Eagle Ford Activity Highlights: September 2018

The Eagle Ford Shale is delivering while other plays are eating up cash flow, according to Todd Abbott, Vice President of resource plays south for Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO).

Abbott, speaking at Hart Energy’s recent DUG Eagle Ford conference and exhibition in San Antonio, told attendees that Marathon is seeing “fantastic” returns in the shale play with reliable production, capital efficiency and free cash flow.

“I do believe the industry sleeps on the Eagle Ford a little bit because it doesn’t have the big headline potential of some of the other basins,” Abbott said. “But there is a reason we put more capital here than a lot of our other basins.”

Greg Leveille, chief technology officer for ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), echoed similar sentiments later during the conference with more evidence of Eagle Ford’s prolific potential in its production history.

In a span of roughly five years, production shot from less than 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) in 2010 to 2.5 million boe/d in early 2015, according to Leveille. While the drop in oil prices caused production to fall to below 2 million boe/d in 2017, it didn’t stay down for long as production is growing again at a “very rapid pace,” he noted.

“If you look at those top three players, although the Eagle Ford is not today the largest producer of oil, we would argue it's one of the best unconventional reservoir players for producing value per dollar invested,” Leveille told DUG Eagle Ford attendees.

Below Hart Energy Activity Editor Larry Prado summarizes recent activity in this resource-rich region in South Texas including extended-lateral Eagle Ford wells in Gonzales County plus Eagleville Field results by Abraxas Petroleum Corp. (NASDAQ: AXAS) and EOG Resource Inc. (NYSE: EOG).

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A recent assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also revealed that the Eagle Ford is abundant in both oil and gas. In the report released in June, the USGS estimates the Eagle Ford holds undiscovered, technically recoverable resources of about 8.5 billion barrels (bbl) of oil, 66 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1.9 billion bbl of NGL.

The USGS assessment is for oil and gas resources for six continuous assessment units in the Eagle Ford group and associated Cenomanian – Turonian strata in U.S. Gulf Coast region in Texas. These latest results for the Eagle Ford were among the top five largest continuous resources for both oil and gas assessed by the USGS in the United States, according to the report.

1. Sierra Resources: 9/10/18

Sierra Resources LLC, based in Houston, has completed a horizontal Eagle Ford Shale producer in the Hawkville Field, according to IHS Markit.

The McMullen County (RRC Dist. 1), Texas, producer, #1H STS 1 EF, was tested flowing 9.686 million cubic feet (MMcf) of gas and 212 bbl of water per day from fracture-stimulated perforations at 13,369 ft to 21,415 ft. The well is on an 8,561-acre lease in Section 37, BS&F Survey, A-108, and bottomed two miles to the north in Section 31, BS&F Survey, A-111. It was drilled to 21,630 ft, 12,682 ft true vertical, and the initial pilot hole was drilled to 9,591 ft. During testing on an 18/64-in. choke, the flowing tubing pressure was 6,832 pounds per square inch (psi) and the shut-in tubing pressure was 7,421 psi.

2. Cinco Oil & Gas: 8/6/18

IHS Markit reported that two offsetting wells have been completed by Dallas-based Cinco Oil & Gas LLC in the Atascosa County (RRC Dist. 1), Texas, portion of Eagleville Field.

The #1H Catfish Unit was tested pumping 677 bbl of 36.6-degree-gravity oil, 479,000 cubic feet of gas and 1,678 bbl of water per day from fracture-treated perforations in Eagle Ford Shale at 7,532 ft to 15,027 ft. The well was drilled to 15,092 ft and is in Section 521, Johnannes Moos Survey, A-1092. The lateral bottomed about 1.5 miles to the north in Section 7 J. Poitevent Survey, A-692 with a true vertical depth of 7,170 ft.

The offsetting and parallel #1H Chester Unit flowed 778 bbl of 35-degree-gravity crude, 617,000 cubic feet of gas and 1,470 bbl of water per day from fracture-stimulated perforations at 7,598 ft to 14,998 ft. It was drilled to 15,068 ft and the true vertical depth is 7,165 ft.

3. Lonestar Resources: 7/13/18

Two extended-lateral Eagle Ford Shale wells in William B. Lockhart Survey, A-315, of Gonzales County (RRC Dist. 1), Texas, were reported by Lonestar Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: LONE).

