Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dion Warr, CPL on January 27, 2009 at 14:36

TD:

Maybe, but looking at the production at the CV, they may be content just permitting non-HS verticals for the moment just to shore up production from that interval. Pressures are getting pretty low in some of the older wells, and the newly permitted well depths are only a couple of hundred feet below active perfs drilled ten years ago in the section (1-14N-13W).

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Permalink Reply by Two Dogs, Pirate on January 27, 2009 at 16:00

Damn Dion, I was wanting to go on a wild ride

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on January 27, 2009 at 17:00

Gray,
KCS has multiple pads built in 24 (I think thats the right one). But they are HBP so they aren't worried. All they have to do is repermit the locations if they don't drill before they expire. Thats not a very big deal or expense in the big picture. I doubt in the tight sand scenario they are dealing with if they are worried about "beating each other to the gas".
Just my guess, which ain't worth much.

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on January 27, 2009 at 19:17

Graysands, they may want to have some permitted CV wells ready just in case they aren't quite ready to start the next Haynesville Shale well for a rig. Better to drill a CV well than have a drilling rig sitting idle for two weeks waiting on a HS well permit.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on January 27, 2009 at 16:53

KCS has pulled most of their rigs out of the Teryville Field in Lincoln Parish, supposedly sent them to drill in the HS. I figured they were going to drill some verticals in the shale because I doubt if most of these rigs can go horizontal.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on January 27, 2009 at 17:15

Don't know. I always wondered the same thing. But when they have already drilled 16 vertical CV's to a unit like a lot of the units in Terryville, they might figure they already have it covered.
But thats an interesting point.

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Permalink Reply by Grillin' - MmmMmm on January 28, 2009 at 7:10

CV horizontals in Central La. have not been very common as the geology and stratigraphy of this area don't lend themselves to horizontals. Some have been tried over on the Texas side of the border but fewer in La. This is best of my recollection and would stand corrected if anyone has newer information.

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Permalink Reply by BirdDawg, plain ole' idiot on January 28, 2009 at 2:34

Gray,
I don't think drilling a horizontal in the gray sand in Terryville/Claiborne would be feasable. If you notice there are not a whole lot of Gray Sand wells in Terryville. The CV Sand appears to basically be everywhere (in the field), the Gray Sand is pretty spotty.

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Permalink Reply by Dion Warr, CPL on January 28, 2009 at 2:42

Group:

Keep in mind that these companies (actually, HK in particular to this situation) must balance their resources between exploring and developing their leasehold (particularly at the HS) and keeping their existing prospects HBP assets viable.

Just from perusing the forums and the site, it appears largely assumed by the members that all O&G companies in the area should be working to develop their HS assets first and foremost (I mean, come on, the site's name is Go Haynesville Shale, not 'Go, Everything Below the Rodessa / Sligo'). A couple of things that get left out of such a mindset, however:

1) The Arklatex has been explored and is currently productive from many depths up and down the sedimentary column, from 400'-deep Nacatoch in Bellevue Field down to the Smackover / Norphlet depths. Besides the excitement of the HS, there are many targets still remaining all over the northern portion of the state.

2) The HS, may, in many areas, not only open new areas to exploration and development, but also renew bypassed areas and revitalized former hotspots, as the presence of viable HS development now makes uphole completions more economically sound. Some areas where, past Hosston and Cotton Valley shows and production alone were just not enough to make further E&P palatable are now coming back into focus as a result of HS interest.

For an exciting example, look at the Messenger well in northern Natchitoches Parish. Information contained in the first Messenger well log had been collecting dust on public shelves for over 25 years prior to the renewed interest by Encana at the Haynesville formation. Whereas shows and infrastructure concerns made the area economically unviable in the past, now Encana is looking at producing from the HA, CV, and HOSS from the same wellbores.

What some folks derisively refer to as 'HBPing my property with a vertical' in some cases may actually be the opportunity for a company to reasonably develop one's acreage that did not exist before. Whereas the existing Smackover, Gray Sand, Lower CV, Cotton Valley, Hosston, etc. did not merit industry interest, if the HA (or the prospect of it) brings O&G E&P to your area, and the data is persuasive in getting a well drilled, you may very well get enjoy the prospect of production from some or all of these. All it takes is for production from one formation to pay for the costs of the well and the infrastructure, and reworking and production from the other strata (where the opportunity for additional royalties lie) can become realized lagniappe to both O&G and the landowner / mineral owner.

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Permalink Reply by sesport on January 28, 2009 at 11:57

Thank you, Dion, I'm starting to get the idea. One thing I think I need clarification about (and Dion says "Oh crud, here come the ???????????? ) You state that all it takes is for production from one formation to pay for the costs .... and reworking and production from the other strata (and oppoutunities) can become lagniappe. My question to you, in my feeble attempt to learn what is going on, is whether the seemingly (from what I've constructed in my mind) less efficient verticals will be tapping less deeper reserves and continue to coexist with the lateral wells. Hope this makes sense. The conclusion I had come to was that there would be fewer wells since the laterals could produce so much more efficiently. Hope this makes sense. Yours did to me. :0)

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on January 28, 2009 at 16:42

Sesport, I believe Dion's comments are most relevant to areas without any current shallower (CV or Hosston) production because those formations did not have adequate potential in the region to justify drilling. There are about four different scenarios these formations could be produced in those areas. 1) After drilling a horizontal HS producing well, a separate vertical well is drilled to produce the shallower formation based on the log results of the HS well. 2) The HS horizontal well is dually completed with a 2nd tubing string and packer run in the hole to produce the shallower formation. 3) After some time period of producing the HS formation in the horizontal well, the well is recompleted uphole to the shallower formation. 4) After some time period of producing the HS formation in the horizontal well, additional perforations are added in the vertical section so the shallower formation can be commingled and produced with the HS production.

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Permalink Reply by sesport on January 28, 2009 at 16:51

Again Les you've saved me from a short out in my brain. From what I understand from your scenarios, these verticals would then be drilled after an initial HS well? Now I owe you 2 s'mores, thanks.

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