables. We have not signed a contract to date.

My grandfather drilled 2 gas wells (#3 and #4 wells) on his farm when I was a little boy. #2 well was never drilled. He already had 1 well (#1 well) before these, that wasn't any good.( very wet and high sulphur). The #3 & #4 wells are very dry, black shale gas, that are great producers and have been for 25+ years. My dad owns the farm now but papaw still retains the gas production until his departure. He has never and still doesn't get anywhere near $2400 a month from both wells let alone one of them. Dad and papaw have free gas supplies for their homes but not the big check coming each month!

 

[predator]

My grandfather drilled 2 gas wells (#3 and #4 wells) on his farm when I was a little boy. #2 well was never drilled. He already had 1 well (#1 well) before these, that wasn't any good.( very wet and high sulphur). The #3 & #4 wells are very dry, black shale gas, that are great producers and have been for 25+ years. My dad owns the farm now but papaw still retains the gas production until his departure. He has never and still doesn't get anywhere near $2400 a month from both wells let alone one of them. Dad and papaw have free gas supplies for their homes but not the big check coming each month!

Billy, correct me if I'm wrong, because you have worked on several HVAC systems in the county, but even if you get a strong well, sometimes the gas is so "dirty" that isn't a substantial filtering system is required? I believe that high sulfer gas will wreck havoc on equipment.