Swepi (SHELL OIL) and their phenominal Haynesville Shale track record!

This has been touched on a little bit lately, but I believe it deserves a great deal more attention. I have seen Chesapeake and other operators cussed and discussed on this web site hundreds, maybe thousands of times. However, the one operator that few people talk about, but should probably have more disdain by the mineral owners of Northwest Louisiana IMHO is Shell Oil, you know......ROYAL DUTCH SHELL.......one of the largest international oil companies in the world.......probably the company with the deepest pockets of any company operating in the Haynesville....you know......that company operating under the code name SWEPI ( if I had their track record, I'd want a code name to operate under too) We have 10,000 or so members on this web site. I'd like to pole the membership to find out how many members (and non-members too for that matter) have actually received a royalty check from this company. I would like to know how many members are proud of leasing to
Swepi. I would like to hear from the folks who are happy with the way Shell Oil is developing their mineral estate. I would like to hear from people that think taking over a year to lay a pipeline to a well in their section is a bit much since the other operators seem to be able to do it in a matter of weeks. I would like to hear from folks who think it is rediculous to take 4-6 months to drill a Haynesville well, while he other operators have cut the time to drill down to 40-45 days. I would like to talk to a mineral owner who doesn't think that Sir whatever his name is over in Europe should fire the whole team in charge of the Haynesville and replace them with a group who has some idea what they are doing. My personal perspective is that Shell (SWEPI) should either get serious about developing the Haynesville or sell it to Encana and get the hell out. Who out there even knows where Shell's Field office is anyway? Do they even have one? I've never walked a picket line in my life, but in an effort to embarrass this large International Oil Company based on their incompetence, I'd be willing to walk that one!..............if I knew where they were!

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I am one of those who leased to EnCana/Shell in the southern most part of Desoto off hwy 175 about 4.5 years ago. Not particularly a good lease and not as bad as most in the area. It expires in 7 months and they approached me about a three year extension(top lease) on an 80 acre tract. First offer 1500/acre. 2nd 2000/acre. I said no to first and they retracted the 2nd before I could answer. Said they would drill on the property(SWEPI not EnCana) in May. I know of their tract record in the area. Not good, but since they are 50/50 on everything, it doesn’t matter to them who drills. Just wish SWEPI would get out of that part of the business. Not sure what I could do to stall a month or two. They have 620 acres out of the 640 leased. It is a Civil War Battlefield!! Maybe I can throw them a monkey wrench!!!
SB,
You are likely right. Maybe I'm naively hopeful, since I have a fair chunk of land in a section that is mostly leased (but not yet unitized) by SWEPI. They have recently started drilling a couple of wells up in the 13N, 14N area, in some EnCana units. Do you think this is their way of trying to learn from EnCana? Maybe they plan to assign more units over to another company -- they already assigned many units in the Pleasant Hill Field to Chesapeake. Maybe more assignments are in order for the future. Who knows. Also, even if they ever do turn a well to production, I don't expect them to post on sonris in a timely fashion -- it took half a year for them to post the results from their two early wells in Sabine Parish. I guess the fines are way too low to matter to them. Thanks for raising this whole issue on the main board.
Henry it is in both of our best interests if I turn out to be wrong about Swepi. I sure hope I do, but with their deep pockets, if they were serious about the Haynesville, rather than assigning their acreage to Chesapeake asnd others, they'd be hiring their drilling rigs and drilling and producing the wells themselves. It it the old slow moving internationals with all their beauracracy that is prob the problem. It is one of the concerns I have about Exxon moving into the play. By the time they are ready to make a decision, the guy that is supposed to make the decision retires and his replacement comes from West Africa and knows nothing about the Haynesville. By the time he is ready to make a decision, he gets transferred to Siberia!! And on and on.
I thought Encana/Swepi earlier this year were trying to find a buyer for the southern part of Desoto, or an operator to sub-contract the drilling operations?
They did not find a buyer. Is the area they did not sell?
did they find a buyer?

I am in a southern unit of DeSoto in 11n-12w, but I think Encana is going to end up managing the drilling, at least from what I was told a few months back, they said it would be in Mar or April.

Patience is the virtue I have the most problem with, but I am willing to wait for a higher gas price, or the lease to expire and get a new deal.
VSC, I believe the acreage being considered did not include DeSoto Parish.
Your frustrations tell you how I felt when TOTAL acquired Fina and the frenchman took over. For me that spelled disaster.Prior to takeover I had great relationship with Fina and their personnel and had participated with WI in a well which I promoted to them. Thanks to my geologist friend who left Fina after 18 years and went to work for Will-Drill we were able to get 4 more wells drilled.

Now I am in quandary about the future of my interests with XTO. I believe that Exxon-Mobile will allow XTO personnel to continue to operate their interests in N. La. XTO has done a very good job in my opinion. Hope E/M will let them take the rein!
Well # 240249 in my section, they moved rig around 28th Dec. There is a Encana well not 1/4 mile to the east different section thats on line already. Will see how long it take for them to tie in the pipeline.
Encana has plenty of wells on line...........it is Shell (Swepi) that doesn't. I'd be happy to have Encana as an operator in my section.
Swepi(shell) Has offices on Highway 509 at I-49 They are right at the end of Dow road.
I know this is a totally novel concept for the area, but did it occur to you that perhaps the reason it takes them longer to drill is because they actually care about things like sustainability of the well, the safety of the individuals drilling and completing the wells, and the environmental impact? When was the last time you heard of someone being killed on a Shell location? Or someone's livestock being harmed or groundwater contaminated?

I am also unclear as to where you are getting your information. They currently have six producing wells, and many more awaiting the completion of a 24-inch pipeline which would more than quadruple their production. I think there is also a lot of confusion regarding the Shell/Encana partnership. They are 50/50 partners, meaning that both companies contribute equally to the cost and time of the drilling, completion, and production of the wells.

And the idea that they are going by SWEPI as a code name is completely ridiculous. First off, if it was a code name, I hardly think they would include Shell in the title (SWEPI- Shell Western Expoloration Production Inc.)That is simply the name of the "branch" in charge of new plays. It was the same in Pinedale, WY- one of the largest natural gas fields in North America, and is the same in New Mexico. And when the play becomes commerical, it will be SEPCO-Shell Exploration and Production Company. And for the record, SWEPI has two sizable field offices in the Mansfield area.

To echo the sentiments of "Henry", they are not one of the largest companies in the world because they have no idea what they are doing. I think it is important to get your facts straight before you make outlandish criticisms of any company. Besides, the real money for the land owners will come from the production of the gas, not the leasing. I know I would feel better having that production in the hands of a company able to turn billions of dollars in profits quarterly and no debt, as apposed to a company with a huge amount of debt, unstable stock value, and questionable ethics.
what are the serial numbers of these wells, both producing and waiting on pipeline?
Go 2 pages back to ShaleGeo's post, see if that helps. 80)

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