Gastar Exploration Ltd., an exploration and production company focused on finding and developing natural gas assets in North America, recently announced the results from its first vertical Marcellus well, the James Yoho #1.

The well has been tested at a stabilized gross rate of 1.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 120 barrels of condensate per day. These results were generated with no water production and approximately 1000 psi of flowing tubing pressure.

Gastar Exploration holds a 100 percent working interest (81.5 percent net revenue interest) in the well and has acquired approximately 36,000 net acres in northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. Drilled in the Green District of Wetzel County, West Virginia, the James Yoho #1 is currently closed pending the finalization of gas gathering and gas processing arrangements.

“These results are very encouraging and confirm Gastar’s belief that thinner portions of the Marcellus Shale are capable of yielding excellent results,” stated J. Russell Porter, Gastar’s president and chief executive officer. “The James Yoho #1 encountered approximately 46 feet of Marcellus Shale and was completed with a single stage frac. Our longer term development plan for Gastar’s Marcellus Shale assets will be orientated towards horizontal development, but this well demonstrates that excellent results can be achieved with vertical drilling in the Marcellus Shale.”

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