Although natural gas explorers and producers have recently turned their attention toward regions that are rich with valuable “wet” gas, regions atop “dry” gas reserves will eventually have their day, oil and gas attorneys said. But that day may be just a bit further off than first anticipated.
In the meantime, lawyers said, gas companies will need to decide whether to let their current leases in dry gas regions lapse. Some lessees, meanwhile, may find themselves in a better position to negotiate leases when dry gas prices eventually rise. With the price of dry gas — gas that is almost pure methane — currently at a paltry $2 to $3 per 1,000 cubic feet, drillers have moved a large portion of their operations from dry gas regions to areas containing more wet gas — a combination of methane and other components such as propane, benzenes and ethane — which is fetching somewhere in the range of $6 to $7 per 1,000 cubic feet in the current market, according to attorneys across the state.
