Eagle Ford Shale - South
Texas - Natural Gas & Oil Field
Eagle Ford Shale - South Texas - La Salle County,
Maverick County TX
Apache APA - Eagleford Shale News ( see below
)
What is the Eagle Shale Formation? The Eagleford
Shale is a rock formation located in several counties in South Texas. Oil can be found in Maverick County, Texas and
Natural Gas has been found in the Eagle Ford Shale located in La Salle County, TX. In Webb County Texas, St Mary Land
& Exploration has announced they are drilling their first horizontal well soon.
The Eagle Ford Shale is
located directly below the Austin Chalk Shale formation and is estimated in some spots to be as deep as 11,300 feet.
While the Eagle Ford Shale has mainly been tested in a few counties located in South Texas, the Eagle Ford Shale extends up
toward Dallas County and has an average thickness of 475 feet. The Eagle Ford formation was named after exposures
around the small settlement of Eagle Ford, which is situated on the south side of the Trinity north of Arcadia Park.
As you will see below, several companies are currently active in
the Eagleford shale. Apache ( APA ) is the clear leader so far with around 450,000 acres. Txco Resources ( TXCO
) is drilling in the Maverick Basin which is located in Maverick County, Texas. Think about the Bakken Shale and what it did for Continental Resources( CLR ). Piorneer Natural Resources ( PXD ) could be headed down the same path if natural gas prices ever
come back. But to be honest, America is swimming in natural gas which would be a great time to switch cars over to it!
Petrohawk Energy ( HK ) is drilling the Eagle Ford Shale in La Salle County, Texas. They are actually drilling
for natural gas and had a well hit over 9.1 million cubic feet per day. Petrohawk has over 100,000 acres of
mineral leases. They expect to spud their third well in November. Petrohawk has been famous for their early discovery of parts
of the Haynesville Shale located in East Texas and Louisiana
What is ahead for the Eagleford Shale in 2010?
As for all shale formations in the United States, the recent economic crisis and recession caused natural gas demand to fall
drastically. This caused a huge drilling decline. With so many shale plays discovered in 2008, natural
gas supplies have really ramped up. While these shale discoveries were are exciting, the oversupply of natural gas combined
with the economic recession kept natural gas prices down for awhile. Higher natural gas prices will bring more drilling
but more drilling will bring in more supply. The big players in the Eagleford Shale are here to stay but I don't think
you will see companies scrambling for acreage like you saw with the Haynesville Shale in the spring & summer of 2008.
I am expecting Natural Gas to hit atleast $8 sometime in 2010. If this is the case, expect drilling to pick
up big time in South Texas.
Eagle Ford Shale Map *** Updated ***
South Texas - La Salle, Maverick County Texas
Eagle Ford Shale - South Texas
TXCO Resources Acreage Map
The Eagleford Shale welcomes ConocoPhillips (
COP ) as of March 11, 2009. The CEO, Jeff Mulva, said in a meeting today that they are scaling back operations in North America but have been quietly been accumulating mineral rights acreage in the Eagleford Formation ( Maverick and La Salle Counties ). As the owner of this website, I pretty
much know whats going on as far as the drillers. I can tell you that some of the well data that has come out on the
Eagleford over the past several months has been in the same ball park as the haynesville shale, which will end up being the biggest natural gas field in the USA. There is also some nice oil recoveries going
on as well, similiar to the bakken formation in North Dakota. I was wondering when the big boys were going to show up! Now we here news today about Conoco.
Companies Drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale - Eagleford
Shale Stocks
Apache Corp ( APA ) - Apache is now the leader in the Eagle Ford Shale. Apache leads two of the hottest natural gas shale plays in
North America. The other would be the Horn River Basin which is located in British Columbia.
Leo Mariani – RBC Capital Markets - from seekingalpha
I
was wondering if there was any update on the EagleFord Shale if you guys have done anything there
recently, picked up any acreage or drilled any new wells.
G. Steven Farris
Well, we have a pretty
good acreage position in there presently we have about 450,000 acres through the oil side and some in the gas side. In fact,
we're re-looking that. We're not drilling a well at the present time. We're re-looking pressures and core analysis to try
to figure out we drilled a horizontal well that was a very marginal well, frankly, on the gas side.
ConocoPhillips ( COP ) - Eagle Ford Shale Update - Our last well, the Brodsky A7 well. We had online for relatively short period
of time but we are very encouraged it's got a flow rate of nearly four million cubic feet a day, but more importantly around
1500 barrels a day of compensate. So that has been part of our strategy to focus on plays that have a very high these shale
plays that have a very high liquid content, obviously very important on the economics.
