Oklahoma’s Woodford Shale doesn’t have the glam status given to a Marcellus or an Eagle Ford, but it still gets its due. It commands many rigs, oil and gas acquisitions and large independents’ capex.

Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE: XEC) is expanding its Cana-Woodford core as it sees internal rates of return on par with the Permian Basin. The company has noted steadily improving well performance as fracks have been upsized with more stages and higher sand loads, said Mike Kelly, senior analyst, Global Hunter Securities, in an October report.

“XEC had previously noted a meaningful jump in IRRs to 86% from 38% with the new completions, essentially putting Cana returns on par with 5,000-foot laterals in the Culberson County, Texas, Wolfcamp D,” he said. “Recent results point to an expansion of the core further east/west, and management is highly enthusiastic as it pertains to future capital allocation here, especially in the face of tight takeaway capacity/labor constraints in the Permian.”

In the second quarter of 2014, Cimarex reported that Cana-Woodford production was up 44% year-over-year. It planned to spend $360 million on Woodford development in 2014.

Other operators, such as Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) and Newfield Exploration Co. (NYSE: NFX), have sold their Gulf of Mexico properties to concentrate their efforts on the Anadarko Basin’s Woodford and other shale plays, according to Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB).

Devon planned to spend $450 million in the Woodford, or about 7% of its total capex, noting that only a few companies dominate the play with Devon holding the largest position of “more than 50% of the best acreage.”

“Cana-Woodford drilling economics are greatly enhanced by the liquids-rich nature of the gas, including a significant condensate component,” the company said. “The company's current drilling activity is focused in the liquids-rich portion of the field.”

The Woodford’s strong pulse is also evident in its rig count. While the Permian and Eagle Ford dominate the number of horizontal rigs, the Cana-Woodford accounted for 9.3% of growth in the horizontal rig count as of Oct. 6, said J. Marshall Adkins, an oil services analyst at Raymond James & Associates. That makes it the second-highest contributor to growth in the horizontal rig count.

U.S. Rig Count October Shales

The shale continues to generate interest from foreign and domestic companies. A sure sign: money.

On Oct. 27, Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR) said it was partnering with South Korea’s giant SK E&S Co. Ltd. The $360 million joint venture (JV) will develop the northwest Cana-Woodford natural gas assets for Continental in Blaine and Dewey counties, Okla. It includes interest in 37 producing wells.

Continental has about 360 potential wells in the Cana with net unrisked resource potential of 475 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (Mboe). The JV structure should deliver positive cash flow for the company throughout the life of the project, said Jack H. Stark, Continental's president and COO.

The deal gives a strong valuation to Continental’s holdings — about $13,363 per acre taking into account the timing of drilling carries, said David Deckelbaum, director, equity research analyst, KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc., in an Oct. 27 report.

The price “nearly doubles our implied acreage valuation in our model and recent industry deal comps for Northwest Cana gas assets,” he said.

At least half of the 16 deals announced in Oklahoma in 2014 have involved the Woodford, according to A-DCenter.com data. Oklahoma has seen about $3 billion in E&P transactions this year.

The Woodford Shale gas play is estimated to have 22.2 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas resources. It is thought to be a deep commercial horizontal area at depths as great as 14,500 feet below the surface, according to a report the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The Woodford Shale covers virtually the entire state of Oklahoma and is far more complex than other Devonian black shales found in North America, according to Halliburton (NYSE: HAL).