Interesting comments regarding the 2010 expansion of the Horizontal Pettit in the County Line area. Where is this Pettit field productive and does anyone think that more of the acreage(w/o pugh clause) in the Haynesville play will be HBP by shallower oil wells as the economics are better? This seems like it would allow operators cash flow and better return right now while they wait for the price of gas to come back to drill the shale? I may be way off on this but it struck me as intersting that Cabot was going to expand this tactic in 2010.

East Texas


At Minden, the Company recently completed its first horizontal Cotton Valley Taylor sand well with an initial rate of 9.5 Mmcf per day. This well has performed extremely well with a 30-day average rate of 7.9 Mmcf per day. "We are pleased with both the initial results and the production stability of this well," said Dinges. "These rates significantly enhance the economics for Cotton Valley development in a lower price environment, and to that end, we have identified 50 to 60 potential locations."


Also, in response to the soft price for natural gas near-term, the Company initiated an effort to exploit the horizontal Pettet at County Line - a known oil reservoir. "We have completed our confirmation wells of the Pettet Lime oil reservoir under the James Lime field. The most recent well confirms the initial discovery drilled by Cabot this past spring," stated Dinges. The Sustainable Forest #5 tested the Pettet in April 2009 with a 4,700-foot lateral and a ten-stage slickwater frac. The well IP'd to sales at 842 barrels of oil per day plus 1.4 Mmcf per day at 1,300 pounds flowing casing pressure. The 30-day average rate was 519 barrels of oil per day plus 2.0 Mmcf per day.


The confirmation well, the Timberstar Redditt #4, drilled about 4,000 feet from the discovery, was spud in May 2009 and tested the Pettet in a 5,200-foot lateral with a ten-stage frac. This well flowed to sales at an initial IP rate of 504 barrels of oil per day plus 1.2 Mmcf per day. Over the first nine days of production, the well flowed at an average of 465 barrels of oil per day plus 584 Mcf per day.


"Because Pettet oil economics are superior to the James at current commodity prices, we will shift some capital from the James program to the Pettet," added Dinges. "We have recently spud our third Pettet well and if the price disparity between natural gas and oil persists, we plan to expand the program further in 2010."