Sublette Countys Economy

Pinedale, Wyoming in the 1970's

Jonah Field

Taken directly from http://www.sublette-se.org/Jonah.html

Jonah Field, located in southern Sublette County, WY about 35 miles south of Pinedale and about 70 miles north of Rock Springs, after being "rediscovered" in the early 1990's was heralded as one of the most significant on-shore natural gas discoveries in the second half of the 20th century. Jonah represented a turning point in natural gas production as the gas contained in Jonah is trapped deep underground in extremely "tight" sand formations. New technologies and higher gas prices allowed companies to lucratively produce gas from an "unconventional" source. Due to the depth of the wells and complexity of the perforation techniques used to fracture the underground sand formations, drilling and production in Jonah requires substantially larger workforce requirements over a longer period of time then compared to conventional on-shore fields. The success of effective and lucrative gas extraction from the tight sand field led the way to future expansion of the nearby Pinedale Anticline field a few years later.

As of January 1st, 2008, there are about 15 rigs drilling in Jonah, which is down from an all-time high of 22 in fall of 2006.

The amount of drilling activity had increased dramatically in the past few months, after the release of the Jonah Infill Project Record of Decision (see right). However the rig count dropped about half of that increase over the winter of 06/07.

Drilling in the Jonah Field began in earnest in mid 1999, after the initial BLM Jonah II Record of Decision was released. Recently, rig activity in the Jonah has more than doubled in the past year, after experiencing a decline during 2002-2004.

In the summer of 2005, Jonah was averaging about 9 rigs in operation - slightly more than the peak during 2001 - and compared to about 6 rigs during the summer of 2004 and 4 rigs during the summer of 2003.

The Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA)

Taken directly from http://www.sublette-se.org/PAPA.html

The Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA) is located within Sublette County, WY on a narrow, diagonal swath of land that stretches from just outside the Pinedale town limits along U.S. Hwy 191 to about 70 miles north of Rock Springs. Exploration and production in the PAPA began in earnest in late 2000 after new drilling and perforation techniques employed in the in the deep, tight sand reservoirs of the nearby Jonah Field proved successful. After the release of the Bureau of Land Management Record of Decision on drilling in the PAPA, the volume of drilling activity in the PAPA quickly surpassed the Jonah Field as the project area is larger than Jonah and thought to be ultimately more lucrative. The gas reserves are several thousand more feet deeper than Jonah and winter restrictions on drilling were put into place to protect wildlife habitat, however many of those restrictions are in the process of being lifted through various winter drilling proposals.

Drilling in the PAPA

Taken directly from http://www.sublette-se.org/PAPA.html

As of January 1st 2008, there are about 28 drilling rigs working in the PAPA, this is about the same level of drilling as this time last year at the beginning of 2007. In the summer months of 2007, PAPA averaged about 30 rigs working at a time.

The number of rigs working in the Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA) has increased almost exponentially between 2000 and 2005, with large seasonal fluctuations. Since then the growth has leveled somewhat, and restrictions on winter drilling have been lifted in some cases.

The average drilling time in the PAPA is about 40 days, as the average depth of the wells is about 13,000 - 15,000 feet. In addition, a number of the wells are directionally drilled, also adding to the drilling time and ultimate workforce requirements.

For Businesses

Because of the natural gas exploration and development, many jobs were created in the natural gas fields south of Pinedale. The establishment of these jobs has created winter time job opportunities and resulted in an influx of residents to Sublette County. This influx of people has attracted employers and employees from other sectors as well. In addition, the growth in Sublette County's housing has provided additional opportunities for employment.