The Barnett Shale is among the most significant onshore natural gas fields in North America and the largest in Texas. Access Midstream's acreage dedication from Chesapeake Energy Corporation and Total in the Barnett Shale region is located primarily in Johnson and Tarrant counties, Texas, and is entirely within the Core and Tier 1 portions of the play, which are characterized by thicker natural gas-bearing zones resulting in higher initial production rates.
We believe that the relatively low finding and development costs associated with drilling in the Barnett Shale will lead to extensive future development with Chesapeake, estimating an inventory in excess of 4,000 potential gross drilling locations within our dedicated acreage. Our Barnett Shale gathering systems are comprised of approximately 860 miles of gathering pipeline with approximately 876 million cubic feet (Mmcf/d) of daily throughput using more than 140,000 horsepower of compression.