We have a very substantial position
there, close to 300,000 acres when you consider our interest in the EagleFord and the adjoining
Austin Chalk play. You are correct. We have been entertaining some offers for potential farm out of our position, but we are
not going to farm it out unless we see a compelling value proposition. So far we have not seen that so.
- TXCO Resources TXCO - Maverick Basin - TXCO is currently developing three major projects in the Maverick Basin, including the Pearsall/Eagleford
shale plays, Glen Rose Porosity oil play and San Miguel heavy oil sands.
TXCO has significantly reduced drilling in light of current commodity prices and liquidity constraints. It is moving
ahead with a limited drilling program, focused on high-impact projects, particularly the Maverick Basin’s Pearsall and
Eagle Ford shale gas resource plays. It currently has two rigs operating.
In tests following a multi-stage fracture stimulation, the Briscoe Catarina West 1H (50 percent working interest
through completion) flowed at rates as high as 6 mmcfde from the Eagle Ford with a high liquids content.
On the Pearsall play, a multi-stage frac is under way on the San Pedro Ranch 2
(50% WI through completion) following mechanical delays. Targeting the Georgetown formation, the Burr C 7-231XH (50% WI) flowed
at rates as high at 1.9 mmcfe with high liquids content in tests.
-Petrohawk Energy HK - Petrohawk Energy ( HK ) has come out and stated they are active in the Eagle Ford Shale.
During the second
quarter, Petrohawk drilled six operated wells and participated in the drilling of one non-operated well on the Company's Eagle
Ford Shale position, known as Hawkville Field, in South Texas. Initial production rates from the three operated wells completed
during the second quarter of 2009 averaged 9.3 Mmcfe/d. The average initial production rate for all eight operated wells completed
to date in the Eagle Ford Shale is 8.6 Mmcfe/d with a 6:1 gas to oil and natural gas liquids equivalency ratio, which corresponds
to an effective 10.6 Mmcfe/d on an 18:1 equivalency ratio, taking into account the Btu content of the natural gas and natural
gas liquids. Production rates have averaged 6.0 Mmcfe/d over the first 30 days of production for the seven wells with at least
30 days of production history, or an effective 6.9 Mmcfe/d on an 18:1 Btu adjusted revenue equivalency ratio. Two of the wells
experienced modest curtailments during the first 30 days of production, and after normalizing those wells to their estimated
unrestricted production rates, the 30 day averages are estimated to be 6.6 and 7.6 Mmcfe/d, respectively.
During the
second quarter, Petrohawk operated two horizontal rigs in the field and recently added a third. The following wells were completed
during the quarter:
Henderson-Cenizo 874 #1H was completed on April 27th at a rate of 9.1 Mmcf/d on a 25/64"
choke with 4,012 psi flowing casing pressure.
Dora Martin 1716 #1H was completed on May 26(th) at a rate of 9.7 Mmcf/d
on a 24/64" choke with 4,215 psi flowing casing pressure
STS-Palmert 944 #1-H was completed on June 17th at
a rate of 9.1 Mmcf/d, on a 24/64" choke with 4,350 psi flowing casing pressure.
In addition
to the above, the J.C. Martin 1850 #1H was completed on July 17(th) at a rate of 8.8 Mmcf/d and 50 Bc/d (9.1 Mmcfe/d) on a
24/64" choke with 3,710 psi flowing casing pressure.
Petrohawk has achieved both improved production performance
and drilling efficiencies in the field. The first three wells drilled, which included pilot holes with extensive technical
data gathering as well as setting intermediate casing, averaged 53 days spud to total depth. The Company has now drilled a
total of six wells without setting intermediate casing and without drilling a pilot hole, and these six wells reached total
depth of approximately 16,000' in an average of 18 days. As a result of this decrease in drilling days, as well as significant
decreases in service sector costs, drilling and completion costs have been reduced from approximately $12.0 million to approximately
$5.0 million per well. These cost reductions have occurred while the average lateral length has increased. The first three
wells averaged 3,620' with 10.7 frac stages while the last six wells averaged 3,990' with 13.3 frac stages. The last well
completed, the J.C. Martin 1850 #1H, utilized 18 frac stages. Petrohawk is using a similar approach in the Eagle Ford Shale
to that in the Haynesville Shale, where the Company is making controlled changes to the original completion technique in an
attempt to optimize completions. Although early in the field's development, Petrohawk is encouraged by these recent developments
and believes additional efficiencies remain to be gained.
