Western Haynesville Play (Texas) - Robertson, Leon, and Freestone Counties

The following is a lightly edited cut-and-paste from another main page discussion.  I think this topic is interesting and deserves its own discussion thread.  I've assumed that the members posting in that discussion will not object to my moving their replies to this discussion as there was good detail concerning this emerging play.  I will remove any of those replies upon request.

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Western Haynesville Play (Texas) - Robertson, Leon, and Freestone Counties.  

Reply by Alan Herrington on December 3, 2022 at 18:36

Comstock also is busy extending the Haynesville play deeper into East Texas.  Actually, it should be considered Haynesville "equivalent", as the target formation appears to be Lower Bossier.

Based on a review of lease and assignment filings in the counties, it appears that Comstock has established a leasehold approaching 125,000 gross acres, located primarily in Robertson, Leon, and Freestone Counties.  

To date, Comstock has permitted six horizontal wells in Robertson County.  They have publicized their first well in the play, the Circle M Allocation 1H.  That well has produced 4.8 BCF of gas in its first 167 days of production and has not yet exhibited any significant monthly decline.  Comstock reported that they expected to bring their second well into production during November.  They are now in the process of drilling the remaining four wells in Robertson County, and just submitted a permit request for their first well in Leon County.  They have two rigs working.

In addition to Comstock, other companies appear to be pursuing Lower Bossier as well (but I'm not certain yet).  Thorp Petroleum has recorded lease memos covering more than 7,000 acres in Leon and Freestone Counties.  Vanna Production LLC (leasing entity associated with Vanna Oil and Gas) has recorded lease memos covering more than 12,000 acres, primarily in Leon with some in Freestone.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.  Here's an image showing the surveys in which acreage has been leased by the listed firms.  Note that the distance on the map from Oakwood down to Franklin is 53 miles.

 

Thanks for posting this, Alan.  Rock Man and I have followed this but haven't started any dedicated GHS sub groups because a)  It's outside of our traditional geographic foot print for HA/BO, and  b)  the Bald Prairie Field may not be directly related to the Haynesville/Bossier play in NW LA & E TX but certainly might be a depth equivalent which I will leave for Rock Man to weigh in on.  No doubt, there are some impressive early wells in that footprint.

 Rock Man on December 4, 2022 at 13:10

This Comstock play in Robertson and Leon County area is stratigraphically equivalent to Bossier / Haynesville section seen in NW La / NE Tx.

Same age rocks - just the other side of the basin (i.e., on the western side of the E Tx embayment)

 w.r. frank on December 5, 2022 at 14:07

What is vertical depth and what is the length of lateral perforations?

  Alan Herrington on December 5, 2022 at 14:27

The completion report for the Circle M Allocation 1H shows a TVD of 15,981 feet and a producing interval of 7,861 feet.

For the other five Robertson County wells and the one Leon County well, we only have the estimates provided in the W-1 permit submissions:

Cazey Black A:  16,000 TVD  8,365 PI

McCullough Ingram A:  16,500 TVD  10,000 PI

McCullough Ingram C:  16,300 TVD  8,315 PI

Campbell B:  16,000 TVD  13,280 PI

Campbell C:  16,000 TVD  13,000 PI

Dinkins:  18,000 TVD  10,023 PI

 Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 5, 2022 at 14:32

 

Thanks, Alan.  Those TVDs seem exceptionally deep.  Are pressure readings available for these wells?

 

Rock Man on December 5, 2022 at 14:36

In excess of 0.85# per foot pressure gradient

Expensive wells

 

Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 5, 2022 at 14:40

 

So, > 15,000 psi for a 18K TVD.  Expensive and dangerous.  The bottom hole temps must be crazy also.

Bottom of Form

 Alan Herrington on December 5, 2022 at 15:42

For the Circle M well:

Bottom Hole Temp:  320 degrees

Shut In Wellhead Pressure:  11,900 PSI and 100 degrees

Test Run Wellhead Pressure:  9,488 PSI and 213 degrees with 28 choke

 

 Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 5, 2022 at 16:14

Thanks, Alan.  I would have suspected a temp closer to 400 at that depth.  Good pressures make good wells.

 Alan Herrington on December 7, 2022 at 9:49

So there's a new twist in the story of this new play...

I mentioned above that Vanna Production had recorded some leases in Leon County (60 to be exact).  Vanna immediately assigned those leases to Sabana Royalty Partners, which I thought seemed a little odd.  An internet search didn't turn up much about Sabana, but it did find the officers:  Dan and Farris Wilks.  These two brothers got into hydraulic fracturing when by starting the company Frac Tech back in 2002.  In 2011, they sold their 70% share for $3.5 billion, becoming billionaires in the process.

If they are indeed chasing Lower Bossier like Jerry Jones is, we now have three billionaires involved!

 Rock Man on December 7, 2022 at 10:03 

Interesting playing field for sure

 

Alan Herrington on December 20, 2022 at 18:41

Comstock filed a completion report today on their second Lower Bossier well in Robertson County, the Cazey Black A 1H.  Here are some stats:

TVD:  15,927 feet

Producing Interval:  7,912 feet

24-Hour Test Gas Volume:  42,215 MCF with choke at 30 (this production is about 15% higher than for their first well)

Shut In Pressure:  12,150 PSI

Test Run Pressure:  10,097 PSI

Shut In Temp:  100 degrees

Test Run Temp:  259 degrees

Bottom Hole Temp:  320 degrees

 

 Skip Peel - Mineral Consultant on December 20, 2022 at 18:48

Good well. Impressive.  Thanks, Alan.

