Haynesville Shale overtakes Eagle Ford in two big ways
The natural gas-rich Haynesville Shale of East Texas has overtaken the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas in two important ways.
Spread out over East Texas and northern Louisiana, the Haynesville has become the second most-popular destination for drilling rig operators in the United States.
The Haynesville surpassed the Eagle Ford on May 1 when it had 32 active rigs and the Eagle Ford had 30. And the gap has gotten wider. There are now 33 active drilling rigs in the Haynesville compared with nine in the Eagle Ford, marking the first time there have been fewer than 10 drilling rigs in the South Texas play since its discovery in October 2008.
But now, the Haynesville also is surpassing the Eagle Ford in drilling permits.
There were no horizontal drilling permits filed in the Eagle Ford from July 8-14 while five were filed in the Haynesville, where Houston oil companies Rockcliff Energy and Sabine Oil & Gas plan to develop five gas wells.
Permian Basin
California oil major Chevron plans to develop four horizontal oil wells in the Permian’s Delaware Basin. Located in Reeves County, the wells target the oiland natural gas-rich Wolfbone field at a depth of 12,000 feet.
Eagle Ford Shale
There were no horizontal permits filed in the South Texas shale play, but Corpus Christibased Southern Oil & Gas plans to go wildcatting in McMullen County. Located 3 miles northwest of Tilden, the exploratory well targets the Wildcat field at a vertical depth of 6,130 feet.
Haynesville Shale
Dallas natural gas company
Dallas Production plans to recomplete a vertical well on its Clemens “G” lease in Greg County. Located 8.5 miles northwest of Longview, the well targets the Willow Springs field in two geological layers to a vertical depth of 10,580 feet.
Barnett Shale
The North Texas shale play has now gone three weeks without horizontal drilling permits, but Dallas pipeline operator Sunoco plans to drill six shallow vertical wells to install anticorrosion equipment for a pipeline project in Callahan, Eastland and Stephens counties.
Conventionals
Abilene oil company Chisholm Operating plans to drill three vertical wells on its Richardson lease in Taylor County. The wells target the Grand Old Oplin field at vertical depths of 4,600 to 4,800 feet. The oil field was named after a historic dance hall in Abilene.