The very rapid success of the Hawkville Field within the
Eagle Ford Shale trend has enabled Petrohawk to obtain a significant amount of geologic data pertinent to the reservoir, allowing
the Company to expand into other areas of the trend where it believes the rock quality could compare favorably to Hawkville
Field. While building on its acreage position in the area of the field that Petrohawk believes to be commercially productive,
the Company has also acquired acreage in other areas, both along strike and updip to the shale formation in the Hawkville
Field. Petrohawk currently owns or has contractual commitments to acquire approximately 210,000 net acres in the trend. The
Company expects to drill several exploratory wells in the second half of 2009 to evaluate its new acreage.
- Anadarko Petroleum APC - Anadarko spud six operated horizontal wells in the Eagleford Shale and one horizontal well in the Pearsall Shale
during the 4th quarter. The company completed three Eagleford wells with test ranging up to 3 MMcf/d with 400 Bbl/d.
In addition, Anadarko is very encouraged by a recent Pearsall well that tested up to 6MMcf/d dry gas on limited choke.
The company realized significant operational efficiencies
during the quarter as Eagleford Shale drilling experienced a 30% reduction in cost per foot and is averaging 16 drilling days
per well.
Anadarko recently announced
a joint transaction in the Maverick Basin, whereby it will acquire approximately 80,000 net acres from TXCO, increasing its
position to approximately 260,000 net acres. As a result of the relatively high oil production rates and liquids-rich
natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale, combined with continued strong Pearsall Shale test rates, the company also added
a second operated rig to the area during the 4th quarter and plans to continue increasing rig count in 2010.
-St Mary Land & Exploration SM - St Mary SM is testing the Eagle Ford Shale: The Company is encouraged by recent positive developments
in the greater Maverick Basin. St. Mary entered the basin in the second half of 2007 with two acquisitions that primarily
focused on the Olmos shallow gas play. At that time, the Company was aware of several other horizons of interest in the basin,
including the Eagleford and Pearsall shales. Since that time, the Company has increased its acreage position through leasing
efforts and a joint venture with TXCO Resources and Anadarko Petroleum. The joint venture allows St. Mary to earn up
to approximately 75,000 net acres in Webb and Dimmit Counties as certain conditions are met. In the joint venture acreage,
four horizontal wells have been drilled and are at various stages of testing. Two of these wells were horizontal re-entry
wells targeting the Eagleford shale, while the Pearsall interval was tested with one horizontal re-entry well and one horizontal
grass roots well. A recent announcement of a successful horizontal well by a competitor has drawn increased attention to the
Eagleford shale. The competitor well is located in La Salle County, just east of Webb and Dimmit Counties where the Company’s
joint venture acreage is located. Additionally, a successful well in northern Dimmit County targeting the Pearsall shale has
been reported by TXCO Resources on acreage that is not part of the joint venture. Assuming the Company earns all of the acreage
associated with the aforementioned joint venture, St. Mary will have captured over 210,000 net acres and 160,000 net acres
in the Eagleford and Pearsall shales, respectively. The Company will begin testing on its acreage outside the joint venture
in the next few quarters.
2009 Update:Eagle Ford shale – Since its last update, St. Mary has drilled and completed an additional 3 horizontal
wells on its 100% working interest acreage in South Texas with sufficient production history to provide a meaningful update.
The Galvan Ranch 1H (SM 100% WI) was spud in early June
and was drilled to a vertical depth of approximately 8,500 feet. The well had an effective lateral of
5,005 feet and used a 17 stage completion. The well had a maximum seven day sales
average of 8.0 MMCFED. This well is the farthest south of any of the wells drilled to date and has 1,000
BTU/SCF gas with essentially no condensate yield. St. Mary has leased or optioned 225,000 net acres
in the Eagle Ford shale, with roughly 159,000 net acres of operated, high working interest acreage and approximately 66,000
net acres in the joint venture
- Rosetta Resources ROSE - Rose is an active driller in the Eagleford Shale - In South Texas, Rosetta drilled 58 wells in the Lobo trend with
48 successful. During the year, Rosetta acquired an additional 10,000 net acres in the Lobo for future prospects. Average
production for the Lobo was 46 MMcfe/d in 2008, compared to 41 MMcfe/d in 2007. In the Perdido trend, seven wells were drilled
in 2008, all of which were successful. Production averaged approximately 8 MMcfe/d in 2008. In aggregate, Rosetta currently
owns 128,000 net acres in South Texas that is covered by 320 square miles of seismic. Additionally, in the fourth quarter
of 2008, the Company acquired producing properties in South Texas consisting of a 70% working interest in certain properties
in the Catarina field with net production of approximately 5 MMcfe/d, and a 35% interest in a significant acreage position
in the area that is prospective for the Eagle Ford Shale. At the end of the year, the Company's Eagle Ford Shale position
was roughly 25,000 net acres.
