Natural gas prices have fallen more than 50 percent in the last six months.But you wouldn't know it from watching the new "Flex 4" drilling rig that EnCana Oil & Gas is operating in the Barnett Shale on a picturesque rise on the Bonds Ranch overlooking Eagle Mountain Lake northwest of Fort Worth.
The Flex 4, built and leased by Helmerich & Payne of Tulsa, has its own tracks that allow it to move around on a drilling site without the expensive and time-consuming process of disassembly and truck shipment.
The Flex 4 also has a hydraulic-powered "V-boom" that lifts pipe into place, eliminating one of the more dangerous tasks performed by roughnecks.
The new rig also has a state-of-the-art communications system that better controls both the drill bit and the mud flows as the drilling proceeds more than 7,000 feet into the Barnett Shale below the North Texas prairie.
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