Haynesville Shale Gas Play Continues With Positive Results

Operators in the Haynesville Shale Gas Play have reduced their drilling activity "until drilling and completion costs are reduced to acceptable levels". What is acceptable? I seems to me these costs are fairly inflexible. These wells are expensive and cutting costs can be dangerous and counter-productive. What really is needed is higher natural gas prices. My guess is the price will increase when demand increases.
Peter

Haynesville well results encourage operators

By OGJ editors (source)
HOUSTON, July 15 -- Forest Oil Corp., Denver, and Goodrich Petroleum Corp., Houston, reported results from recent Jurassic Haynesville horizontal well completions in Louisiana and East Texas.

Forest, meanwhile, said it operated only four rigs in this year’s second quarter and continues to defer significant investments until drilling and completion costs are reduced to acceptable levels to support a larger drilling program at current natural gas prices.

In Red River Parish, La., the Driver 13-1H well produced into a sales line at 20.3 MMcfd of gas equivalent with 6,500 psi flowing casing pressure in early July. It had 10 frac stages in a 3,500-ft horizontal leg and cost $9 million.

Forest has identified 110 potential horizontal locations on the 11,050 Haynesville prospective net acres it holds in Louisiana. It will maintain a one-rig program in the parish for the rest of 2009 and one rig in other prospective areas of the play in Texas and Louisiana.

Goodrich Petroleum said the Taylor Sealey-3H in Panola County, Tex., produced at 9.3 MMcfd with 5,200 psi on a 24/64-in. choke. It is in Minden field 6 miles south of the Lutheran Church-5H well that had an initial rate of 9 MMcfd. The company has 100% working interest.

The company reached total depth at two other Haynesville shale horizontal wells, T. Swiley-4H in Minden field and Beard Taylor-1H in Beckville field.

Goodrich Petroleum also held interests in three wells completed by Chesapeake Energy Corp. in Bethany-Longstreet field, Caddo and DeSoto Parishes, La.

Initial rates were 12.5 MMcfd with 7,800 psi on an 18/64-in. choke at Johnson 32H-1, Goodrich 31%; 15.4 MMcfd with 6,100 psi on a 22/64-in. choke at Wallace 36H-1, Goodrich 22%; and 14 MMcfd with 4,000 psi on a 22/64-in. choke at the Bryan 25H-1, Goodrich 13%.

More On The Three Forks Play In The Willistion Basin

We must be slightly skeptical about everything reported by companies testing the new Three Forks Play in the Williston Basin. This includes flow, or production rates, drilling costs and numbers of frac jobs. Most companies tend to exaggerate the positive and downplay the negative. The trick is to be able to "read between the lines" about what is being said. In any case, the Three Forks Play looks interesting. Brigham Exploration drilling 20,000 foot laterals (horizontal wells) is impressive. We'll be hearing more about this play for sure.
Peter

Three Forks rates rise as drilling costs fall

By OGJ editors (source)
HOUSTON, July 15 -- Operators are climbing the learning curve in the Williston basin by drilling long lateral wells in the Bakken and Three Forks formations with as many as 24 frac stages.

One operator, Brigham Exploration Co., Austin, Tex., said it is continuing to see drilling and completion costs fall.

Initial rate at the Strobeck 27-34, in the Ross area of Mountrail County, ND, is 1,788 b/d of oil and 1.4 MMcfd of gas from a long lateral in Three Forks. Brigham Exploration completed the well with 20 frac stimulation stages, 18 of which were effective.

Strobeck 27-34, which appears to have had the basin’s second highest initial rate for a Three Forks completion, cost $3.9 million, 33% lower than company late 2008 authority for expenditures at similar wells.

“The Strobeck 27-34 results also confirm the core taken from our Anderson 28-33, which indicated that both the upper Three Forks and middle Bakken formations were heavily saturated with oil,” the company said.

Anderson is 1 mile west of Strobeck and about a mile southwest of Brigham Exploration’s Carkuff-22 1H, which went on production at 1,110 b/d of oil after 12 frac stages in a short lateral.

The company recently drilled the lateral of its Anderson 28-33 on a 1,280-acre unit in the Ross area to 19,900 ft in the Bakken and ran 24 swell packers to bottom. A 24-stage frac operation, believed to be a record number for the basin, is planned in early August.

Brigham Exploration has spud the Brad Olson-1H 9-16 well in the Rough Rider area of Williams County, ND, and plans 24 frac stages in an intended 20,000-ft Bakken lateral at an estimated cost of $6.25 million, 34% less than 2008 AFEs.

Brigham Exploration controls 35,200 net acres in the Ross area and 100,345 net acres in the Rough Rider area. It is participating in 20 Mountrail County Bakken wells operated by others in various stages, including 12 already on production.