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With all the great speakers and presentations at the USAEE /IAEE North American Conference in Anchorage this week, it’s hard to pick and choose among so many well-expressed ideas. Our USAEE updates represent just a few of our favorite quotes from the ongoing events.

The US oil and natural gas production increase that’s taken place over the past few years is nothing short of staggering and virtually all this incremental output is coming from unconventional plays, particularly shale resources. However, the rate at which production from these wells declines and the estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) from these wells and fields remains controversial.

Investor relations presentations are famous for “forward looking statements” and optimistic outlooks that often highlight only the best performing assets.

“I don’t want to step on anyone’s investor relations presentation, but there’s a lot of certainty that’s manufactured.” – Billy Harris, Senior Petroleum Engineer for Wagner & Brown

Regarding well bore integrity and the importance of proper cement jobs:

“This is where industry and regulatory bodies should have no trouble cooperating. This could get a CEO run off who resides in England.” – Harris

The models companies currently use to calculate EURs and decline rates were developed over 50 years or more for conventional, mostly vertical wells.

“Forecasting in unconventional resource plays is uncertain. It could take 40 years to fully understand the mathematics behind unconventional well behavior.” – Harris