The #1H Hawkeye flowed 1,071 bbl of oil and 601,000 cubic feet of gas per day, or 1,209 boe/d, on a three-stream basis. It was drilled to 20,225 ft, 8,989 ft true vertical, and the lateral bottomed about two miles to the southeast in Sarah Hendricks Survey, A-261. The offsetting #2H Hawkeye was drilled to 20,480 ft, 9,458 ft true vertical, and flowed 907 bbl of oil and 494,000 cubic feet of gas, or 1,020 boe/d, on a three-stream basis. It was fractured in 28 stages over an 8,380-ft interval. Additional completion details were not provided by the Fort Worth, Texas-based company.

4. EOG Resources: 7/12/18

EOG Resources, based in Houston, announced results from four Eagle Ford-Eagleville Field discoveries in La Salle County (RRC Dist. 1), Texas.

The wells are on a 2,250-acre lease in Section 29, Milton H. Hardin Survey, A-1389. Three of the wells bottomed in Section 990, David S. Kornegay Survey, A-557. The fourth well, #5H White, bottomed in Section 990, David S. Kornegay Survey, A-557.

The #5H White flowed 3,126 bbl of 34-degree-gravity crude, 614,000 cubic feet of gas and 1,354 bbl of water per day from fractured perforations at 9,018 ft to 21,816 ft. The 21,897-ft well has a true vertical depth of 8,997 ft.

The #6H White flowed 2,201 bbl of 34.5-degree-gravity crude, 326,000 cubic feet of gas and 1,167 bbl of water per day. It was drilled to 21,865 ft, 8,399 ft true vertical, and production is from a fractured zone at 8,894 ft to 21,865 ft.

The #7H White flowed 2,686 bbl of crude per day from perforations at 8,849 ft to 21,836 ft. The 21,887-ft well has a true vertical depth of 8,993 ft and production is from a fractured zone at 8,984 ft to 21,815 ft.

The #8H White was drilled to 22,000 ft, 9,005 ft true vertical, and produced 2,738 bbl of oil, 548,000 cubic feet of gas and 1,750 bbl of water per day. It was completed in a zone at 8,963 ft to 21,876 ft and was drilled to 21,198 ft, 8,966 ft true vertical.

5. 1776 Energy Operators: 5/11/18

An Eagleville Field-Eagle Ford discovery was reported by 1776 Energy Operators in Karnes County (RRC Dist. 2), Texas.

The Houston-based company’s #2H Mary initially flowed 2,569 bbl of 44-degree-gravity crude, 4.11 MMcf of gas and 2,940 bbl of water per day. Production is from acid- and fracture-treated perforations at 11,543 ft to 16,294 ft. The well is on a 479-acre Central Texas Coast lease in Nathaniel Reed Survey, A-246, and bottomed one mile to the southeast. Drilled to 16,294 ft, the true vertical depth is 11,528 ft. It was tested on a 32/64-in. choke with a flowing casing pressure of 2,737 psi.

6. Abraxas Petroleum: 4/13/18

Abraxas Petroleum, based in San Antonio, reported the completion of an Eagleville Field-Eagle Ford Shale well in Atascosa County (RRC Dist. 1), Texas.

The #1H Shut Eye Unit pumped 741 bbl of 30.7-degree-gravity crude, 222,000 cubic feet of gas and 1,139 bbl of water per day. The horizontal producer was drilled to 14,395 ft, 7,787 ft true vertical, and is on a 640-acre Southwest Texas lease in Section 1495, Noah Scott Survey, A-768. It bottomed to the north in Section 1396, Benjamin Kellogg Survey, A-515, and is producing from fracture-treated perforations at 8,517 ft to 14,237 ft.

7. Cinco Oil & Gas: 4/12/18

In the Eagleville Field portion of Atascosa County (RRC Dist. 1), Texas, Cinco Oil & Gas has completed an Eagle Ford well.

The #1H June Bug Unit was tested flowing 506 bbl of 32.2-degree-gravity crude, 303,000 cubic feet of gas and 1,266 bbl of water per day from perforations at 8,176 ft to 14,887 ft. The 14,948-ft well is on a 519.1-acre Southwest Texas lease in Section 14, J. Poitevent Survey, A-1219. The true vertical depth was 8,296 ft and it bottomed about 1.5 miles to the southeast in Section 15, J. Poitevent Survey, A-700. It was tested on a 34/64-in. choke and the flowing casing pressure was 387 psi.

Larry Prado can be reached at lprado@hartenergy.com.