The Boom-Bust Cycle in Pinedale, Wyoming - Images | Tim Matsui

The Boom-Bust Cycle in Pinedale, Wyoming (85 photos)

Pinedale, Wyoming, just south of Jackson Hole, is experiencing a natural gas drilling boom that is taxing the county's infrastructure at the same time a real estate boom is driving up housing prices and frustrating growth management officials. It isn't the first time the region has seen a boom--followed by a bust.

Created 7 Jul 2008 | Last updated 11 Sep 2008

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$PINEDALE, WY - A Halliburton cement team prepares their gear at Caza Drill Rig 86, under contract by Questar, on the Pinedale Anticline on August 20, 2005. As part of well completion, the crew will pressurize their lines to 9000 lbs and inject cement to the bottom of the 14,000 foot well where it will squeeze around the base of the drill hole casing and come back up the outside, isolating the different strata. When the cement sets another team will come in to hydraulically fracture the strata to stimulate gas production, a new technique which has made this gas field a profitable endeavor. While many residents are thankful for the work created by the gas field, there are concerns of environmental damage, air quality issues, and marring of the view shed many newer residents moved to the area for. Pinedale currently has the lowest unemployment rate in the state and is experiencing another boom cycle both in real estate and in energy as natural gas production in two nearby gas fields ramps up for year-round production.$

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$PINEDALE, WY - Halliburton cement crew workers Marcus Villefanco, of Pecos, TX, and William Stevens, of Brownsville, TX, prepare their gear at Caza Drill Rig 86, under contract by Questar, on the Pinedale Anticline on August 20, 2005. As part of well completion, the crew will pressurize their lines to 9000 lbs and inject cement to the bottom of the 14,000 foot well where it will squeeze around the base of the drill hole casing and come back up the outside, isolating the different strata. When the cement sets another team will come in to hydraulically fracture the strata to stimulate gas production, a new technique which has made this gas field a profitable endeavor. While many residents are thankful for the work created by the gas field, there are concerns of environmental damage, air quality issues, and marring of the view shed many newer residents moved to the area for. Pinedale currently has the lowest unemployment rate in the state and is experiencing another boom cycle both in real estate and in energy as natural gas production in two nearby gas fields ramps up for year-round production.$

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$JONAH FIELD, SUBLETTE COUNTY, WY - Water, chemical, and pumper trucks of a Haliburton Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation station, in the Jonah Field, Wy., on August 8, 2005. Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation (Frac-ing) has allowed operators to harvest previously un-extractable natural gas making the Jonah Filed and Pinedale Anticline 'new' natural gas resources for development. Frac-ing involves piercing a drill hole's casing with shaped explosives and then forcing a chemically-gelled water carrying a manufactured 'sand' into the resulting hole. This further propagates the fracture while the 'sand' props open the hole. A second solution is forced down hole which turns the gel back into water and allows the natural gas to migrate out of the ultra-tight sandstone lenses of the Lance Formation and up the well. Encana, BP, and Ultra Petroleum are the main operators in the 30,200 acre field, but Encana is expected to drill two thirds of the wells to yield upwards of 10.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which has a current market value of $55 to $60 billion dollars. Encana could make $2 billion in profit per TCF depending price trends and production costs. Jonah Field operators are seeking an 'in-fill' project which will allow for an increase of wells from the currently permitted 533 to 3100 by decreasing well pad spacing from 40 acres to 20 acres and possibly down to 10 acres spacing. This will allow for a greater number of vertical as opposed to directionally drilled wells. Vertical wells take less time, are easier, and therefore cheaper to drill but require a greater amount of surface disturbance. Development and completion, the drilling and hooking up of wells to pipelines, is expected to take 10-15 years while area gas reserves are expected to last 40-60 years. .$

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$JONAH FIELD, SUBLETTE COUNTY, WY - Sjon Sorenson, a safety supervisor for a Haliburton Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation crew, in the Jonah Field, Wy., on August 8, 2005. Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation (Frac-ing) has allowed operators to harvest previously un-extractable natural gas making the Jonah Filed and Pinedale Anticline 'new' natural gas resources for development. Frac-ing involves piercing a drill hole's casing with shaped explosives and then forcing a chemically-gelled water carrying a manufactured 'sand' into the resulting hole. This further propagates the fracture while the 'sand' props open the hole. A second solution is forced down hole which turns the gel back into water and allows the natural gas to migrate out of the ultra-tight sandstone lenses of the Lance Formation and up the well. Encana, BP, and Ultra Petroleum are the main operators in the 30,200 acre field, but Encana is expected to drill two thirds of the wells to yield upwards of 10.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which has a current market value of $55 to $60 billion dollars. Encana could make $2 billion in profit per TCF depending price trends and production costs. Jonah Field operators are seeking an 'in-fill' project which will allow for an increase of wells from the currently permitted 533 to 3100 by decreasing well pad spacing from 40 acres to 20 acres and possibly down to 10 acres spacing. This will allow for a greater number of vertical as opposed to directionally drilled wells. Vertical wells take less time, are easier, and therefore cheaper to drill but require a greater amount of surface disturbance. Development and completion, the drilling and hooking up of wells to pipelines, is expected to take 10-15 years while area gas reserves are expected to last 40-60 years. .$

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$JONAH FIELD, SUBLETTE COUNTY, WY - Water, chemical, and pumper trucks of a Haliburton Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation station, in the Jonah Field, Wy., on August 8, 2005. Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation (Frac-ing) has allowed operators to harvest previously un-extractable natural gas making the Jonah Filed and Pinedale Anticline 'new' natural gas resources for development. Frac-ing involves piercing a drill hole's casing with shaped explosives and then forcing a chemically-gelled water carrying a manufactured 'sand' into the resulting hole. This further propagates the fracture while the 'sand' props open the hole. A second solution is forced down hole which turns the gel back into water and allows the natural gas to migrate out of the ultra-tight sandstone lenses of the Lance Formation and up the well. Encana, BP, and Ultra Petroleum are the main operators in the 30,200 acre field, but Encana is expected to drill two thirds of the wells to yield upwards of 10.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas which has a current market value of $55 to $60 billion dollars. Encana could make $2 billion in profit per TCF depending price trends and production costs. Jonah Field operators are seeking an 'in-fill' project which will allow for an increase of wells from the currently permitted 533 to 3100 by decreasing well pad spacing from 40 acres to 20 acres and possibly down to 10 acres spacing. This will allow for a greater number of vertical as opposed to directionally drilled wells. Vertical wells take less time, are easier, and therefore cheaper to drill but require a greater amount of surface disturbance. Development and completion, the drilling and hooking up of wells to pipelines, is expected to take 10-15 years while area gas reserves are expected to last 40-60 years. .$

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