HOUSTON, May 12 (UPI) -- U.S. energy explorer Apache Corp. said it tested a gas well in Argentina that yielded 7 million cubic feet of gas per day.
Apache said it drilled a well in deposits in Argentina's Neuquen province to a vertical depth of 12,800 feet with a horizontal section that reached 2,800 feet in a low-permeability or "tight" formation. The well tested at a rate of 7 million cubic feet of natural gas per day, the company added.
Since 2008 Apache has drilled more than 70 wells targeting tight or "unconventional" gas resources in the region. April gas production there was reported at 75 million cubic feet.
Jon Graham, the company's vice president, said it was encouraged to develop unconventional resources because of a program that permits higher prices for that type of gas.
An April study by U.S. lawmakers claimed oil and gas companies involved in gas production used fluids containing dozens of chemicals that are carcinogenic, considered harmful in drinking water or are listed as hazardous under the Clean Air Act.
Oil and gas producers have been using hydraulic fracturing to complete wells for six decades, and Apache spokesman Bill Mintz said there have been no confirmed cases of contamination of drinking water aquifers from hydraulic fracturing operations in formations several thousand feet below potable water aquifers.