Swift Energy SFY - Swift Energy is involved in the Eagleford Shale - In the Company’s South Texas core area,
work was completed on a permanent flowline for the R Bracken 33H well in the AWP field located in McMullen County, TX. The
first of a three well horizontal drilling and completion program at AWP will spud in late May. Each of these three wells will
cost approximately $7 million and are expected to recover 3-5 billion cubic feet of gas from the Olmos formation.
During
the first quarter of 2009, one development well concluded drilling operations in the Sun TSH field in LaSalle County and one
development well concluded drilling operations in the Briscoe Ranch field in Dimmit County. These natural gas wells are currently
awaiting completion. The Company currently has approximately 97,000 net acres leased in South Texas, which may be prospective
for further Olmos development.
The Company is preparing to drill at least one well to test the
Eagle Ford shale formation during the second half of the year. The Company currently has approximately 82,000 net acres leased
in South Texas that may be prospective for this shale formation.
Pioneer Natural Resources - PXD - In South Texas, Pioneer completed its first horizontal well in the Eagle Ford shale play. The Friedrichs Gas
Unit #1, drilled in Dewitt County, had an initial flow rate of 3.7 million cubic feet equivalent per day, including 2.7 million
cubic feet per day of natural gas and 160 barrels per day of condensate after partially completing only five stages of a planned
eight-stage completion.
Mechanical problems
in the original lateral required a sidetrack with a modified well path. The modified well path significantly reduced the well’s
exposure to the main reservoir section in the brittle shale found at the base of the Eagle Ford formation. Pioneer estimates
that only two stages of the fracture stimulation, representing less than 500 feet of the 3,000-foot lateral, penetrated the
brittle shale and are contributing to gas production.
Scott Sheffield, Pioneer’s Chairman and CEO, stated, “It
is unfortunate that this first well had mechanical issues which did not allow us to properly test the full potential of the
Eagle Ford shale in this area. We have drilled more than 150 wells through the Eagle Ford shale as we developed the deeper
Edwards formation and recognize the potential that underlies our 310,000 gross acres in the play. Pursuant to our original
plans to test our extensive acreage position, we will drill a second Eagle Ford well more than 40 miles southwest of the first
location in the third quarter of this year. We then plan to drill additional wells to high grade our acreage, including another
well in the Friedrichs area.”
EV Energy Partners EVEP - I want to update you on the Austin Chalk, specifically Apache in its quarterly announcement talked about their effort in
the EagleFord Shale. Of the 450,000 net acres that I talked about, the 400,000 of those are
acres that we form down to them. As you may recall, they had an obligation to spend $30 million over a four-year period.
In the first year and this is just what I anticipated, they’ve spent $30 million, there is currently
three rigs drilling horizontally. We are letting Apache, take a lead on making announcements on the EagleFord,
which we think is appropriate. They did announce one well on their acreage is producing shift of 500 barrels a day
Murphy Oil MUR - Murphy Oil will be drilling their first well in September 2009 - We will also
commence drilling this month on our Eagle Ford
shale position located in south Texas where we are still actively leasing. It’s difficult to predict gas prices, but
I feel confident that with cost supplies into any market situation, we will be favorably placed to grow production.
Plains Exploration & Production - PXP - PXP hinted in early May 2009 that they will be discussing their South Texas ( EagleFord Shale ) assets in the coming quarters.
Well, our portfolio is really getting streamlined from the standpoint of big California
base and development projects we have out there, Haynesville and everything going on there, and both of those things have
like a 15-year development inventory. We have a nice portfolio of great opportunities in the deepwater.
We are seeing some unique opportunities there in the inboard Paleogene that you
are going to hear a lot more about here this fall from the majors. That we are going to take a look at participating in with
some of our liquidity. The other thing, we have got SouthTexas and we got the Panhandle. Both those areas
are higher cost than the area, the other areas I talked about and those kind of our optional area.
MDU
Resources ( MDU ) - MDU has properties in South Texas and the Eagle Ford Shale but hasn't said much about them
Schlumberger (SLB) - In US Land, advanced Schlumberger Drilling & Measurements technologies including the EcoScope* multifunction
system, the SonicVISION* sonic-while-drilling service and the PowerDrive* rotary-steerable system have been deployed in 11
wells in various shale plays including the Woodford, Eagleford, Haynesville and Marcellus formations. As well as being used to place wells in the ideal part of the reservoirs and maximize completion and stimulation
efficiencies, the technologies saved three days' worth of rig time per well in data acquisition and drilled the lateral sections
two days faster than conventional motor technology.