 Alan Herrington on January 11, 2023 at 13:24

Cazey Black A production during its first 24 days:  711,908 MCF.  

29,663 MCF per day.

 Rock Man on January 11, 2023 at 13:30

Any way to find out if Comstock is hedging gas out here?

Big drop in gas prices since they started producing up here / big impact on economics

Side comment - I have seen D&C costs for horizontal drilling really take off over the past few months

Cost of diesel, steel, crews, etc.

Rig rates running over $35,000 per day

Good crews at a premium

For both drilling as well as frac jobs and other operations 

An example is D&C on 12,500' laterals (TVD 7500') in the Eagle Ford - over $12,5 Millon

These deeper and higher-pressure wells will have higher costs too - and with dropping gas prices, what is the bottom price threshold for drilling?

Just putting this out there / open for all comments as usual

Niel Loeb on January 23, 2023 at 9:30

Are these good numbers, i.e. is it producing a large amount?

 Rock Man on January 23, 2023 at 9:38

Great numbers in my opinion - especially when one considers the minimal apparent production decline.

Basically, no decline for first 6 months of production. 30 MMCF per day.

EUR's here may be larger than the HV in NE Tx / NW La.

Niel Loeb on January 23, 2023 at 16:28

Thanks

 Joshua S. Huckaby on January 23, 2023 at 15:11

Rumor mill that I’ve been hearing deep bossier is 6bcf per 1,000’ of lateral.  No matter I still believe both Comstock and Aethon are going way over their capex for these wells.

 

 Rock Man on January 23, 2023 at 15:44

As a geologist, I believe that this is Lower Bossier target around 16,500' TVD. Some others think Haynesville section. Really a moot point - deep, high pressure, dry gas with huge volumes post frac.

I am sure their D&C numbers have changed dramatically since they started drilling out here.

Wonder if they are hedging their gas??

 Alan Herrington on January 23, 2023 at 16:18

According to their Q3 2022 report, they have natural gas collar contracts in place for calendar year 2023:

Volume(MMBtu):  128,925,000

Average Price Per MMBtu:

   Ceiling  $9.85


   Floor  $2.98

 

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IMHO -- Aethon has been in hibernation mode. They haven't been aggressively chasing the drill bit, possibly due to a shortage of funds to pursue/spud new wells. It's sorta like when a Wall Street hedge fund's culture (of quick profits) -- stumbles/chokes on the long-term play of an oil-patch take-your-time culture.   

It is time for gas focused E&P companies to hibernate.  Aethon has plenty of company.  Most small E&Ps dropped all their rigs months ago.  CHK has cut back and announced further cut backs on rigs.  Aethon has some of the best LA HA rock, the core, but much of it is fully developed or close to it.

These deep, expensive gas players are facing a conundrum (love using that word)!

Unless their acreage is HBP and hold their deepest horizontal well targets, they are facing a situation where much of their leased / term acreage will be facing expirations in a few years.

And dealing with landowners who should be aware of the major gas reserves that they are sitting on with their minerals.

I figure that there are some negotiated extension terms in place, but time will pass quickly and "decision time" will be facing these operators.

Thinking the most that one long lateral can hold is in the 700-acre range.

And if there are Pugh clauses in place, the question arises as to what is being released after primary term as to deeper depths and additional prospective landing zones.

I figure the planning and analyses groups in Comstock, CHK, Aethon and other companies is running lots of scenarios looking at this and related issues.

It appears that Jerry Jones and the rest of the Comstock leadership have determined that this period of time with low gas prices is the best time to accumulate acreage and expand pipeline and treatment capacity while everybody else is hunkering down.  

Comstock established a $3.5 billion line of credit with Wells Fargo in November 2022.  I wonder how far into that they are at this point.

Okay, that assessment is telling. Yet if many of the competing operators aren't chasing the drill bit, the one that seems to be nimble to drill, is BPX. If they don't spud some CULs in Bossier Parish by the end of the year, I'd be surprised. But the price of NG could delay their earlier plans. We'll see.

BPX, as a global super major, doesn't have to drill any wells except to hold leases the company doesn't want to lose.  Smaller Haynesville focused companies have multiple reasons to drill during periods of depressed prices - debt obligations, cash flow requirements, etc.  For BPX the only concerns are depleted unit production that puts leases at risk or mid-stream related minimum volume commitments. 

BPX only holds two undrilled permits in Bossier which are effective for twelve months.  Good until Oct. 2024.  If they are drilled before the end of the year it is unlikely they would be completed and turned to sales until sometime in 2025.  All of the live permits after those two wells are twelve month permits that will not expire until early 2025.  BPX's drilling schedule looks about right for the future strip prices.

Comstock has made another major acquisition!  In a 282-page assignment document filed in Robertson County on March 26, Comstock has acquired the rights to the Lower Bossier/Haynesville interval in more than 14,000 leases owned by Hilcorp Energy I, LP.  These leases are located in Robertson, Limestone, Leon, and Freestone Counties.  

The acquisition is effective September 1, 2023 in accordance with a Purchase and Sales Agreement dated March 15, 2024.

Thanks, Alan.  Any idea how many acres?

No idea how many acres...and I'm not going to be sifting through 14,000 leases to find out! 

I assume they will disclose at some point, either in a press release or a financial filing.

LOL!  Didn't expect you to but now that it is recorded in the public record, we may see an announcement.

Attached image shows all of Hilcorp's historical producing position in this Western Haynesville Bossier area.

However, not all of this was included in the deep rights sale to Comstock.

Attachments:

That is pretty rural country.  14,000 lease could represent a million or more acres.

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